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PARENTS' CORNER | PARENTING TIPS
PARENTING TIPS
Subjects
Healthy
Eating - A Guide To Good Nutrition For Your Child
How can we
help our child to become readers?
How
can we help our child to read the books they bring home from school?
How
can we help our child to become better listeners and speakers?
How
can we help our children to learn skills for writing?
How
can we help our children with maths?
Separation
Anxiety - When Leaving Your Child
Links to parenting sites
Health Matters - www.kidshealth.org
Healthy Eating - A Guide
To Good Nutrition For Your Child (3-6 Years Old)
• Needs
of Your Child
Your child has now grown to become more active and curious. Your may have
noticed that his growth has slowed down and his appetite is not as good
as before. There is no cause for alarm as long as you continue to provide
him with a variety of healthy food and monitor his growth regularly.
• Provide
Suitable Food
Your child will now be able to enjoy many new food together with the family.
Try to concentrate on seeing that many kinds of food are eaten rather
than on how much your child eats.
The nutritional needs of your child can be met by giving him food from
the four basic food groups:
• Staples
(Rice, Bread, Pasta and alternatives)
These provide mainly energy, some protein, a little vitamins and minerals.
Healthier choices include
• Brown or unmilled rice in place of plain rice once or twice a week
• Wholemeal biscuits and bread
• Whole grain breakfast cereals with milk
• noodles and past
• Fruit
They are good sources of fibre, vitamins especially A and C and minerals
such as potassium. Select more often citrus fruits with yellow-orange
flesh.
• Vegetables
They are excellent sources of fibre and minerals such as potassium. They
also provide vitamins such as A, C and folic acid. Try to include one
serving of dark leafy or yellow-orange vegetables daily.
• Meat and
Alternatives
These group includes meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs, nuts, dried beans
and peas, provides mainly protein, some fat, certain vitamins and minerals.
Tips on preparation:
• Choose lean cuts of meat
• Remove skin from poultry before serving
• Choose fish at least three times a week
• Serve not more than 5 eggs a week
When preparing food, try to use just a little oil, salt
and sugar if these need to be added.
• Continue
to Give Milk
Remember to give about 2-3 cups of milk every day. Milk provides calcium
and phosphorus which are important for strong bones and teeth. Unsweetened
full cream milk should be used instead of low fat or skim milk. You can
substitute a cup of yogurt or a slice of cheese for a cup of milk.
• Create
an Interest in Food
Involve your child in food selection and menu planning. Bring him to the
market with you and take this opportunity to explain the functions of
the different types of foods to him. Telling him that eggs will give him
strong muscles and carrot will give him good eyesight will help him to
understand who you are giving him these foods.
Engage him in kitchen play. Allow your child to help prepare his food,
like spreading margarine on bread (using plastic knife) or helping to
mix cake mixtures will make him more interested in the food he is eating.
Prepare attractive, appealing and colourful meals whenever possible.
• Prepare
Interesting Meals
Besides variety, preparation and presentation of food are also important
to capture your child's interest and attention. Here are some tips you
can use:
• Avoid vegetables that are soft and mushy. Try instead to cut vegetables into nice shapes. Give your child
vegetables with different colours and shapes like cauliflower, broccoli, green peas, baby sweet corns and
• Arrange fruit in interesting designs. Your child will enjoy both the sight and taste of the arrangement.
• Use cookie cutters to cut boring sandwich into animal or star shapes.
• Serve food in utensils of different colours, shapes and designs. This will make a meal more interesting for
• Try not to mix all food into one bowl. Separate the different types of food using separate plates or plate with
• Sample
Meal Plan For a Day
Below is a sample meal plan which will give you an idea of suitable meals
for your child. Serving sizes will vary depending on your child's age,
size, appetite and activity level.
| • Breakfast 1/2 cup unsweetened orange juice 1/2 cup whole grain breakfast cereal with 1/2 cup milk 1/2 slice cheese or 1/2 scrambled egg • Mid-morning snack 1 wholemeal biscuit 1/2 cup milk • Lunch 3/4 bowl of macaroni 4 prawns or minced meat balls 2 spoonfuls green leafy vegetables 1 small banana 1 cup plain water |
• Afternoon snack 1 small tuna sandwich 1/2 cup milk • Dinner 1/2 bowl carrot and potato soup • Bedtime 1 cup milk drink |
The above is a recommended sample. You can vary your
child's diet by giving alternative food from the same food group.
• Make
Meal Times Relaxing
Many parents face difficulty with feeding their young children. Your child
may refuse to eat or may be choosy about food, eating only a few types
of food and rejecting the rest. The important thing to do is make meal
times relaxing for your child and yourself.
• Avoid forcing your child to eat by threats or bribery
• Avoid scolding your child while he is eating
• Avoid discussing food dislikes in front of your child
• Set a good example by practising good eating habits - children are great imitators
• Allow your child to eat with the rest of the family whenever possible
• Allow your child to feed himself as much as possible
• Avoid
Overfeeding
Obesity among our children is a growing concern. Fat children can have
health problems later in life. To prevent your child getting fat, help
him form good eating habits while young.
• Do not not overfeed
• Provide balanced meals
• Encourage health snacks
• Have regular meal and snack times
• Decide on a fixed place for eating
• Avoid using food as form of reward or bribery
• Assess Growth and Development
Bring your child to your family doctor for regular growth and development
assessment. You can also check your child's growth (height and weight)
using the growth charts in your child's health record book.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HEALTHY EATING FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, VISIT
OUR SCHOOL FOR MORE INFORMATION. WE PROVIDE HEALTHY MEALS AND ASSESSMENT
OF YOUR CHILD'S GROWTH AS PART OF OUR CURRICULUM.
top
How can we help our child to become readers?
1) You can help your child to learn about reading.
• Read to your child,
read to your baby. Share a book together. Spend a little time reading
aloud to your child. This will
build the knowledge
and skills they need for reading.
• Find a time and place to share a book together. It is better
done after a meal because it's hard for a hungry child to
concentrate. Find
a time that doesn't compete with a favourite Video programme. Make sure
it's somewhere where
you both feel comfortable.
• Look at the book together and talk about the cover. Point
to the title when you read it. Turn the pages together. Talk
about the pictures.
Read the story. Answer your child's questions
• Remember it's ok to read a favourite book again and again!
• Praise your child. Value their interest.
2) Remember that learning at this age often happens through play. Make
it fun!
3) How can I encourage my child to want to read?
• Help your child to choose books to take home from the
library or a bookshop.
• Make a book with your child. Help your child to cut out
favourite pictures from a magazine and to make up a story.
Read your special
book together.
• Show your child family photo albums and talk about the
photos together.
• Include your youngest child in the group when an older
child is reading book from school.
• Read stories to your child so they can learn the language
of books.
4) Should we read other things as well as books?
Yes, read letters and words wherever you find them, and have fun reading
the following items.
• Shopping signs and labels
• Road signs
• Toy and game instructions
• TV listings
• Magazine, newspapers and photograph
captions
• TV or computer text
• Party invitations, letters and notes
• Alphabet charts
5) Encourage your child to recognize his or her name.
6) Let your child see that you are reading for more information as well as for enjoyment.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HELPING YOUR CHILD TO BECOME INTERESTED
IN READING, ASK OUR SPECIALIST TEACHERS, THEY WILL BE MOST HAPPY TO ASSIST.
top
How can we help our child to read the books they bring home from school?
1) A little time spent sharing the books that your child brings
home from school will make a difference to their reading.
2) Get involved in your child's learning. Make it fun. Encourage and praise your child's reading. Value their efforts.
3) Find time to read together.
• Share reading time of ten to fifteen minutes, three to
four times a week.
• Choose a time that suits both of you.
• After a meal because it's hard for a hungry child to concentrate.
• Find a time that doesn't compete with a favourite TV programme.
• Avoid interruptions.
4) Find a place to read together. You can read together
anywhere:
• At the kitchen table.
• In bed.
• On the floor.
Make sure it's a place where both of you feel comfortable.
5) Look at the book together.
• Talk about the book together.
• Then listen to your child read.
• Talk about it again afterwards.
6) What do I do when my child isn't sure of a word?
• Wait a few seconds.
Give that young mind time to think. Often your child will work it out
by themselves.
• If they still don't know the word, try the following steps:
• Look at the beginning of the word and help your child work
out the first sound
• Talk about possible words that would make sense in the
sentence
• Suggest that your child look for clues in the pictures
• Ask your child to go back to the beginning of the sentence
or to read on to the end of the sentence
If they still don't know the word, tell them. Then encourage your child to read the sentence again. Praise your child.
7) What do I do when my child doesn't understand the
meaning of what they are reading?
• Relate what happens in the story to your child's experiences.
• Use the pictures to help you talk about the story.
8) What if the book seems too hard?
• Your child will be familiar with most of the books they
bring home, but if one is too hard, read it to your child instead.
It's probably too
hard if your child has difficulty with five words in fifty.
• If your child often brings home books that are too hard,
talk to their teacher.
9) Should we read other things as well as reading books
from school?
Yes. Together, read words wherever you find them. Read and talk about
shop signs, labels, shopping lists, instructions, tickets and name tags.
Read favourite books - again, and again, and again! You could go to a
library or bookshop to choose a book. Let your child see your reading.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HELPING YOUR CHILD TO READ OR ABOUT YOUR CHILD'S PROGRESS, ASK OUR SPECIALIST TEACHER. HE OR SHE WILL BE MOST HAPPY TO HELP.
1) It's really all about confidence and relationship building. It's about encouragement.
2) Time spent talking with your child and listening to what they have to say will certainly help to build their confidence and their reading and writing skills.
3) Listening, talking, reading, and writing are all connected.
4) Why is it important for me to talk with my child?
Talking with your child lets them hear and try out new words and ideas
that they can use in their own talking, reading, and writing. It takes
lots of practice to learn and speak well.
Talking with your child also helps to understand them better. Try telling your child what you're thinking and feeling and encourage them to tell you what they think and feel. This helps them to learn to express themselves.
5) How can I encourage my baby to talk and listen?
• Talk,
talk, talk to your baby at any time, anywhere.
• Respond to
your baby's actions and sounds.
• Read and sing to your baby.
6) How can I encourage my child to talk and listen?
• Talk, talk, talk to your baby at
any time, anywhere.
• Help them in joining the family discussions.
• Encourage them to listen to
others.
• Listen and respond when your child talks to you.
• Give them information about things
they're interested in - don't always ask them questions.
• When you do ask your child questions, give them time to
answer you.
• Encourage varied responses, don't package responses for
them.
• Encourage them to act out stories. Start a dress-up box
with scarves, hats, and clothes. You can be the audience for
your child's acting.
Remember: Your child is learning to shape his or her thoughts into words. Learning a language takes lots of practice.
7) What should we talk about?
• Anything
and everything!
• When your child is playing,
talk aloud about what they are doing - for example, "You've built
a tower with five blocks
and now it's fallen
down..."
• Make up stories and tell them to your child. Let them add
to the story or tell you one.
• Sing Songs. Teach them songs and poems. Encourage your
child to choose and play their favourite tapes in the car or
at home
• Watch your child's favourite TV programme with them and
talk about it together afterwards
• Encourage the older children to talk with the younger ones.
• Show them a photo album. Share stories and special memories
about the photos
8) Remember: Learning at this age often happens through play. Make it fun!
9) What language should we use?
If your family's first language is not English or Mandarin, talk with
your child in the language your family knows best. This will make it easier
for them to learn English or Mandarin or any languages that you've intended
for him outside of the home.
Raffles House curriculum includes teaching by language specialists who are experts in their own area.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HELPING YOUR CHILD TO BECOME BETTER TALKER AND LISTENER, ASK OUR SPECIALIST TEACHER. HE OR SHE WILL BE MOST HAPPY TO HELP.
top
How can we help
our children to learn skills for
writing?
1) You can help your child to learn writing skills by spending a little
time showing an interest in your child's drawings which will help them
later on.
2) How can I encourage my child to learn skills that
will help them to write?
• Keep pens, felts, crayons, pencils and paper handy for
your child.
• Do finger-painting together.
• Draw with your child
• In the sand
• On misted-up windows
• With chalk
• Anywhere
Make letters of the alphabet out of stones, blocks,
buttons, shells, anything!
Value your child's effort. It's the experience that's important at this
stage.
3) Remember: Learning at this age often happens through play. Make it fun!
4) You can help your child to:
• Write their name on a note or letter.
• Make a sign for their bedroom door.
• Make a special card.
• Label things that they use.
• Help you to write a shopping list.
5) How should I response to my child's writing attempts?
• Be interested in their efforts. If they don't understand
what their picture or story is about, ask them.
• Let your child choose what he or she writes about or draws.
• Display their work. Be proud of it.
• Share it with others.
6) If you child is interested:
• Say the letters
in their name.
• Show them how letters and words are formed.
• Write their story under their drawing.
• Let them see your writing.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HELPING YOUR CHILD TO LEARN SKILLS FOR WRITING, ASK OUR SPECIALIST TEACHER. HE OR SHE WILL BE MOST HAPPY TO HELP.
top
How can we help our children with maths?
1) You can help your child with maths by spending a little time exploring maths with your child in their everyday world. This will make a difference in their progress.
2) How can I help my child to count?
Count together in everyday situations, such as
when you're are.
• Preparing meals
• Building block tower
• Climbing stairs and steps
Count, count, count together! Count fingers and toes. Count buttons and zips. Count while you unpack groceries. Sing counting songs. Play simple board games. Play with dice. Try easy adding and subtracting of real things, like shoes, hats or crayons.
Show and discuss the number symbols around them on:
• Letter boxes
• Car number plates
• Speed signs on roads
• Calendars and birthday cards
• TV remote
• Shop windows
• Sports clothing
3) You can teach your child about maths everywhere!
In the kitchen, encourage your child to:
• Sort
the groceries or the cutlery
• Help you to measure
food during cooking
• Set the table
• Around the house, help your child
to
• Sort clothes
• Match socks
• Organize nails and screws by size and shape
• Sort toys into group
Talk about your family. Who is the tallest? Who is the
shortest?
In the playground, show your child the meaning of:
• Up and down
• Inside and outside
• Tall and short
• Fast and slow
• Far and near
• Point out the patterns:
• In zebra crossing
• Of leaves
• On quilts
• On wallpaper
• Help your child
to draw patterns.
• Clap out rhythms together.
• Dance together.
4) Use the language of maths with your child.
For instance:
• "Whose turn is it next"
• "Bring me two onions"
• "Find a bigger shoe"
• "Let's dance in a circle"
Encourage your child to solve problems. Help them to work things out.
5) Remember: When your child is playing with things like water, sand,
wood and dough, they are learning about maths. When they are pasting,
cutting out, weaving, folding, and building, they are also learning about
maths. Give your child opportunities for this sort of play.
6) Maths is more than counting.
Maths includes counting, sorting, comparing, ordering, patterning, matching, classifying, problem solving and recently with more addition in conjunction with the primary and elementary school syllabus, includes information analysis and others. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE SYLLABUS, ASK OUR MATHS TEACHER AT THE SCHOOL.
7) Some ideas for easy, everyday activities that will
help your child to enjoy and learn about maths at home.
• Sorting.
Ask your child to:
• Sort toys into groups according to their size or colour when tidying up
• Sort spoons, plastic cups to set the table or as they put them away
• Sort nails, keys, screws into container
• Comparing
Compare the shoes of your family. Who has the biggest and who has the
smallest shoes? Compare the number of buttons on your shirts, blouses.
Who has the most, and who has the fewest. Help your child to make and
display a simple chart to show these comparisons.
• Ordering
Ask your child to order family members, toys or even vegetables, fruits,
from tallest to shortest, oldest to youngest, smallest to biggest, or
lightest to heaviest.
• Patterning
Together, find and look at patterns, such as those on wallpaper or curtains.
Your child could copy a pattern, repeat and extend a pattern, and make
their own from anything that's handy, such as leaves, flowers, pens, or
shells. They could also make patterns by playing musical instruments or
by clasping, dancing, or skipping.
• Matching
Ask your child to find matching socks from the laundry basket or to match
a cup with its saucer. Do jigsaw puzzles together. Play card games such
as Snap. Match colors, patterns, shapes, sizes
• Counting
Young children love to count. Encourage your child to count. Get them
to count real things and to use counting to solve real problems. Count
forwards and backwards with them.
Here are some other things that you could do with your child. Play cards,
board games, and dominoes. When your child is good at a board game, you
can increase the number of dice or change the pattern of dots or numerals
on the dice. You could even make your own board game together.
Use the calendar. Ask "What date will it be after the 16th?","How many sleeps until your birthday?","What is the date three days before Grandma comes?", and so on.
Recognize numerals around them - on letter boxes, road signs, price tags, and sizes on clothes and shoes.
Write a numeral in the sand. Encourage them to find the correct number of pebbles to put beside the numerals.
Make groups. Ask them to get the right number of plates or glasses when setting the table or the right number of birthday candles to put on someone's birthday cake.
Share special food among friends or family members so that each person has a fair share.
8) Maths is a part of our daily life.
Wherever you are with your child, you can help them notice pattern, shape,
size, order, and number. The maths your child learns at school will get
more complex as they grow older. If your child finds your activities too
easy, make them slightly more challenging. Encourage your child and remember
that learning involves making mistakes.
If your child isn't sure of the answer to a question you've asked, wait a few seconds. Give that young mind time to think. Then encourage and help them to work it out. If they still don't know the answer, tell them.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HELPING YOUR CHILD
WITH MATHS OR ABOUT YOUR CHILD'S PROGRESS, ASK OUR TEACHER. HE OR SHE
WILL BE MOST HAPPY TO HELP.
top
Separation Anxiety – When Leaving Your
Child
Brenda Nixon (Mother of two, professional speaker and author of “Parenting
Power in the Early Years: Raising your Child with Confidence – Birth
to age Five.”)
As about eight to ten months of age, your baby may start a painful stage of development. These past months he has become increasingly attached to you as you’ve met his needs on a regular basis. Now when you leave him at daycare or with Grandpa and Grandma, he suddenly starts crying. Big tears roll down his chubby cheeks, and his lower lip rolls out and quivers. You sense he feels anxious, and that parental instinct kicks in. You reach out to take him back in your arms and with comforting words whisper that you are near. He calms as you wipe away the tears. Then he turns back into the happy boy you know. You hand him over to the other pair of arms and he winds up again like a siren. This is called separation anxiety. There’s good and bad news about it.
First, the good news is that you’ve done nothing wrong. If you’re employed outside the home and leave your baby in the arms of another, you are not making it worse or better. If you are a stay-at-home parent you are not making it worse or better. It is a stage of development as natural as learning to walk.
Actually, your child is experiencing a burst of development in two areas. Your little one is experiencing more long-term memory, or what experts call cognitive growth. What was once “out of sight out of mind” is now out of sight and still in mind. The thought of your leaving his sight is causing him grief. He is quite sensitive now to the comings and goings of the important people in his life. He is also progressing in his social skills. While he needs you, he also wants to separate from you. This inner conflict of dependence versus independence and learning to separate can be quite troubling. The bad news is that separation anxiety has to take its sweet time to blossom, wither and pass away. Then it may bloom again when he’s three or even a kindergartner. If it does return, come back to this section of the book and read it again. Right now you can help your baby learn to cope with separation. Play games in which you hide a toy under a blanket then find it together, or play peekaboo often. Both these games teach your baby that his world is predictable and safe. These simple social activities have more value than just entertainment.
Next tell yourself that separation anxiety is natural, and your response will make it worse or better. The best way to soothe the pain of separation anxiety is to confront it. Give your baby a reassuring hug and kiss before you hand him over to your caregiver. Then say, “I will be back”, turn and leave. Some day cares have a “good-bye window” where parent and child may stand to wave to once another. If you linger, you send a message that you’re unsure about your child’s ability to cope with separation. He will cope with time and opportunity. Hippocrates said, “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter or opportunity.” If you sneak out, you give the impression that you are not a predictable parent. If you make statements like, “You shouldn’t cry,” you disrespect his sadness. And if, within minutes, you rush in to rescue, he learns to cry until you return. Any of these responses will sabotage efforts to help your child mature. One of my daughters expressed her anxiety more passionately than the other. When she cried I went to war within myself; my head said that she’d be fine, but my heart screamed, “Go get her!”. It is skilful parenting to understand that while separation anxiety is difficult; it is a part of growing and learning to handle new feelings. Your baby is remarkably resilient; with your respect and care, he will learn to cope with losses.