Improving sleeping patterns in pre-schoolers

               Sleep is essential for our healthy well being. It relaxes the body and rejuvinates it for the onjcoming day's routine. After a good night's sleep person wakes up fresh and full of energy. But if sleep gets disturbed due to some reason or the other, it could result in lack of concentration, headache and dullness. In the similar manner sleep is important for the children as well, or it may result in behavioural problems.

               Although the duration for which the child sleeps differs from child to child, but on average pre-schoolers(2 to 5 yrs age) sleep for about 10-12 hrs.This may or may not include the day time nap. All this was general information regarding the importance of sleep and sleep requirements of the pre-schoolers. In this article I would like to give some tips for improving the sleeping habits of the children. Most of the parents approach doctors for advice on improving sleeping habits in children. I feel that they can solve this problem on their own, very easily by putting in some efforts themselves. These are tips which may help you:

*Make a bedtime routine. Change your child's clothes, help him brush his teeth and read him a bedtime story when you put him in bed. Make the lights in the room dim. All this procedure will help him relax and eventually he will fall asleep. He will also become familiar with the bed time.

*Giving the child a bath before taking him to bed will also help him relax. Let him play for a while in water before taking him to bed.

*Try to follow the same routine everyday and take him to bed approximately at the same time.

*Try to follow the same routine yourself as well. If you cannot, then pretend to sleep for sometime by switching off all the lights in the house and not talking. When the child falls asleep you may continue with your work.

*If the child is sleeping and you are busy in some work or watching TV try to keep the noise level minimum as it may interfare in his sleep.

*If the child wakes up in the middle of the night attend to him immediately. Hold him close to yourself, rub his back and donot talk to him unless he wants to do so. Most probably he will fall back to sleep in some time. All these activities make him feel safe and secure.

*Children are full of energy and enthusiasm. They need to spend this energy to have proper sleep and appetite. So take your child outdoors in the evenings somewhere, where he can play and spend some time with his friends. Be his friend and play with him if there is no-one around. If you take him with you to the shopping mall, let him walk around and explore things. Let him play for atleast one hour which will make him tired and hungry. So he will eat well and sleep on time.
        

TEACHING COLOURS TO THE CHILDREN

Colours are all around us but how can we make the preschoolers identify them? How can we make them understand whether it is red or yellow? Colours come to us naturally but the preschoolers have to be taught. It 's been a long time since we learnt to identify the colours, which makes this task much more complicated. Like everybody else these thoughts bothered me as well.
                         So initially when I started teaching her the colours i did not know how to proceed. I tried many methods but none of them seemed to be helping me. May be I was not clear about the strategy myself so I failed in my attempts. Then one day while watching her play with one of her toys an idea came to my mind. I decided to use her toys to teach her the colours and this idea worked for me. What I did was, I started playing with her and in between I would tell her about the colour of the toy. I started with the yellow colour and continued the routine for few days. Then I began asking her which colour it was? and when she was unable to tell I prompted the answer yellow. In the beginning she did not pay any attention to what I said but later i felt she was paying attention to what she was being told. I don't remember after how many days I got the answer from her but my patience paid. She had learnt to identify the yellow colour not only in her toys but everywhere else. Next I moved on to red colour. This time it did not take her long to learn as she was eager to learn herself. So following the same technique I taught her most of the colours.

                        In order to give her more practise we played all sorts of games in which she would identify the colours for me either on the TV screen or the board books.  At times we engaged ourselves in the activities like colouring the pictures or scribbling with the coloured pencils on the plain paper. We even made coloured pictures on the computer screen using the programme microsoft paint.
                      Parents can easily use these ideas to teach their children to recognise colours. Besides these a variety of teaching aids are available in the market like chart of colours, books, stencils with colouring pens, different coloured clay etc. You may use them to help your child learn about colours. An important advice : It becomes easier to teach the children if we join them in their games. This way teaching becomes fun and the child can easily learn without even realising it. But revision is necessory so that the infromation  given stays with them forever.

Teaching manners and etiquettes to preschoolers

Preschoolers may learn a lot by observing  but still manners and behaviour need to be taught to them. Since they become capable of following instructions at this age and fully understand what they are being told, this is the best time to explain the importance of good manners and proper behaviour to them. At this age they are willing to learn new things and so, with suffiecient encouragement they can be easily taught how to behave in different situations.
           Instilling manners and values in child will not only help him earn good reputation in society but will also reflect on your parenting skills. It will enable him to adjust well to his surroundings and hence have a positive effect on his future life. Some basic manners that the parents need to teach are :

Magic words (Thankyou, excuse me, please, sorry) : Parents can teach their children when and where to use these words. Better to set an example themselves than talking about it. Parents should frequently use these words with their children and others as well. When situation arises, they should remind their child to use these words like saying Thank you when somebody helps them or gives them something. Parents can explain it to their child that when they use magic words other person becomes willing to help them. 

Greeting People  : We all greet friends and family whenever we meet them, either with a smile, handshake or by saying 'hello'. Children may have observed it but they will never realise its importance untill told.  So now is the time for parents to explain the importance of greetings. Children can develop this habit with frequent reminders. Parents can either remind them before the guests arrive or they reach the friends place, or gently ask them to greet them after they themselves have finished exchanging hi's and hello's.

Sharing and caring : Children must understand the importance of sharing. At this age the children are very possesive about their toys and other things. So naturally they don't want to share them with other children and even their friends. Parents or caregivers can explain the benefits of sharing to them, that it will help them make many more friends and they will also be able to play with their friend's toys. Before his friends come visiting to his place, parents can remind him to share his toys with his friend and that his friend will not take his toys with him and they will always remain with him. If the children fight for the same toy it can be replaced by a closely resembling toy or distract them by introducing a new game.

Hurting other children : Children should be taught not to push, bite or hurt other children in any possible ways. If they hurt someone accidently or unknowingly, they must immediatly appologise for their behaviour. Parents should make it clear to the children that such behaviour is unacceptable. It can be explained that if they indulge in such activities like pushing , shouting, biting nobody will play with them and playing alone is no fun.

Telling lies : Children should be encouraged to tell truth to their parents orcaregivers. Sometimes due to fear of punishmentor embarrasment children begin to tell lies. In these situations parents need to act calmly and explain the consequences of lies. They can ask the child to tell the truth as it is not a good habit to tell lies. At times when children lie to get attention, it is in the best interest of the child that parents ignore his lies. But the parents must understand that if their child is telling lies they need to rebuild the trust and understanding with him.
 With constant reminding and frequent praising the children can learn these basic manners and etiquettes and hence become socially acceptable.

Teaching the preschoolers numbers

Besides alphabets, teaching the children about numbers is also an essential task. Since it forms the base of various mathematical skills, it becomes important to make them familiar with the numbers. But teaching them counting can be quite very difficult at times. So child oriented or activity based approach needs to be used. This will not only generate the interest  in the subject matter but also develop  logical thinking, reasoning and problem solving ability of the child. At the same time it will make the process of teaching much more easy and fun. Various methods that can be used to make children familiar withthe numbers are as follows :
                   
* Sing a song - Songs or poems like one two buckle my shoe can be used to help them learn the counting from 1 to 10. So they will know the sequence of numbers by this method.

* Computer - Computer is an important educational tool and can be used to teach numbers to the children . The children can be taught counting by typing from 1 to 10 on word document. The parent or teacher can also help them type numbers on their own.

* Educational programmes - Nowadays various educational cd's are available in the market that prove to be of great help in teaching. Various educational programmes shown on certain channels also assist in teaching small children. These can be utilized by the caregivers to teach the children numbers.

* Board Books - These thick paged books with colourful pictures can also be used to help children recognise the numbers and learn to count from 1 to 10. Together with your child you can go through them and teach them counting.

* Blocks - Another important teaching aid is the number block or cube. These are easily available in the market and can be used to make children familiar with the numbers. You can play with the blocks with your child, at the same time show him the various numbers and tech him counting.

* Colouring Books - Children enjoy colouring pictures. This activity can be used to help them recognise the numbers and do counting. Colouring books are easily availble in the market.
        All these activities listed above involve the child and hence help them learn faster. But in order to teach the preschoolers  you should carefully plan the process and let them learn at their own pace. It is better to consider one number for some time before moving on to the other. Concentrate on one number at a time by showing same number of familiar things while teaching. Once the child becomes familiar with the numbers and can count uptill 10 it becomes easier to teach him how to count. Now all that needs to be done is help him count all the familiar objects around him. This can be made a part of daily routine like counting the fingers in hand or number of buttons in the shirt, or fruits in the fruit basket and so on. Besides this encourage your child to recognise the numbers at various places like in the telephone numbers, house numbers etc. This will help memorise all that he has learnt.
        Introduce the question 'how many' to him. When you ask it again and again, it will become clear to the child that this question requires him to count the number of objects. Another counting activity of mixing and matching can be played where you can place the number of things on one side and numbers on the other. The children can be asked to count the objects and keep the respective number in front of it. All these activities will not only boost up his confidence but also develop his logical thinking and problem solving ability.

Teaching alphabets to the preschoolers

The toughest part of teaching the pre-schoolers is teaching them alphabets. Since the alphabets lay down the foundation of reading skills , they are of utmost importance. Now the question arises how to do it without putting unnecessary pressure on them?

                     In order to teach these young individuals simple but innovative ways have to be used. AS it is well-known that the standards methods of teaching cannot be used. So the play-way method is used which utilizes all the three styles of learning: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Patience and perseverence is the key to success in teaching the pre-schoolers.  But adequate encouragement is also necessary.
            
                     So the best way is to introduce one alphabet at a time, and continue with it for atleast one week. But it is better to introduce both capital and small forms of alphabets at the same time as it may cause a problem later. I did not pay attention to this fact while teaching alphabets to my daughter, so when I tried to bring to her notice the small forms of same alphabets she simply refused to accept them. Now after showing them repeatedly along with the capital letters, she has started to recognize them.  It becomes easier to remember the alphabet for the child if it is associated with some known objects like an apple with "a". Whenever the child comes across that object you can remind him of that particular alphabet. In one week's time, while you teach a particular letter, you can introduce various objects beginning with it. You can do so by either showing their pictures or in real.
          The following  ways can be used to introduce the alphabets to the preschoolers :

Sing the ABC song- When you sing the ABC song the child will become familiar with all the alphabets from A to Z. Initially he may not be able to sing with you but eventually he will. You can make this song as a part of your bath or bed time routine.

Educational Programmes- Nowadays various educational CD's are available in the market. various Tv channels also show educational programmes. These channels or CD's make your work easier but the trick is that you must watch it with them and involve youself, i.e. you can dance with them , copy the movements shown, sing the songs (let your inner child come out)

Alphabet blocks or cubes- These are easily available in the market. You can bring them home and enjoy playing with your child. You could build structures like alphabet pillars or pyramids and at the same time introduce alphabets to your child.

Board Books-  If the child seems to be interested in reading books you can buy alphabet board books for him. These books have thick pages, nice pictures and come in great variety. The children cannot easily tear them, chew them or eat them. Together you can go through these books.  Reading is a good habit and you can nurture it in your child by making it a fun filled activity. It is essential for improving vocabulary. Read stories regularly to your child and you can do make it interesting by enacting the stories, by doing actions or by making different sounds.

Computer- All the children love to work on computers. You can use this opportunity to teach them alphabets. I used MIcrosoft word to teach alphabets to my daughter. She used to enjoy it a lot.

Cutting alphabets out of paper- You can cut alphabets out of plain sheets of paper and then help your child colour them.

Spray painting- This is another very interesting method of teaching alphabets. Alphabets stencils are easily available. They can be used to trace out alphabets by spraying colour into them using a toothbrush.

Sand- Children love to play in sand. You can join them and at the same time teach alphabets to them. When at home you can use flour in its place to teach.

Clay, Toothpicks or Straw- All these can also be used to teach alphabets. You can make alphabets with toothpicks or clay and show it to them. You can also cut straw into pieces and then help your child stick them to the alphabets drawn on paper.

                  Choose the method of teaching according to the interest and capability of your child. You can even combine different ways but you will have to repeat many times before the child eventually starts recognising the alphabets. 
        

Methods of teaching for Preschoolers

The children between the age 2 to 5 years are called the preschoolers. At this age the children love to explore their surroundings and observe the activities going on around them. They mainly learn by observing and then mimicing what they have seen. So the contemporary methods of teaching can not be used for teaching them. Instead the play way method should be used, which gives them enough space to show their potential and at the same time should not pressurize them to perform.
             Hence the ways of teaching involved should not restrict them to sit in one place and listen to the teacher but it should allow them to interact with the teacher and fellow students.It should develop the creativity and imagination of the child. It should futher encourage them to think and explore, and teach them to share and care about others. Thus preschool teaching should lay the foundation for basic manners and behaviour. The main aim of the preschool education should be:

- to bring about the development and understanding of the senses
- to develop the understanding the physical world
- to teach preschoolers to read and write
- to cause development of language
- to teach the children to communicate
- to develop the social and cognitive skills
         
In order to achieve this objective various methods can be used. THe best methods are those which combine the use of visual, auditory and kinesthetic styles of learning. Children get interested when somebody talks to them and hence involves them in discussion. Children dislike sitting in one place. They like to move about and indulge in all sorts of activities. So it is definitely a good idea to encourage children to do actions like moving hands and feet when doing poem recitation, drawing , playing with blocks etc. Some of the methods commonly used are listed below :

Song and Dance Routine : The 2 to 5 years olds have boundless energy and are always moving. The action based activities like breaking into song and dance routine every now and then grabs their attention. It makes them involved in the classroom activities and at the same time time can be used to teach them. for example singing the poem one two buckle my shoe helps them learn numbers, singing ABCD song tells them about alphabets and so on.

Drawing : Though the preschoolers are unable to draw clearly and most of the time they only scribble yet drawing and colouring is a good activity for them. It helps build up their hand eye coordination. It also enhances their creativity and imagination. Besides, this technique can be used to help them identify different colours and the name of familiar objects around them.

Playing with the blocks,clay : When the children play with the blocks they build structures so, this activity also allows them to show their creativity and imagination.

Enacting :Enacting or role playing helps the children understand the basic characteristics of the various characters involved, like enacting the role of tortoise the child can be told to walk slowly , for kangaroo  the child should leap and so on.

Reading the Stories : The stories should be read out loud and clear to the preschoolers, with actions whereever possible. It helps grab their attention and improve their vocabulary as they become familiar with new words and their useage. Thus it also enhances language development.

Outdoor activities : The different outdoor activities like playing in sand, building sand castles with friends, playing peek-a-boo and so on help them learn a lot from each other. THey get to interact with each other and it boosts their sporting spirit. Besides, it gives them a chance to explore the world around them. This oppurtunity can be used to tell them about their surroundings like when in the playground the various activities(jogging, children sliding on slides, skating etc) can be discussed.
                        The following sites are worth mentioning :-
http://preschools.indiaedu.com/playschool-learning-activities/
http://www.savvysource.com/articles/22p_learning_styles_in_preschoolers
http://www.preschooleducation.com/art13.shtml