The Growing Child

The Growing Child

Every single day is exciting to the child who is meeting new people and experiencing new things. The brain is a sponge that takes in everything and holds it until it is needed or accessed for some reason. This is therefore a great opportunity to lay down the groundwork for the circuits that will be operative in the next 60 to 70 years. Input determines output, so one should be diligent at mental stimulation of the very young.

We are told that the first three years are the most important, but it wouldn't hurt to keep the stimulation until the child is much older. The technique really seems to be the provision of all sorts of experiences encompassing the senses, as well as provoking thought and reasoning by story-telling or verbal associations and appropriate responses by the adults.

For the growing child, the following apply:

1. Every activity needs to be explained or talked about, even such a mundane thing as diaper-changing.

2. Specifics are helpful -- look at the blue car, the big red ball, the tall tree, etc.

3. Relationships explained encourage memory recall -- the biggest building is where they make the furniture ...

4. Conversations about just anything encourage social skills, and questions often get the child to talk -- what did you

do when the chair fell over? and did you cry? were you scared?

5. If the child doesn't want to converse, talk about something else but not him -- how many teachers do you have?

are the boys in your class big? do the girls play with you?

6. It is always wise to explain even if you think the child is too small to understand -- you can't get up on the table;

your feet are dirty and it is not nice to dirty the table we eat from. Besides, you might fall and hurt

yourself. You will be surprised to know that this works also in the imposition of discipline. Children

obey when they understand, and when real logic is present, not when they are lied to or threatened

with punishment.

PLAY is important -- the more imaginative, the better:

Let's ride a boat to go to Mindanao (they then get into a large box and start rowing)

You be the teacher and I'll be your student (great for building self-esteem)

You be the doctor -- look at my throat and check my heart (great for relieving the child of doctor-phobia)

Let's ride the plane (for practice before the actual date -- prevents surprises for the child)

How does the snake move?

PATIENCE is even more important. The child will be a handful. especially if he is normal, and more so if he is smart. He will ask questions and demand answers. He will explore the world physically while he is doing it intellectually, so accidents are things that we should anticipate and try to prevent.

Parents learn from children while the little ones are accumulating their own knowledge of the world. but sometimes parental anxiety is so high that enjoying each other may not be possible until the adults learn to relax a little and let go. After all, children do grow up, move away, explore the boundaries of existence and have their own families. Then the cycle starts again..

*GROWING CHILD LINKS * What about TV?

HOME PAGE || The Preborn || The NEWBORN || The PREMATURE INFANT || PARENTING ISSUES || RESOURCES || LINKS || eMAIL Me ||

This Page was Last Updated on April 23, 2002