November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 by admin

Self-Help Skills in Preschoolers

Self-help skills are the day-to-day tasks that people engage in as they are crucial in our daily lives. Such skills include cleaning up after oneself, self-feeding, carrying one’s own belongings, and the list goes on.

As much as these tasks are usually done by young children with much support given by adults, the term ‘self-help’ suggests that these skills are expected to be acquired independently to sustain their very basic needs in their daily lives.

But how can we be so sure that our children will eventually get there? How was it like for us when we were growing up? When was the last time your parents put on your shoes for you? How is it like for our children now that we are parents or caregivers ourselves? What can we do as caregivers to help children get better with such tasks?

Nature VS Nurture

These everyday tasks are things we, adults, often take for granted as those tasks are so in our nature. However, to children, these tasks require skills that need to be nurtured, giving them the opportunity to learn, practice and acquire.

Thinking back on our childhood days, can you recall when was the last time your parent put on shoes for you? Probably not, as most of us may not have any memories of our childhood before the age of 3. And if we cannot recall our parents doing some of the everyday tasks for us, this would probably mean that we have been accomplishing these tasks independently at a really young age. Because we were given the exposure and opportunities to learn, practice and acquire these self-help skills, we can accomplish the everyday tasks so confidently that all these daily routines just become so natural.

Overdoing Vs Supporting

Don’t be surprised that we, the caregivers, are sometimes the biggest thing standing in their way. We are so often in a hurry and it is so much easier to do things for our children, and this is a sign of caregivers overdoing it. When we overdo it, we unknowingly take away the precious opportunities for children to learn, practice and acquire these self-help skills.

Instead, support them, by slowing down and giving them your trust that with gentle encouragement and bite-size guidance, they will be able to do it on their own with you around them and eventually, being able to do it independently.

As children approach self-help skills, it’s given that they will do things differently, messier and longer than what is expected from them. But as children gain finesse through trial-and-errors, they will achieve mastery.

Benefits of Supporting Children with their Self-help Skills

Most young children like to feel independent and will start taking pride in what they do when they can accomplish tasks independently. More often than not, they still need our constant encouragement to be reminded that they are capable, and we believe that they CAN do it.

Having said that, the caregiver’s patience and gentle guidance will mean a lot as the children need to be given plenty of time and opportunities to take on and practice on accomplishing different tasks on their own. But this choice of yours will definitely benefit them in the long run as it encourages independence and self-confidence in our children.

Let’s consistently encourage our children in acquiring their self-help skills,

Capella Preschool team

October 31, 2019October 31, 2019 by admin

Snowplow Parenting Explained

As parents, it is natural to not want our children to experience struggle. We tend to clear every obstacle in our children’s paths so they can get what they want and when they want it. It is instinctive to us as parents to prevent them from encountering failures, frustrations or lost opportunities.

When given the opportunity, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to make their children’s life easier? But, are we overdoing it? How can we be more supportive without actually robbing our children’s adulthood from them?

We heard a lot about being a ‘helicopter parent‘ who practices hovering around one’s children, monitoring every activity and rescuing them whenever trouble arises. We swear we wouldn’t want to be one. We want to protect without being overprotective and to be involved but avoid overinvolvement. This is when the term ‘snowplow parent’ arises.

What is snowplow parenting?

Snowplow parenting is a parenting style that constantly forces obstacles out of their children’s paths. These parents have their eyes on the child’s future success and ready to remove anyone or anything that stands in the way.

“Instead of preparing children for challenges, they plow obstacles away so kids won’t experience them in the first place,” weareteachers.com explains.

Who is a snowplow parent?

Snowplow parenting is not as aggressive as helicopter parenting and it involves much more letting-go. There are still a lot of “saving” actions involved in it.

Unlike helicopter parents, snowplow parents will let their children walk to school on their own because the research tells them it will contribute to their independence and self-esteem. They are OK with their children experiencing some failures at school or not being on the best group. However, they do put some effort into making their children’s lives a little easier, often in ways that they don’t notice.

What can we learn from snowplow parents?

It is definitely easier and happier for both children and parents when the snowplow parents successfully “removed” any failures and troubles from their children’s paths, at least for that very moment. The problem arises when the children have grown up and the parents are no longer able to be there with them, removing each and every struggle in their every day lives.

They need that resilient, that courage to take risks, those coping skills to handle failures and the maturity to make decisions on their own independently. If the road is always cleared for these children, snowplow parents are taking away those golden times when and where they can actually have the opportunity to hone their survival skills, to feel, confront and bounce back from those unpleasant feelings of sadness, frustration and being hurt.

In conclusion…

We are always trying our best as parents, no label fits any of us perfectly.

As painful as it is to admit, we will come to realize that we can’t actually remove every obstacle from every path that our children will go through. Consequences and failures are not always bad too, more often than not, they are actually blessings in disguise.

Allow the children to rough it out through the “snowstorms” to build life-coping skills they’ll need down the road to handle life. Of course on extremely “snowy” days, we can still pull out the snowplow and help move the things that block their ways 🙂

Cheers,

Capella Preschool Team

Read our other article here: Why, Mummy, Why? A Tribute to All Parenting Souls Out There

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September 24, 2019September 28, 2019 by admin

Physical Activity for Preschool Children

We live in a digital era where the nature of our lifestyle is more sedentary. We spend the majority of our time in front of the digital screens as technology is undebatably part of our lives. While the invention of digital screens and other mobile devices is a quantum leap of this age that brings us so much convenience, there is an increasing number of researches highlighting the negative effects of it. One of the negative effects is physical inactivity which leads to poorer body coordination and obesity.

Our Children Move Less Nowadays

A study has shown that one-third of more than 70,000 young teens lead sedentary lives, spending more than three hours a day watching television or playing on the computer. (Gruthold et al., 2010). This is supported by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) study done on global health in September 2018, stating that one in three Singaporeans does not get enough physical activity.

With this trend on a rise, Singapore’s government bodies have worked together to ensure that sufficient physical activities are catered to children to counter the negative effects that people are facing in this digital era.

Why Physical Activities are Important for Children

Physical development is one of the initial fundamental skills that is largely focused on because these are essential skills that will help them to gain strength and flexibility in the movement of their body.

roll the ball physical education

In order for children to be more skilful in controlling and coordinating their body movements, it is important that physical education is in place to provide them with opportunities and experiences to enhance their fundamental movement skills and increase their movement competencies. Given sufficient time to explore and practice, children will become more competent in demonstrating motor skills and applying these skills to prepare them to take on sports in the future.

On top of that, it contributes to the holistic development of the whole child, such as promoting mental alertness, creative thinking, decision making, physical fitness, better physical coordination, self-esteem, self-confidence. Children who are competent in fundamental movement skills are proven able to participate successfully in a range of sports and more likely to assume leadership roles, as they perceive themselves positively (Teo-Koh, 2018).

physical activity ball Physical activity win

What We Can Do as Caregivers

While it may seem like children are naturally progressing in basic movement skills such as walking and running, the fact is they need guidance and practice to acquire many other movement skills, such as leaping, galloping, hopping, throwing, jumping, catching, kicking, etc. Without proper demonstrations and opportunities to practice, these movements may not be “encoded” in their brain and they may not be able to use these skills to manoeuvre in their physical environment.

physical activity jumping

It is also good for caregivers to be actively involved so as to keep the children motivated. This way, children will find joy in movement. This lays the foundation for them to continue being active and more inclined to incorporate regular physical activities later on in life.

Physical activity

During physical activities or play, do give them guidance and ample time to keep practicing and perfecting the skills that they are acquiring. To keep their interests up high, remember to always use positive reinforcement.

Physical activity fun

Do check out our article about the benefits of cookery experiences at preschool: Cooking with Children at Schools – Why it is Important.

Happy Reading,

Capella Preschool Team

Reference:

Guthold, R., Cowan, M. J., Autenrieth, C.S., Kann, L., Riley, L.M. (2010). Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School Children: A 34-Country Comparison. The Journal of Pediatrics

Lai, L. (2018, September 6). One in three Singaporeans not active enough. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/one-in-three-singaporeans-not-active-enough

Teo-Koh, S. M. (2018). Fun Start Move Smart! Fundamental Movement Skills for Growing Active Learners. Sport Singapore.

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July 20, 2019August 28, 2019 by admin

Understanding Separation Anxiety in Preschoolers

A simple act of waving goodbye to their parents involves a certain complexity of emotions for preschoolers, regardless of the duration of separation. The biggest feeling that usually surfaces up when anticipating separation is anxiety. People usually feel anxious because of the unknown and uncertainty that come after the separation. This anxiousness will lead people to feel other mixed emotions such as fear, feeling lost and frustrations.

As adults, we know how to manage and express these emotions in different socially-acceptable ways. However, it is not the case for our young ones. They will usually apply the ways they know how to express those feelings, which include screaming, crying, clinging, rolling on the floor, hitting and kicking. On some occasions, separation anxiety may lead to nightmares and insomniacs, which are just part and parcel of adjusting to the changes that are happening in their lives.

Why Does Separation Anxiety Happen to children?

Fearing the unknown is the cause of separation anxiety, in this case, children experience separation anxiety because they do not know:

How long they are going to be away from their parents
Would their parents even come back for them
Is the new environment safe for them

How Do We Handle Separation Anxiety?

DOS:

Children are very sensitive to the feelings that parents emote. Thus, it is important for parents to stay calm and composed. We understand that in the process of going through separation anxiety, the parents can also be very stressed and anxious which is expected. In the case that the parents or caregivers need to express their emotions, it is advisable to do it after the parents have sent the child into the school and not in front of him/her. Seeing that the parents and caregivers are as anxious or even more anxious than the child will heighten up the existing anxiety, which in this case will not help the situation.
Parents should always inform their children where they are going and when they will be back to pick them up. It is strongly advisable to keep the promises made to them and be on time when picking them up.
Parents should reassure children that they will be in school with the teachers who will take good care of them and have fun with them. Make it visible to the children that the parents trust the teachers hence they can trust the teachers too.
Parents should create a short and simple goodbye ritual with their children and stick with that consistently, especially during the process of easing the anxiety. For example, waving goodbye followed by a big hug and a kiss on his/her forehead. After that, the parents should walk away confidently from them and let the teachers take over.

DON’TS:

Do not hold onto your crying child tightly, instead, confidently pass your child to the teacher-in-charge because this act of passing shows children that the parents trust the teacher and therefore, they can feel safe with her.
Do not prolong the goodbye process. Some children will try to drag the goodbye longer by negotiating or clinging on to the parents tighter than usual. Stick to the consistent goodbye ritual and keep it short and sweet.
Do not disappear when you realize your child is not looking, because this act of disappearing will result in your child fearing of the unknown. In this case, the children will no longer be able to predict what causes the parents to go missing, when and why they suddenly go missing. This will lead to a feeling of helplessness.
Do not appear again because you realized that your child is still crying, because this will send a signal to the child that when he/she cries, daddy or mummy will come back for them immediately. This action will also prolong the anxiety as they will attempt for more intense, longer and louder cry, thinking that this action will bring the parents back like the day before.

Separation Anxiety is NOT Forever

Well, the good news is separation anxiety is a phase that every child will go through in the process of understanding the concept of time, temporary partings and managing their emotions. Rest assured this will not happen forever and soon enough, your child will wave goodbye to you and walk into school independently by himself/herself. Having said that, it is always important to work closely with the school and take necessary measures to ease the transition for your children.

Do check out our article about choosing the right preschool for your child: What is the Best Preschool in Singapore for My Child?

Happy Reading,

Capella Preschool Team

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June 10, 2019August 28, 2019 by admin

Child Talk – How Do I Get My Child to Talk?

It is easy to think that children’s speech, language and communication develop no matter what.

But this isn’t true. Children don’t learn to talk by accident. According to researchers, parental interaction in supporting pre-literacy development is an important way of enhancing children’s language development.

Adults play a really important role in nurturing and supporting these skills. The way we talk to our children has a significant impact on their learning and ability to listen to us. Adults are role model for children on how they act and behave. The way we speak to them and others is showing them how we want them to respond to us.

Here are some tips to support children’s communication skills:

TALK to Your Child!

Take time to spend with your child.

Set aside time each day to talk to your child on the things that your child is interested in. You can also bring your child to places he or she likes.

If your child says, “I go library”, say to your child ‘I am going to the library (with you too).’

Allow your child to interact with you.

Use comments and prompt your child to keep the conversation going.

If your child is drawing a cat, say to your child, ‘That looks awesome. I love the cat!’ They can then respond with more words.

Listen to their responses to you.

If your child doesn’t get it quite right the first time, don’t say “that’s wrong”; help your child to say the right words or sentences the proper way.

Keep exploring words with your child. Talk about new words when your child comes across one.

When doing an activity, always recap the activity after you have done it. This helps to develop children’s ability to understand and say the words involved in the activity.

Expand what your child is saying. If your child says “want apple”, say to your child “Can I have an apple please?”

Engage Your Child in Both Meaningful and Nonsensical Conversations

Enjoy the conversation with your child as children learn from conversing with adults as much as with their friends and teachers. Conversation can be both serious or playful.

Comment on your child’s play using simple language, Teach your child to follow simple instructions.

Create memories most importantly, HAVE FUN!

Read our article about choosing the right preschool for your child: What is the Best Preschool in Singapore for My Child?

Warmest Regards,

Capella Preschool Team

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loose parts play in preschool with rocks paper

June 2, 2019August 28, 2019 by admin

Let’s Loose Parts Play in Preschool!

“As long as materials can be moved, redesigned, put together, and taken apart in a variety of ways, they are classified as loose parts.” – Simon Nicholson, 1971 (Founder of the idea of Loose Parts)

The theory of loose parts has begun to influence child-play experts and playscape designers in a big way. It was first proposed back in the 1970s by architect Simon Nicholson, who believed that it is the loose parts in our environment that empower our creativity.

So, what IS loose parts play in preschool?

In a preschool, loose parts are any collection of natural or manmade objects that can be used to extend and further ideas in children’s play. They are open-ended materials that can be moved, combined, taken apart, redesigned, lined up. There is no pre-determined use of the function.

Loose parts are open to a child’s interpretation and creative thinking.

A loose part can become anything!

In a preschool, be it indoor or outdoor environment we can provide an array of loose parts for use in play: stones, egg cartons, sand, soil, fabric, branches, wood, strings, balls, buckets, baskets, crates, boxes, leaves, rope, tyres, shells and bottles…

Why loose parts play

When children play this way, they

Do the thinking and figure things for themselves
Learn how to take healthy risks
Find innovative ways to think about the world and how it works, based on their own self-led, intrinsically motivated interests.
Practice necessary skills such as overcoming obstacles, creative problem solving (on their own or with other children), communicating their feelings effectively with others, and working with those who may have different points of view.
Experience the joy of self-discovery, the thrill of being able to pursue their own creative ideas without the fear of failure that usually arises when there is one, predetermined way to be “right” or to “win”.

theory of loose parts in preschool

In a nutshell, Loose Parts allows children to do the thinking and it aids in the following learning areas:

Problem Solving
Engineering
Creativity
Concentration
Hand-eye coordination
Fine motor development
Gross motor development
Language and vocabulary building
Mathematical thinking
Scientific thinking
Literacy
Social/emotional development

and believe there’s much more…

How to loose parts play?

Start collecting loose parts materials or add to your existing collection
To support child-directed play, give children permission by making sure they have their playtime every day – time with no adult-directed activities. Some children may need encouragement, ‘It’s Okay! Just play.”
Children need to have a place that they feel safe to play freely and get messy! This is where we play an important role. Assess the area and materials that children will be using before they get wild during their magnificent play. Making sure loose parts are age-appropriate and be aware of choking hazards.
Lastly, Children are experts in their own play. To support them, simply observe and listen. When invited, play along! If children ask for help, lend a helping hand. This shows that you are supporting their play without taking over.

Say goodbye to fancy toys and gadgets… Happy Playing!

Cheers,

Capella Preschool Team

Reference/s

Anna Housley Juster (Aug, 2o13), The Amazing Benefits of Child-Directed play The Amazing Benefits of Child-Directed play Excerpt from Pop-Up Adventure Play’s P.L.A.Y. Guide

Sally Haughey and Nicole Hill (2017), Loose Parts: A Start-Up guide

Retrieve from FairyDustTeaching

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May 29, 2019August 29, 2019 by admin

What is the Best Preschool in Singapore for My Child?

Having worked in preschools for many years and helping many families to decide on the right preschools for their children, I have encountered many of these questions from parents — “What is the best preschool in Singapore?” “Do you think this is the best preschool in Singapore?” “Can you recommend us some best preschools in Singapore?”.

If you have similar questions, I apologise for not being able to name you a preschool. Because, I personally believe that it is more important to find a preschool that best suits your child, in other words, Your Child’s No. 1 preschool, not Singapore’s Best Preschool.

Here are some questions that you may find helpful in choosing a preschool that will best suit your child.

Focal Point #1 – What is important for your child?

Being academically inclined, possessing positive moral values, an independent learner who has intrinsic motivation to constantly explore, investigate and construct his/her learning, able to understand his/her likes and dislikes, confident in his/her strengths, acknowledging and striving to improve his/her weaknesses.

By rating the above outcomes based on their level of importance can be a good way to determine what kind of approach and curriculum you would want to provide for your child’s education. It is important that the preschool you choose have the pedagogy and curriculum that will provide your child the best opportunity to become that person you want to help him/her to be.

Focal Point #2 – The Environment

Is the school clean? Does the school provide meaningful and safe facilities that engage children’s learning? Is the school filled with caring and fun-loving teachers who prioritise children’s needs above theirs? Is the management one that supports the teachers in prioritising children’s needs?

These are important things to notice because the environment plays a big role in providing the type of experiences that both you and your child will receive.

Focal Point #3 – Local Primary School VS International School

All parents would want to prepare their preschoolers so that they can transition in to the next milestone with minimum hiccups.
If your child is heading to local primary school, you may want to consider a preschool with a more structured curriculum that gives opportunity to your child to exercise a good balance between guided and child-initiated learning. Such curriculum will better ease your child into the local primary school which generally has more structure with mostly guided learning.

Talk to Us

If you would like to have a chat about finding a preschool that best suit your child, we are more than happy to help! You can give us a call to schedule for a visit to speak to us and meet our team. We are also contactable at sayhello@capellapreschool.com.

Read our article about separation anxiety here: Understanding Separation Anxiety in Preschoolers.

Happy Reading,

Capella Preschool Team

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March 7, 2019August 29, 2019 by admin

Why, Mummy, Why? A Tribute to All Parenting Souls Out There

They say, “curiosity kills the cat” but when you kill children’s curiosity, you kill their desire to learn.

According to researchers, babies are born with an internal desire to explore and discover the things around them. This is the reason one of the most frequently used words by children is the word, “why?”

Too frequent that sometimes parents wished they never knew this word. If this is how you feel, it is time to take a different perspective and start embracing the fact that your child has a very strong desire to learn.

It is crucial to turn every “why” into learning opportunities for your child. “But I do not have the answers to all the questions asked”, this probably runs through our minds. But that is okay because a learning opportunity does not always require a correct answer.

Here are some tips to help caregivers manage the endless “whys” from children.

What do you think?

It is important to find out what the children’s thoughts are before giving them the answer to their questions. This is to gauge how much knowledge they already have so that you can give answers that are appropriate to their age. Ask children open-ended questions, not those questions that will encourage them to answer with a yes or a no, but those that will lead them to the answers.

Let’s find out together!

We live in a world that we have access to search engines, or even the library to find out about things that we do not know or understand. This is so useful especially when you do not have the answer to the questions that your children asked. Doing researches and/or experiments together with your children can be very interesting and fun! You will be amazed at the amount of knowledge you will gain from such experiences.

Good try! How about this?

Always use positive reinforcement, without discouraging the children to talk and to ask questions. There is no such thing as a stupid answer. Learning to redirect their answers to a more accurate answer by encouraging them through suggestions instead of telling them that they are wrong.

Always remember, you kill their curiosity, you kill their sense of wonder and eagerness to learn.

Happy Reading,

Capella Preschool Team

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