Growing Independence: Start with Personal Hygiene

                                        

Imagine if your child is independent. Life would not just be easier for you, but it can also lead your child on the right track on being a responsible citizen. Building independence is a part of  an individual's social skills. It also promotes self-esteem and confidence. Teaching your child independence requires small steps. One example is making your expectations known. Kids usually try to rise to meet expectations from adults, as long as they are clear and reasonable. Usually, when expectations are too high, they would give up. But when your expectations are too low too, sometimes it wouldn't challenge them to tackle things they're capable of learning. 

    You can start teaching your kids independence with personal hygiene. Personal Hygiene start within oneself. And good hygiene is a habit that one parent can teach to their child. Kids can practice independence when they practice good hygiene habits. Top 5 areas for personal hygiene for kids include: brushing teeth and oral hygiene, bathing and washing, hair care, hand washing, and hygiene in home. Good hygiene habits are key to ensuring the safety of your child and the children they interact with. 

    Practicing good hygiene is already a big step for children through independence. This might seem small, but this is already a big responsibility for a kid. It is important that they would learn these simple things for themselves so when as they grow up and encounter much bigger responsibilities, they are already disciplined and parents would know that they have a sense of responsibility on their actions. 

 

    

Increase Talking, Decrease Tantrum

 

    Tantrums is how children communicate when they cannot express themselves with words. Temper tantrums can be frustrating for any parent. Looking at the other side, parents can treat tantrums as opportunities for education. This is a great time to teach better communication and knowledge of their emotions. The only reason that tantrums happen is when they are not able to express themselves properly. That's why communication skills are very important for children too. When children understands their feelings well, they will be able to express it well too. They will have better communication when they can understand themselves more. 

    Dr. Mary Barbera wrote an article about strategies on how to increase talking to decrease tantrums. The first one is 8 positives to Every Negative. Parents and teachers often focuses on children's mistakes and the negative things. According to Dr. Mary Barbera, spinning that around and look for the positives not just the negative things, can help them decrease tantrums and also learn how to communicate. Another way that she proposed is to stop giving attention to the child when they are having tantrums. The first priority is safety, but if the child is safe and he/she is still making tantrums, all attention must stop. This means no yelling, talking, counting, or labeling the behavior. This can make the child stop too. In this way the child can learn to understand that their behavior is wrong. 

    Children must know how to communicate their feelings so they won't throw any tantrums. But in order to have good communication skills, one must first understand what they are feeling. When they know very well their emotions, it will be easier for them to tell what they truly feel. And when that happens, they won't be throwing any tantrums anymore. 

Developing Communication Skills at an Early Age

   

 Talking with your children can help them in so many ways. They also learn how to communicate when parents talk to them regularly.  Talking a lot and responding to your child is a way of encouraging communication. Children are ready to communicate from birth, and it started with crying! We should respond to them to let them know that they are heard and understood. Some tips on how to communicate with your children are: reading books, telling stories, singing songs and nursery rhymes, etc. The sooner they can develop good communication skills, the better prepared they'll be for every aspect of school and home life. 

    It is important that children can communicate as soon as possible. Some benefits when children have effective communication skills are: improve literacy, raise self-esteem, develop creativity, speak imagination, and develop strong relationships. 

    When children knows how to communicate well, they learn fast which also mean more learnings! It boost literacy and learning in general. Good communication skills also help children with their self-esteem. it gives them confidence to communicate with those around them, set boundaries, and develop a sense of pride in themselves. It also develop creativity since they can express themselves in other artistic ways when they have good communication skills. And lastly, good communication skills can help build strong relationships with other people. Communication helps us develop and maintain relationships with people around us. For children, it help them form strong relationship and strong bond with their teachers and classmates which can make them feel supported and confident. 

Communication is the Key

  

  Communication is the key for your child at any age. It might seem typical to talk around your child or talk directly to them to offer instructions or redirections, but are we having conversations with our kids? 

    At any age, is your little one jabbering? 

    They are talking to you! :)

     How are you engaging to them in the conversation? Are they given opportunities to engage in meaningful chats? Sure a quick talk about how school was or to correct your child happens all of the time. But how about asking them their opinions on thing?

     How about asking them what they are interested in-- and why? At first they might be reserved with their response-- because they aren't asked these questions very often. If you notice your child is constantly calling your name or running up to tattle or inform you of every move they make (LOL), they are just eager to engage in conversation, but aren't sure where to start. So, it will be helpful if we parents and teachers, try to reach out to them and have a meaningful conversations. 

Impact of Play Dates to Children

 

    Research shows that play dates can help your child’s emotional and mental health. Children who often play with kids and with their parents lowers the risk of mental health problems. Some experts also show that family game nights can help aid social and emotional learning. Generally these are just examples of spending time and doing things with your children. Spending time with them helps you build relationships with them and also builds their confidence. Special time with your children is a chance to give your child your full attention, know your child’s point of view, give them guidance, and lastly, become a role model to them. 

    Play dates may be seen as a normal part of childhood but it really has a long term effect on a child. Childhood is a very important time for humans because as we grow up, we still bring or remember the things that we experienced during our childhood. For example, when a child is bullied, it may cause him/her to have depression when they grow up. Or it can lower their confidence. So, it is the role of parents and teachers to have good communication and relationships with children. Having a good relationship with them can help them more understand other people. It is also important to let children feel they are loved and heard. In this way, it also helps their communication skills.

    If all children are loved, I think the world would be a happy place. Remember that we cannot give what we don’t have. And imagine if all kids receive the love that their parents give, they will also spread this love to other kids. A healthy relationship in the family results in good mental health. Everyone will just give love because that is what they know and that is what they have received. 

Experiences aren't Just for Wealthy Families: Tips from a Salisbury Childcare Center

     

    Who said all adventures are expensive? Experiences are for everybody, not just for the wealthy! All kids deserve to enjoy life, have new experiences and adventures, and learn from it! Our past blogs talked about the importance of new experiences to one's life, especially for kids. New experiences help our children thrive. 

    You can give your kids amazing experiences for not a lot of money. You can bring them to a local library so they could check out for cultural experiences. This experience might be simple but it is big for the mind and the heart. Reading can bring people to different places. And it can help them expand their knowledge by learning about cultures. Actually, one can travel by reading. Books can bring you to different places. Also, there are many museums in this area. And going to museums would not cost you a lot. There might just be some museums that are expensive, but I think that is worth it! Or you can also bring them to zoos to learn more about animals. We have our city zoo here in Salisbury which is free! 

    Supporting your kids on something that they want will really mean a lot to them. For example, if they want to join sporting events in school. There are some parents that wouldn’t support their kids in extracurricular activities. But, supporting them and allowing them to join is a whole new experience for them. 

    There are still lots of things (that won’t cost you a lot) that kids could enjoy. Sometimes all it needs is your support and guidance in school activities. What’s important is that your kid could try something new and can learn from it.

Why Road Trips are Valuable: Tips from a Salisbury Childcare Center

     

    Families are encouraged to have at least one family road trip per year! Road trips are not only fun and exciting but also offer so many wonderful benefits for children and adults. Road trips are adventures with endless opportunities for families to learn and grow! Some of the benefits of having road trips are: it promotes family bonding, enhances language development, builds patience, and many more!

Having family road trips promotes family bonding. Being in the car for hours makes family closer! Also give parents a chance to learn more about their children. It can also enhance children’s language development. Road trip is an opportunity for families to talk and engage in conversations with each other. This means kids are constantly being exposed to new vocabulary which enhances language development and can also improve their social language skills. Most importantly, it helps build patience. Everyone is forced to be patient on road trips. This is an important skill for children to learn! Kids will learn how to wait for something they want in the moment. It is a skill that can be acquired through experience. And it is important that it will be learned at an early age!

    We are partnering up with our sister nonprofit, Operation Experience, Inc. for a Princess Party Event. This is a ticketed event for the community, but wanted to share it with you too. Spots are limited and parents must remain at the center for the event (we will have a lounge area for you 😊). It will be on April 29, 2023, 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM at 547 Riverside Drive Unit E.