Enriching the First Year of Life (Updated!)

Salam & greetings dear friends!

Its been a while since my last post. Please excuse me.. too much traveling, too little time (yes, i’m giving excuses here ;p).

This entry will put a pause to the “10 perkara perlu ajar anak sebelum umur 10 tahun” series. Just a pause ok ;p To be continued!

Ok, about this entry (this is my copywork exercise, if you know what i mean ;p), it is from a booklet which i got together with a goodie bag nearly 358 days ago when i checked-out from Pusrawi Hospital. This sure a good package for parents to use as a guide to monitor our child’s development and progress in the first year of life.

 The authors (see entry’s end) have included suggestions and tips on how to achieve skills appropriate to the child’s learning process through play. There is a need to assure that cognitive, social and emotional development are enhanced with adequate and appropriate methods of stimulation. It was with this in mind that the authors compile these set of guidelines on stimulation of babies.

I hope by sharing these infos, more parents will benefit from it during the joyful and exciting experience of your baby’s first year of life, as how i muchly had 😉

******************************************************************************************************

Before we start, here are few things to be noted (!)

All babies are not alike

Babies have differing needs and responses. They go through the same stages of development but at different rates. For example, your baby sits before he walks but the exact time at which he begins to sit and walk will be different from all other children. However, there is a normal time range within which these developmental achievements should occur.

Babies begin to learn rapidly from the moment of birth

In the first two years of life, the brain grows at the fastest rate. Therefore, it is important to enhance stimulation of our baby during these period.

Our baby uses his five senses i.e. (sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch to learn about the world)

Therefore, our baby needs to be introduced to a variety of new and interesting things to look at, listen to, taste, feel, hold and play with.

Every member of the family plays an important role

Familiar human faces and voices are important for the baby to see and hear. Our baby will grow best with plenty of love, attention and care.

Provide a safe and happy environment for our child

The environment, activities and toys/play materials should be safe and appropriate for our child’s developmental level.

Breastfeeding is best for mother and baby

Breastfeeding represents a ‘special moment together’ and fosters close physical contact and bonding between mother and baby. Touching gives your baby a way to feel your love and security.

******************************************************************************************************

The following provides a summary of behaviors and skills that our baby would be able to show from birth to 12 months and recommended activities that we and our family can provide to enrich our baby’s growth and potential

**BIRTH TO 1 MONTH**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

• Sleeps most of the time
• Cannot lift head up
• Likes to look at faces.
• Sees best at distance of 8 to 10 inches (20-25 cm) at eye level.
• Startled by sound.
• Keeps his hands tightly closed most of the time

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Talk and sing to him frequently
• Hold him close to you and cuddle him
• Show him things quite close to his face, especially RBW (red, black and white) patterns.
• Gently stretch and bend his knees during napkin changing
• Make frequent contact with him ‘ eye to eye’ and ‘touvh’
• Let him gradually hold on to your fingers and gradually unfold his fingers one at a time

 

**2 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

• When he is placed on his stomach, he can lift head momentarily
• He will smile at you briefly
• He will try to search for sounds with his eyes
• Makes eye to eye contact
• His hands are held open some of the time

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Encourage him to lift his head by placing brightly coloured toys in front of him when laying on his front (stomach)
• Put a mobile in his bed
• Move your fingers or toys in and out of his line of vision
• Hold your baby up so that he can see more of his surroundings
• Gently massage or tickle your baby’s hand and feet
• Awake his interest by making various exaggerated facial expressions
• Gently stroke his skin with soft materials of different textures

 

**3 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

• Plays with his own fingers
• Pulls at clothings
• Holds a rattle momentarily when it is placed in his hand
• Hols his head up when lying on his stomach
• Express pleasure by smiling, kicking his legs and waving his arms
• Cries when he is left alone

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Reward all your baby’s behaviour – movements, gestures, expressions – by over reacting with praises, hugs and smiles
• Play simple, gentle physical games while singing to him – gentle jerks, knee bends, arm pulls, tickling feet
• Give small, firm toys of different weights, textures and sounds. Toys that can be reached for, grasped or handled
• Play nursery rhymes and music
• Let him explore your face, by looking and touching your face

 

**4 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

• He smiles at people and knows members of the family
• He laughs, squeels, cooes and gurgles
• He can grasp a ring or cube when given
• He attempts to roll from his back on to his stomach
• He shows in interest in new toys, sounds, places and people
• He is able to bring his hands together and look at them

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Provide a wide range of toys differing in sizes, shapes and textures
• Place toys in front of him and encourage him to reach out
• Encourage him to make noises by singing and playing rhythmic games with him
• Make eye contact as often as possible
• Make exaggerated faial expressions and gestures
• Encourage rolling over by moving colourful toys from one side to the other
• Place your baby on a large, firm inflatable ball and whilst supporting him, roll him to and fro and from side to side

 

**5 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

• Your child has good head control
• He can sit with support momentarily, leaning forward on his hands
• He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth
• He likes to pull his feet up and plays with his toes
• Moves his arms and legs to attract your attention
• He reacts appropriately to a smiling or angry face, and to a happy or angry voice

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• While lying on his back, hold his feet and make gentle cycling movements
• Encourage physical contact by playing touching games
• Put a small object in his hand, then open his fingers and let it drop
• Make his bath time enjoyable with bath toys
• Use his name whenever you can
• Play ‘chak’ or ‘peek-a-boo’ game to encourage your child to search for your face and voice

 

**6 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

• Put his weight on his forearms and lifts his head and chest up when lying on his stomach
• Sits without support momentarily
• Responds to his name
• Can pick up an object/toy and drop it involuntarily
• Shakes and bangs toys
• Turns over from his stomach to his back

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Play dropping a toy and encourage him to search for the toy
• Show him how to pass a toy from one hand to the other
• Give him baby biscuit/finger rusk which is easy to grasp and feed by himself
• Take him for outdoor walks and show him the plants, trees, birds, etc.

 

**7 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

•  He is able to creep (pull himself forward by moving his arms together and dragging his legs and stomach along the floor)
• He can transfer an object fro one hand to the other easily
• He bites and chew toy/biscuits
• He liks to bounce on both fet when held standing

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Repeat all sounds your baby makes like “ba”,”ma”,etc. Make new sounds and wait for him to respond.
• To get your baby to reach out while he is lying down or seated, offerhim some toys just out of reach.
• Encourage yur baby to stand with support
• Introduce colourful pictures
• Show you baby his reflection in the mirror and say his name to gain concept of self

 

**8 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

•  Rolls over and sits up with good control
• Can play with two toys at a time
• Pulls string to get a toy
• Babbes repetitive syllables eg. “dada”, “mama”, “gaga”, “baba”, etc
• Stretches out and reaches for toys out of reach
• Looks around for a dropped toy
• Begins to understand the meaning of words and knows what “No” means

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Play water games during bath time. Give him nonbreakable plastic jars and cups that he can use to pour, empty and fill
• Sit a short distance away from your baby, and reach your arms out to him. ncourage him to come to you by calling his name, and offering a toy that he likes (to motivate him o crawl or creep)
• Put a small piece of cloth over his face an praise him when he removes the cloth
• Place a toy to the side or behind the child while he is sitting to encourage im to turn sideways
• Show pictures of common objects and encourage him to point to the pictures

 

**9 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

•  He can sit unsupported, lean forward or sideways and stay balanced
• He tries to pull himself up to stand by holding onto something firm
• He picks up small things with all his fingers
• He claps his hand in imitation
• He begins to be shy and afraid of strangers

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Encourage him to stand by holding onto stable pieces of furniture (stay close by while he holds on to)
• Play pointing games and ask questions like “where is ayah?”, “where is mama?”
• Show your baby how to stack different coloured blocks of the same size
• Show him books with colouful pictures of animals, common household objects, etc
• Impress day-to-day routines like meal time, bed time, on your baby. For example, when you are feeding him, tell him “It’s lunch time” (“makan time”), what he is eating eg. “your favourite porridge”, etc

 

**10 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

• Crawls on hands and knees
• He can change positions from sitting to lying down and vice versa
• Likes to poke fingers into holes
• Tries to pick up small things
• Shakes his head to indicate “No”
• Gives affection, returns kiss or hug (**melt my heart huhuhu 😉 )
• Walks by holding onto furniture

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Show him how to put in and take out small objects from a container
• Encourage him to throw a soft ball
• Let him picks up toy. When he let go, encourage him t pick the toy again
• Put your baby on his hands and knees and sit a short distance away. Call his name and encourage him to com to you. Reward him with a hug for each achievement
• Play games and sing songs with actions
• Choose soft baby books with large bright illustrations and set aside a quiet time each day such as bedtime for READING

 

**11 MONTHS**

•  Walks when supported with one hand
• Like to put things into and taking them out of containers
• Likes to play clapping games eg. “tepuk amai-amain” or “pat-a-cake
• Can say one recognisable word eg. papa, mama
• Curious about things around the house
• Imitates simple actions eg. waving “bye-bye”

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Teach him to imitate simple actions for ewample “touch your nose”, “reach for the sky”, “clap your hands” etc
• Teach him to drink from a feeding cup
• Encourage him to stack (big/small cubes or plastic container)
• Demonstrate cause and effect eg. stack a column of blocks and knock them down saying “All fall down”
• Encourage him to stand and walk whilst holding on to a mobile steady object eg. push cart

 

**12 MONTHS**

Typical characteristics the baby shows at this age:

•  Atempts to walk a few steps forward without help
• Likes to throw things deliberately
• Likes to turn pages of books and magazines
• Shows a lot of affection by pressing his head and face against your
• He enjoys laughter and applause and will repeat his actions to get it
• Calls “papa” and “mama” with meaning

Suggested activities we can do to help stimulate all his senses:

• Play simple games by asking him to give a named object eg. “I want to comb my hair. Give me the comb, please”, etc
• Take him outside the house to explore eg. garden, shopping.
• Give him manipulative toys like small boxes with covers, rings of different colours and sizes, and toys that e ca pull and push
• Provide large pieces of paper and non-toxic crayon fro scribbling (child must be supervised all the time)
• Encourage your child to imitate adult activities eg. dialing the phone
• Read simple stories to the child

 

 There you go! Happy raising!

xoxo,

Tirokwifey 😉

 

Credit to original authors: Dr Hwang Yee Chern – (BA, MBBCH, BAO (Irel.) LMSSA (Lond.), DCH (UK), MRCP (PAEDS) (UK), DTMH, Consultant Paediatrician, Island Hospital, Penang **Dr Kaneshwari Yoganathan – MBChB (Liverpool), DCH, MRCP (UK), Consultant Paediatrician & Lecturer Dept of Paediatrics, UKM**Assoc. Prof Vijayalakshmi – MSc. Clin. Psychol., Uni. of Surrey, England, BSc (Hons) Neurobiology, Uni. of Sussex, England, Clinical Psychologist & Lecturer, Dept. of Paediatrics, UKM

Filed under: Babies, Posted in English, The First Year, 12 bulan pertama bayi, baby activity, baby development, baby first year, baby learning, baby stimulation, baby's activities, bayi 0 hingga 12 bulan, first year development, panduan didikan awal, panduan keibubapaan, perkembangan bayi, tips didik anak

10 Perkara Perlu Ajar Anak Sebelum Umur 10 tahun -Bhgn 2

..sambungan dari bahagian 1

1. Membaca & Menulis (reading & writing)

Membaca adalah suatu kemahiran asas yang sangat penting dan perlu dikuasai anak-anak menjelang usia 10 tahun.

Persoalan yang biasa ditanya ialah pada umur berapa harus anak-anak mula diajar membaca? Menurut pendapat penulis tersebut, sebahagian kecil kanak-kanak mula belajar membaca pada usia 4 namun namun kebanyakannya ialah pada usia 5 atau 6. Walau bagaimanapun, usia mula belajar membaca tidak semestinya menjadi ukuran pencapaiannya dalam akademik di kemudian hari.

Berkenaan tentang isu umur ini, saya lihat ramai ibu bapa hari ini yang aggresif dalam hal pendidikan anak-anak. Ramai mula menghantar anak-anak belajar membaca pada usia yang sangat muda seawal 3 tahun. Mungkin itulah gaya hidup hari ini. Seperti saya sendiri, anak-anak terpaksa diserahkan jagaan kepada pihak lain kerana terpaksa keluar bekerja (sedihnya tulis ayat ni 😦 huhuhu). Saya fikir, dari masa anak terbuang begitu sahaja (kerana tak pasti apa aktiviti dia di rumah babysitter) elok saya keluar duit lebih sikit lagi hantar ke playschool untuk pastikan masa anak saya bermanfaat dan ada aktiviti sesuai untuknya. Sama juga, bukan saya ada bersama dia.. huhuhu

Saya biasa ke kedai buku pada hujung minggu dan melihat anak-anak  kecil ini begitu seronok memegang dan membaca buku dengan lantang! hahaha. Beruntung sungguh mereka punya ibu bapa yang berkesedaran dan sanggup berhabis masa dan wang ringgit demi minda dan pengisian anak-anak 😉 “Rich people has big library. Poor People has big TV”, pernah dengar kiasan ini? Jom fikirkan.

Seterusnya orang bertanya lagi, macam mana nak ajar membaca?

Dalam artikel tersebut, penulis menceritakan pengalamannya yang telah mencuba beberapa kaedah untuk mengajar anaknya membaca. Namun dia sangat-sangat mengesyorkan agar kita menggunakan kurikulum dan kaedah ‘intensive phonics’. Dari pemahaman saya, kaedah phonic ini lebih kepada belajar english, spanish, etc. Saya kurang pasti apakah kaedah ini juga sesuai digunakan untuk mengajar bahasa Melayu, bahasa Arab atau bahasa-bahasa yang biasa dengan kita. Namun oleh kerana entry ini adalah berkenaan artikel sang penulis tersebut, maka anggap saja kita sedang mahu ajar anak baca bahasa inggeris okay 😉

Phonics

Sebelum saya bercerita lebih lanjut, di sini perlu kita jelas terlebih dahulu tentang apa itu phonic. Ini yang saya jumpa dari wikipedia; “Phonics refers to a method for teaching speakers of English to read and write that language. Phonics involves teaching how to connect the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters (e.g., that the sound /k/ can be represented by c, k, ck or ch spellings) and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words.”

Macam mana kita nak ajar anak membaca guna kaedah phonic kalau kita sendiri pun baru pertama kali dengar istilah itu? Hahaha. Jadi, kita kena ajar diri kita dulu, baru ajar anak 😉 Penulis tu cakap kaedah phonic ni kalau baru kenal memang nampak macam susah dan banyak sangat peraturannya TETAPI sebenarnya senang saja. Anda dah hilang semangat nak belajar phonics?? Haish, macam mana nak ajar anak nanti 😉 Jangan mudah mengalah, cuba ye. Untung tau, nanti kita pun boleh tingkatkan kemampuan berbahasa inggeris kita sendiri 😉 Saya pun baru nak mula ni! Tiada istilah ‘sudah terlambat’ dalam hal nak menuntut ilmu tau.

Buku nota/skrap bahasa (Language Notebook)

Setelah kita mula ajar anak membaca, bolehlah kita mulakan juga ajar menulis kerana keduanya saling memerlukan.

Anak-anak perlu ada buku nota/skrap mereka, khusus untuk belajar membaca dan menulis. Seeloknya biarlah helaian kertas kajang (tiada garisan, kosong) dan gunakan fail atau pengikat yang mudah dibuka-tutup supaya kita boleh keluarkan atau masukkan isi kandungannya. Buku nota ini adalah sebagai tambahan agar anak-anak lebih kenal dan faham apa yang telah mereka baca. Kita tuliskan abjad besar-besar dalam buku tu. Kemudian kita boleh gunting dan tampal ‘Apple’ atau ‘Anggur’ di halaman “A”, ‘Button’ atau ‘Burung’ di halaman “B” dan seterusnya. Terserah kepada kreativiti kita sendiri bagaimana hendak membuatnya. Anak-anak yang baru mula belajar menulis juga boleh hias buku nota mereka ini dengan ‘contengan’ mereka yang ‘abstrak’ itu. ;p Tapi mereka kena lah juga sambil-sambil conteng tu menulis ABC ye ;p

Oh ya, oleh kerana kita sendiri pun baru nak belajar phonics, maka ibu-ibu pun kena ada juga buku nota ini ye 😉 hihihi

Menyalin naskhah (Copywork)

Setelah bekerja keras (ibu) dan berseronok (anak) berkenalan dengan abjad (ketika ini mungkin buku nota/skrap book tadi dah penuh dan tebal!), kita bolehlah mula dengan aktiviti seterusnya iaitu aktiviti menyalin/copywork. Kita boleh mulakan aktiviti ini bila kita lihat anak sudah boleh menulis dengan lancar.

Menyalin (saya tak mahu guna perkataan meniru, bunyi macam negatif sangat, heheh) adalah satu cara yang sangat baik untuk berlatih menulis, meningkatkan penguasaan phonics, memperkenalkan anak-anak dengan tatabahasa dan contoh ayat yang baik, juga sebagai asas kepada anak-anak untuk menulis secara kreatif di masa depan.

Apa yang anak-anak kita kena salin? Di sinilah kita perlu bijak dan selektif. Sebaiknya pilihlah hasil penulisan yang baik. Kalau orang Kristian memilih Injil, maka saya suka cadangkan kita mulakan yang pertama sekali dengan menyalin terjemahan surah-surah di dalam kitab suci Al-Quraan. Selain itu, turut dicadangkan ialah menyalin puisi, kata-kata hikmah, kisah-kisah nabi, hikayat sastera melayu dan inggeris, ucapan orang-orang termasyhur dan lain-lain mengikut kesesuaian umur dan prestasi anak.

Sebelum beri anak baca atau salin sesuatu, penting untuk kita baca dahulu bahan tersebut untuk pastikan ianya hasil tulisan yang baik samada dari sudut kandungan mahupun teknik penulisan dan tatabahasanya.

Anak-anak boleh menulis di dalam buku nota bahasa tadi atau boleh juga buka buku khas untuk aktiviti menyalin sahaja.

Dalam mengajar anak-anak membaca dan menulis ini, saya sangat insaf dengan pandangan sang penulis yang dengan tegas membidas orang yang tidak suka membaca.  Pada pandangannya, orang yang lebih suka menghabiskan masa lapang menonton tv dan filem, bermain video dan computer  game, atau yang menghabiskan masa mencari hiburan tidak akan mampu berfikir secara kritis. Hal ini turut ditulis dalam dua buah buku oleh Jane Healy,  Endangered Minds: Why Children Don’t Think and What We Can Do About It dan Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds for Better and Worse.

Jadi, sebagai ibu bapa marilah kitajadikan membaca suatu budaya di rumah. “For one who is truly taught to think, thinking becomes his way of life”.

Terpulang kepada kita untuk bersetuju (kena batang hidung saya!) atau benci kepada pendapat di atas, namun sudah terang lagi bersuluh bahawa membaca itu jendela ilmu.

Bagi orang-orang Islam, ingatkanlah kembali wahyu yang pertama “Bacalah…” – Al-‘Alaq.

bersambung..

Tirokwifey

Original article by Laurie and Harvey Bluedorn. Read original article here.

Filed under: Early Child Education, Posted in Bahasa Melayu, Series, ajar anak kecik, baby activity, baby learning, didikan awak kanak-kanak, Early Child Education, panduan didik anak, panduan didikan awal, panduan keibubapaan, tips didik anak

First day in Raniya

Salam and greetings dear mommies

Today is my dear darling Damia’s first day in Raniya. I’ve been long thinking of sending her here, after been recommended by my fellow colleague in the office. One of my friend+neighbour also send their kids there. So you can see why i decided, at last, to agree to send her there.

Before that, i must make clear that sending my precious little angle to the taska (or any nursery or playschool, whatever there is out there) does’nt make me proud at all, as a mom. As honest as i can say, i really want my dear little honey to be home with me. To raise her with my own hand, the safest hand she could be with. To teach her about life, as the best teacher she could ever have. To feed her with the best food cook with lots of nutritions and love. To be with her exploring the world she yet to know.  But how can that be possible when i myself not even home? Uhh, this is really a sensitive topic to me. Gotta work smarter and realize my WAHM target soon!

Now let me share with you about Taska Raniya. It is located in a double-storey bungalow in Datuk Keramat, very near to Lanai Gurney/Gurney Height Condominium. Taska Raniya accept baby from the age of 3 months old to children up to 6 years old. There’s also transit child but only for those kids who have been with Raniya since they’re babies.

Taska Raniya apply/practice the Glen Doman method (i’ll write more about Glen Doman method in my future entry ). He, through researches and experiences, propose that ‘there are just five pathways into the brain and everything Leonardo learned in his life, or you in yours, or I in mine, or your baby in his or hers, we have learned through those five pathways. Those five pathways are: seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling. Never forget that when you are giving a child visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation with increased frequency, intensity, and duration that you are actually physically growing his brain’.

This morning when i and my dear hubby registered our little honey Damia, we were given the weekly activity time-table. Let me list it down here for the benefit of you dear readers. Who knows, some mommies out there can use or copy this to plan activities for their adorable little munchkins ;p

7.00-8.30 am : Children’s arrival, flash the card (could be word card, pics card, maths, bm, bi, dots etc)

8.30-9.10 am : Exercise session. Physical activity (creeping, crawling, jogging, brachiction, trampoline, balancing, patterning, pitching) and gymnastic activity (pitching, paterning, logroll, swing, dowel, backward roll, forward roll, hand stand, head stand, cartwheel). Wahhhh.. hahaha i’ll see if she would bring all these things home hahaha

9.10-9.30 am: Assembly – doa, surah, rukun negara, rukun islam, rukun iman, show & tell, flash card, sing negaraKu

9.20 – 10.20 : Breakfast & clean up. Take Attendance

10.20-10.30 : Doa and surah-surah lazim

10.30-10.40 : Taste, Smell and Music

Classroom Session :

10.30 – 11.00:  Weekly Theme Flash Card Session (BM, BI, BA, Thursday Mandarin)

11.00 – 11.10 :  Mathematics

11.10 – 11.20 : Flags & Program Campaign

11.20 – 11.30 : Colouring / Painting / Explore

11.30 – 12.00 : Lunch

12.00 – 3.00 : Nap

3.00 – 3.30 : Tea time & Clean-up

3.30 – 4.30 : Creative Activity (Jawi, Arabic, Writing, Origami, Colouring/Match, Story Telling)

4.30 – 6.30 : Free Program / Watching Video / Television / Playing Toys

After that, Ibu pick up time! hehehe

Do you see it too much for an 11-months old? Depends how you see it. For me, i see it very interesting! Well, everyone walks a different life, and you know what best for your kids. I believe i do too.

This week’s theme is ‘MY BODY’. Parents are encourage to promote the theme at home too and make it the topic of conversation for the whole week to increase the kids understanding. Hmm got to stick Damia’s fun room’s wall with photos of the body parts. Yeay~ i’m so excited!

I’ll let my dear little angel get along with her new venture and see how  she’ll be doing. I always pray for her best.

mmuahs-mmuahs for your lil’ baby too!

Will update soon!

Love,

tirokwifey

Filed under: Damia, Nursery Review, Posted in English, baby activity, baby development, baby learning, baby playschool, raniya nursery, tadika raniya, taska raniya, taska raniya datuk keramat, teaching baby