Month: August 2019

Why the arts matter!

Posted on by amelioadmin

Your toddler dips their hands in paint. They squeal with delight as they press their palms on to a piece of paper. They grab a paintbrush and smear colour all over the paper and themselves. Yes, it’s a sweet and special moment, but there is also a great deal of mess to clean up!

Developing motor skills

You might wonder what the value is in allowing your toddler, who can barely grasp a spoon, to paint and play with colours. However, the process of finger painting, drawing and wielding a paintbrush helps develop their fine motor skills. By allowing them to practice and explore, when they are out of toddlerhood and starting school they’d have developed dexterity and control, and should even be able to draw shapes and cut with scissors.

Expressing themselves

Nothing allows you to be inspired and express yourself like the arts do. Whether your child is reciting a poem or playing a piece of music – their creative juices are flowing. They will be thinking in a completely different way than when they do for math or a science experiment. This ability to express themselves and think creatively will help your child for the rest of their life!

Confidence building

Allowing your child to learn an art form – be it playing the violin or dancing Bharathanatyam – will help them build confidence.  As they learn and grow and see themselves becoming more adept and improving day by day, they will develop better self-confidence. They’ll also learn to make decisions and solve problems in the process.

 Teamwork

Singing in a choir, being part of a dance troupe or even putting up a play is filled with fun and camaraderie. But being part of a group like this will also teach your child to work with others, to own up to mistakes and to help their teammates when they slip up. They also learn to persevere and not give up! By interacting with others in these groups your little one will also learn social niceties and how to treat their peers with respect.

Growing up, most of us were asked to concentrate on math and the sciences in school, so that we’d have a successful future. But, now things are changing. Children are exposed to a lot more career options, everything from journalism and business to graphic design and sports management. So when they are allowed to practice the arts, their world is broadened and they develop mastery over a particular skill. This mastery helps them academically and emotionally, and they learn to follow their passion.

Celebrating Independence Day!

Posted on by amelioadmin

August 15th, Independence Day, is a landmark day for our country, and no one can contest that it’s important for our kids to understand the significance of the day. Yes, you could go about it by informing them about the history of the day, but is that enough?

Here are some fun classroom activities to help kids understand the relevance of the day and learn more about their country.

  1. Show the kids images and photographs of the various freedom fighters. Let each child come dressed as a particular freedom fighter and have them say a short note about the person they are dressed as. The kids could discuss and learn more about these iconic Indians.
  2. Watch a patriotic movie together (that is age-appropriate, obviously), and learn a little bit about our country’s history together. You could talk about the movie after and see what the kids felt and learned from the film.
  3. We are a country that’s rich in culture. There are particular languages, dance forms, arts, textiles and foods that are special to each region. Why not have each child represent a state or region and have them come dressed in that area’s attire, and perform a dance or art form that is synonymous to that area? Are there well-known authors or poets who are from that state? Have the children read out excerpts by them.
  4. Let the kids get creative making Indian flags – they could use bits of paper to make a collage flag or even create the flag using coloured grains.  Why stop with flags, you could have the kids draw, design or craft the national animal, national bird, and even the national flower, using interesting materials.
  5. Ask parents and people in the community to share more about their culture, the food they eat and the language they speak with the kids. Set up an Independence Day buffet or picnic. Have the kids bring in a food that the state or region their family is known for. This way the kids will get to taste and explore a range of flavours and learn more about each other.
  6. Plan a cleanup drive or a plant-a-tree drive for Independence Day and teach your kids the concept of giving back to society. Let them learn the importance of keeping their country green and clean by planting trees and cleaning up their surroundings.

May we teach our children to value the freedom they have, appreciate the diversity of our country and learn from our history.

How to Get Dressed: Teaching Your Toddler

Posted on by amelioadmin

There are so many milestones to be met in a young child’s life. From turning over and crawling, to their first words and baby steps. These are moments that are waited for and celebrated. But there are other milestones that are as important, that we don’t always pay attention to. One of them is helping your toddlers learn how to dress themselves.

Most of us are guilty of rushing our kids – helping them get dressed, putting on their shoes for them and literally spoon-feeding them. It’s totally understandable considering what busy lives we lead. It’s hard to sit patiently and watch your child struggle with buttoning up their shirt when you’re late for work.

However, being able to dress themselves is an important skill for your child to learn. It builds their confidence, helps them feel a sense of achievement and develops their fine motor, gross motor and cognitive skills.

Here are some tips to help your child as they learn to dress themselves:

  1. Mornings are super busy in most households with everyone needing to get out of the door to daycare, work etc. It may not be the time when you’re most patient. So, save the practicing and learning how to dress and undress for bedtime or evening bath time.
  2. Show your kids different items of clothing. Have them identify the pieces – t-shirts, shorts and so on. Demonstrate how to put on the clothing or shoes.
  3. It can be simpler to start with teaching your kids how to remove their shoes, or their pants. This is easier for them to do, and will give them the confidence to figure out how to put them back on.
  4. Choose clothes and footwear that are easy to put on. Say no to tiny buttons, zippers and laces and go with Velcro and elastic to begin with. Once they master pulling up their pants and putting on their shoes, you can teach them how to put buttons on or tie their laces up.
  5. Kids have a hard time distinguishing the front of clothing from the back, or even their right shoe from their left. Help them with this by buying clothing that has a logo or cartoon character on the front. Also, teach them how to find the tag, so that they know that goes in the back. Different stickers on each shoe can help them figure out which shoe goes on which foot.
  6. Make them sit on the floor while they put on their shoes and socks. This way they don’t lose their balance. Sitting on a small stool also makes taking pants off easier. It also helps to have a mirror close at hand so that they can check themselves and see that their clothes are on right.

A word of advice to all you parents – be patient! We know that it’s easier said than done. But once your child gets the hang of dressing themselves, that’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about and they will be that much more independent. So allow them to practice and try until they get it right.