Boys and Girls & The Gender Issue

Posted by: Sharmila Rajah Post(s) by this blogger

It’s becoming more apparent with each day. Ayanna at Shamindra’s age was very different from how Shamindra is now. Ayanna was less physically explorative while Shamindra, not only has he begun crawling and cruising much earlier, but he is just all over the place. He is in every nook and cranny, climbing over stools, up the stairs and onto chairs. 

As experts say boys' gross motor skills (running, jumping, balancing) tend to develop slightly faster, while girls' fine motor skills (holding a pencil, writing) improve first. Often girls show an interest in art (painting, colouring, crafts) before boys for this reason.

Boys on average tend to be more risk-takers - the pleasure center of the brain actually lights up more for boys when they take risks.

All about gender

Our kids develop expectations about gender based on their early observations at home. As much as we can we try to encourage Ayanna to be as sporty (as she is girly). She watches her dad in the kitchen cooking and is aware that the kitchen is not just the domain of mums and grandmas.

Experts urge parents to allow children the chance to discover what feels right – to encourage interests that fall outside traditional gender roles.

At four, Ayanna seems to have adopted some stereotypical attitudes in her efforts to distinguish gender roles. We continue to encourage her to see beyond traditional labels as we do the same with Shamindra. He is exposed first-hand or through books to a variety of emotions and has been given non-gender specific toys.

Gender is very much an evolving concept throughout childhood and especially at 4.

How do you develop an understanding of gender amongst your kids in your household?

My four-year-old: the avid reader

Posted by: Sharmila Rajah Post(s) by this blogger

Ayanna enjoys reading. She is curious how a tale is weaved; how characters develop and how the story ends. Her current favourite – the Cat in the Hat series.

Ayanna loves discovering new words, spelling it out and attempting to pronounce it. She enjoys the thrill of pronouncing a new word right. And is eager to try it herself without help.

How do you encourage your child’s interest in reading? How do you nudge your kids in the right direction?

Here are some tips how you can do so:

-    The more you read and play with language the more interested your child will be.
-    Point at words as you read to teach your child that words are made of a sequence of letters.
-    Question and talk about the book and illustrations, the title and author.
-    Play with rhyme – let your child learn his letters and their sounds. Create your own rhymes, sing popular rhymes together. Dr Seuss’s books are a great example of stories that rhyme and are full of fun adventure for little ones.

Do your part in creating a word-rich environment for your child.

9th month update

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Shamindra is cruising well into his 9th month, pulling up and attempting to walk by standing and holding on to someone or something such as a push toy. He loves to clap his hands and is beginning to move his hands as if he’s waving. He’s drinking from a regular cup and a sippy cup quite independently.

Shamindra’s becoming more aware of his environment and the faces he encounters. He recognizes familiar faces and greets them with smiles.
During play, he’s able to remove objects from a container. He loves turning toys over and inspecting their wheels, knobs and levers. Shamindra objects when a toy is taken away from him. He’s increasingly assertive, objecting quite forcefully.

Shamindra’s babbling has turned to jabber, sounding more like real words. It’s obvious from his reactions and facial expressions that he comprehends more from our tone of voice than from our actual words. He seems to be slowly grasping an understanding for the word ‘no’ (not that he obeys it every time).

Preschooler – Dental Hygiene 101

Posted by: Sharmila Rajah Post(s) by this blogger

Ayanna knows all about the importance of brushing her teeth. She does so at least twice a day. At four she is eager to assert her independence – so she brushes her teeth on her own. This is followed by either mummy or daddy brushing to ensure a thorough cleaning.

Ayanna is aware of what happens when her teeth are constantly exposed to excessive sugars. Food high in refined sugars are limited to birthdays and special occasions. Juices are watered down to reduce the sugar content and served with meals and snacks.

We visit the dentist once a year. We are intending to introduce Ayanna to flossing, which Ayanna will probably need help with for now

Baby’s first teeth - Dental Care 101

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Now that Shamindra’s pearly whites have sprouted, we’re keen on keeping them spotless even though they are destined for extinction. All of a baby’s first teeth can be expected to fall out during the early school years to be replaced by permanent teeth. So why the fuss you wonder?

Primary teeth are important as they are needed for biting and chewing for the first few years. Bad teeth could interfere with good nutrition. Healthy teeth are important for the development of normal speech and appearance (both important to a child’s self-confidence). Instilling good dental habits in a child early on is an obvious plus.

Dental hygiene these days is a combination of brushing with a finger brush and wiping with a cloth (which does a more thorough job for now). Proper nutrition is an important contributor to dental health. Ensuring a good intake of calcium, phosphorus, fluoride and vitamin C helps towards maintaining healthy gums. Limiting foods in high sugars is also a good thing.

Good professional care to ensure healthy teeth and gums are absolutely necessary. Shamindra’s first routine checkup is anytime between his first and second birthday.

Teething...

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Can you spot them?

Those pearly whites have erupted… gone are those gummy grins.
Shamindra is showing off a pair on his lower jaw.

Fine tuning your child's motor skills

Posted by: Sharmila Rajah Post(s) by this blogger

A recent comment from a reader on my blog prompted me to wonder about fine motor skills and how as parents we could help our kids enhance and master theirs. By motor skills we mean those ‘small, precise, thumb, finger, hand and wrist movements’. These are vital as they support a list of other very important physical and mental skills.

Here’s some of the simple things kids can do around the house to boost their fine motor skills:

-        Stacking blocks, sorting and stringing. Let your little one play with blocks of different sizes, shapes and colours which are great for those nimble fingers.

-        Simple household activity. Get them engaged in making breakfast or tea-time favourites like cupcakes and muffins. Ayanna helps out making breakfast by beating the egg or cracking it; stirring the batter and spreading the butter. Minimize the mess and spills by placing a mat on the kitchen floor and getting your toddler to wear an apron or an art-bib.

-        Getting dressed – Ayanna loves to try her hand by looping buttons through the button holes. Getting even just one through gets her all excited. Dressing up a toy is another way for your little one to practice their finger and hand coordination.

-        Filling up and dumping out- Shamindra does this using his toys. This is an important activity as your child learns that one object like a bucket can hold another object. Doing so with sand in your own sand pit or filling a bucket with water are some examples. Older kids can help out with the laundry by filling up the washing machine with clothes.

-        Painting and colouring; tearing and pasting; drawing and scribbling. Drawing with crayons is a great way to improve fine motor skills such as grasping and holding. Don’t forget finger painting.

-        Play dough – modeling and manipulating play-dough is a great way for little hands to build strength and agility. Let your little one roll, shape, punch and mold to their liking.

Most importantly step back and let them try their hand at simple tasks. With plenty of encouragement and support your little ones will find the time and space to learn and build on their motor skills.

 

Double Greetings

Posted by: Sharmila Rajah Post(s) by this blogger

We wish all our Muslim readers a Selamat Hari Raya and to all Malaysians a very happy Merdeka Day.

8th month update

Posted by: Sharmila Rajah Post(s) by this blogger

The other day we walked into the room and were surprised to see Shamindra standing and grinning at us from inside his cot. He is now strong enough to pull onto his feet and stay in that position, holding on to a piece of furniture. He seems to know how to get up but not quite how to get back down again. He tends to tumble down, sometimes bumping his head.

He crawls and can sit, even getting into the sitting position from his tummy.

These days he can feed himself though it may only be for a brief moment.

He’s saying dada. He can clap his hands and even sometimes wave goodbye.

Shamindra gets busy exploring objects by shaking them, banging them, dropping them, throwing them and of course gumming them.

He’s at the stage where he loves watching things fall down, get picked up and then get thrown down again. He finds the spectacle interesting and wants to watch it again and again.

And seems to understand ‘no’ but does not always obey it.

A whole new world is opening up for Shamindra as he finds newer ways of exploring it.

Getting around...

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There’s no stopping Shamindra now. He’s moving into every nook and cranny; exploring as he is getting around efficiently on his own. He’s not engaged in the traditional crawl though. Shamindra is slithering around on his tummy. He can be spotted rocking back and forth, trying to balance on his hands and knees as if he were about to launch off on the crawl. But nothing’s happened yet. Well, it’s not style that matters but the fact that he’s getting around (no matter how he does it).

Though most babies start crawling soon after they sit well on their own, Shamindra didn’t quite follow this. He opted to slither around first before becoming comfortable enough to sit.

 We’re waiting for him to move forward, pushing off with his knees in the traditional crawl. For now he has opted for a different mode of travel.