Preschool Learning Environment Best for your Child

Finding a preschool for your kids? Here's some guidlines you may follow to ensure your kids get the best out of it. 

[From: MumCentreMalaysia website]

Being a mum involves a lot of knowledge and discovery. We learned about our baby’s nap schedule, swaddling and making baby food. During toddler years, we studied managing tantrums, setting limit, child-proofing equipment and potty-training. And now, come the preschool ages, we are beginning to feel that we really have mastered quite a bit of motherhood business.

Mums are picky in all ways. That’s why choosing the right preschool is so crucial. It compels a lot of thinking and decision making. One should understand the mightiness of preschool education, be it private, public, parochial or home schools. It is important to choose the right school for our children for them to get a positive impression about preschool learning.

Take a glance on a few tips for choosing a perfect preschool for our children:

Make a survey about the preschool. 

Ask your friends, relatives and family members about your prospect preschools. Word of mouth is applicable in this case. Nothing beats the experience of people you know and trust. Their stories and experiences will give you a better idea of what kind of preschool to choose for your children. 

Observe preschool’s environment.

Make a plan on visiting the potential preschools. Often times, we are fooled by ads most schools make. They present a lot of things that make us think they are the perfect preschools for our children. It’s best to personally visit the school so you will see how staffs work and how children behave while on visit. Read its school policies and regulations so you will be guided how they run the school.

Check preschool curriculum.

Obviously, your goal on sending your child to school is to help him develop socio-psychology. A quality preschool education should have opportunities for learning through play such as outdoor activities and other extra-curricular events. Preschool should have a good balance of academic pursuits and more creative activities.

Open communication of parents and teachers.

Effective preschooler’s school should also have a good system for parents to communicate with teachers. It is important for parents to know how their children get along with the other children or how they behave in their daily class.
Make sure your child has good and happy experiences at preschool. It helps him easily adapt to school life.

Your children will discover a lot of things through preschool education. Here, they become exposed to numbers, letters, colors and shapes. And most especially, they learn how to socialize with other children at their age. So, choose the best preschool for your children now!

For more parenting articles, please visit MumCentreMalaysia website.

Got 10 Seconds?

[From: Young Parents Singapore Magazine - www.youngparents.com.sg]

Not spending enough time with your kids? Almost every working mum (and dad!) feels the guilt. Before you dash off to the office, how about a touch-up that'll bring a glow to Pumpkin's face - and yours - in 10 seconds flat?

Funny smacks

Before darling gets out of the car and just a second after your goodbye kiss, say something like: "Oh, you get 10 kisses today!" Quickly plant the spontaneous smacks all over his face - and maybe one of the tum-tum, too - and hear him giggle.

Have and hold

Give your sweetie a 10-second tight bear hug, A few gentle strokes on his back reaffirm love, security and understanding in the simplest, most heart-warming way.

Present a smile

It can be a cartoon pencil or 3D sticker. Whatever that something small you get for Kiddo on your way home, hide it. When he's asleep, stick a Post-it-note in it that say something like "Surprise! With love and many kind words for today. Love, Mummy" and stash it in his pencil case.

Jar of sweets

Not of gummy bears but a jar of positive mummy thoughts you wrote on small slips of paper. Perhaps "You have a gift for music and I love that about you" or "Thank you for doing your best at school". Fish one out every once in a while and press it in your child's palm just before you dash the door.

Music moves

Turn off the morning show on the radio. Sing and dance to a song that you and your child love.

Say and snuggle

You don't always have to be an authority figure. Bonding with Junior by getting him to snuggle up to you - and opening up with a confession that you've had a bad day or that you need a hug - takes tension and fear out of anyone.

10 Resolutions for parents

[From: www.parenthots.com.my]

It's that time of the year when we are grateful for lots of public holidays this month, clearing leave and all the good things that happened in the year. As we prepare our children for the new school year, we remain hopeful of being better parents, better providers and having happier families in 2010.

With that in mind, ParenThots has come up with a list of 10 resolutions for all parents:

1) Spend more time with the children.
Your children will grow up fast and before you know it they're going to university and then going abroad or moving out of the house. So, spend as much time as you can with them now while they still want you in their lives and want to spend time with you. This is where you build that parent-child bond which will hopefully last until you're old.

2) Stop being kiasu (overly competitive).
It's always good to be competitive but don't overdo it. Your child's happiness must always come first. Don't force your child to keep going for more classes and activities just so you can brag about how well your child does at school or music or dance.

3) Take time to better communicate with the children, collectively and individually.
You need to listen to your children and spend time individually with them. They will remember it for the rest of their lives and this will strengthen your bond with them. If something is wrong or if you're upset about something, calm down first before talking to your child and explaining how you feel and why you feel this way. Your child will sense if something is wrong in the family – if you and your husband are going through a rough patch or if you have money problems – so it's best to explain it to him or her in the best and simplest way that you can.

4) Stop comparing your children to other people's children.
Your children have their own strengths and weaknesses and should never be compared to other people's kids. Remember how you hated it when your parents used to do that? So, don't do that to your child. It's okay if he's really bad at Maths. He may have a heart of gold and isn't that better that being brilliant at Maths?

5) Encourage the children in what they are passionate about even if you think it's a waste of time.
Times have changed from when we were children. Today, our children are more interested in social networks and being in touch with their friends. It's not necessarily a bad thing as we too network for work. What may seem like a trivial interest to you means the world to your child and nothing would please them more than seeing you take an interest in it. Would it hurt to show some support?

6) Stop beating yourself up if you make a mistake as a parent.
We all make mistakes in our lives on a daily basis. Parenting is not excluded. Nobody is perfect and there are no perfect parents so don't beat yourself up over mistakes. Learn from your mistakes and move on. By doing that you demonstrate to your children how to deal with mistakes so that they too can apply the same attitude in their own lives.

7) Make time for your spouse.
This is ultra important. Happy parents make happy children. Your children feed off your energy. If the parents are warring, the children will know it (even if it's a cold war). They will not feel happy being in a home where mum and dad are constantly bickering or if mum and dad are not talking to each other. Keep communicating and spending time with your spouse so that your kids and your spouse will be happy and this makes for a happy family with a strong bond.

8) Stop farming out parenting to the maid and / or babysitter.
The maid and the babysitter have roles. Their job might be to clean house and keep an eye on your children but draw the line at the maid taking care of your sick child who needs you at night or making the babysitter comfort your child. They can be there for temporary help and support but ultimately your child should come to you when they need help, are in trouble or just want a hug. You do not want to have your child running to the maid instead of you when they hurt themselves.

9) Get healthy.
It's time to stop smoking, cut down on sugar and stop drinking. If you don't care about your health, think about your children. They need and deserve healthy parents who will be around to watch them get married and have children of their own. Plus, you don't want to expose them to the risk of getting cancer because they've had to breathe in the smoke from your cigarettes. Make them get healthy too by cutting down on the sweets and chocolates and getting to eat more vegetables and fruits. A healthy family is a happy family.

10) Have fun.
Parenting should not be all serious and by the book. Learn to laugh at yourself and your mistakes and have fun with parenting. Be creative in bringing up your child. Remember, you are building a bond with your child and you want your child to have happy memories of their childhood, so don't always be the strict disciplinarian. Have fun when you can.

For more parenting articles, please visit www.parenthots.com.my.