Loving This Magazine!!!!

The colorful cover of this magazine caught my eyes while walking out a sundry shop and I was "wow, they have this magazine now!" My two angels love watching Oh My! English and when I saw this magazine, I didn't think twice, just picked it up and paid for it.

A wonderful creative magazine with lots of information, interesting activities, comic strips that are fun to read. What's most important is that it is colourful with so many pictures unlike the boring school activity books. At only RM5, I say "why not?"

Little Praises That Go a Long Way

Little Praises That Go a Long Way

My son’s first Taekwondo sparring experience inspired me to write this entry. Last Thursday, we (myself, husband and daughter) accompanied our son to his taewkondo lesson as usual. You may be thinking, accompany the boy? Yes, we sit there watch him train for a good 1 hour and a half. This is a way of how we support him in his interest and  it encourages him to go for what he loves. 

Just after the warming up session, the instructor instructed several kids to put on all the required gear for sparring. Then suddenly, she pointed at my son asking him to get ready as well. I was shocked and worried, my son had just attended four lessons to date. But off course, I cannot show whatever I am feeling inside on my face, as it will only scare my son. So I stood there, acted cool and gave my thumbs up to show my son that I know he can do it. Thank god he was cool too and went up, did what he needed to do and made us proud. Right after the lesson, we took him out for a drink. We discussed about his sparring, giving specifics on how well he did at certain points. I told him “Given that you’ve only attended four lessons, you did very well just now, you even knocked your opponent down.”

He is happy with his achievement that night and it has certainly pushed his confidence further up.

The little praises we give to children matter a lot. Praises serve as an affirmation of children’s ability or strength in some given skills. It informs children that we adults know that they are good. Just as how we adults crave for acknowledgement at work or from our partners, the same goes for children. It is even more important for children to hear praises because they are in the crucial stage of development. Effective praise is associated to confidence, self-esteem and feeling secure. It is also a way of encouraging children to explore their surrounding and gain more skills. 

Spend some time and observe your children, find moments that you can effectively praise them for you do not want to praise too often that it falls on deaf ears. Stay tuned, I will update this blog with another entry on how parents can effectively praise their lil’ ones. 

Have fun with your lil’ ones and say those magical words! :)

The Wonders of Pretend Play

Just the other day, my 2 year old girl was playing with her doll when she said "Mama, my baby wants to walk." She took her doll and tucked it in the toy stroller, came to me, "Mama, open the door." and held my hand, signaling that I accompany her for a walk with her "baby". So, out we go for a walk. We walked a good twenty minutes around the neighborhood.

We often find ourselves being entertained by children who become spider man, doctor, cook, teacher or best of all become their own mom! Bear in mind how strong is the power of modeling!

Why  do they love being someone else? Pretend play is a natural way of how children learn many things around them as well as acquire lots of skills crucial in their development and finally to venture into the world. 

The benefits of pretend play includes:

1. Explore imaginations
2. Develop language skills
3. Develop social skills
4. Encourage development of good problem solving skills
5. Develop the ability to understand things from the view of others
6. Acquire essential life skills from adults 
7. Explore the world beyond 
8. Develop a sense of confidence.

With all these benefits, let’s not underestimate the power of play. Engage in play sessions with your child, build strong bonds with them and not to forget build lasting intelligence as well. Happy playing! :)

The Strong-Willed Child

My first child was an easy baby, one who listens when you reason with him, one who has patience, one who is calm and he is a BOY. So when my doctor told me that I was expecting a girl as my second child, I candidly thought "okay, she'll be easy too..." How wrong was I to make such an assumption! My daughter turns to be the total opposite of her brother. She is not the kid who will easily give up on her wants, not even with logic reasoning. She is persistent, brave, daring and will do anything that interests her with no fear.

I’ve raise my first child pretty well, though of course, there are bound to be some challengers. But with a strong-willed girl, at times I find myself at wits' end as to how best shall I raise her, be her greatest fan and greatest partner. I know it is definitely good that she's strong willed. This is the very characteristic of a go-getter, a self-driven, and a motivated person.  With strong-willed children you’ve got to be very tactful on how you deal with them for you do not want to kill the confidence they have. Here’s an article I’d like to share, giving you 10 Tips for Positive Parenting Your Strong-Willed, Spirited Child. Enjoy!

Dr. Laura Markham Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child