Speaking Your Child’s Love Language
Just like any human being, children also have different personalities and preferences. They have their own way of expressing love and perceiving love. If we come to think of it, children also have their love languages. For instance, in a set of siblings, one child would prefer physical touch while the other would prefer words of affirmation. Some parents would share that learning the love language of their kids made them have a profound impact on their relationship and helped them build a strong connection to them. From Dr. Gary Chapman and Dr. Ross Campbell’s book “The Five Love Languages
Co-Regulate to Self-Regulate: Emotion Coaching Guide
A sight of a child melting down is not truly desirable. An adult’s impulse might to firmly tell the child to simply stop, however, that’s not simply the case on their end too. Some kids, especially those with Autism, may find it a challenge to self-regulate when overwhelmed with big emotions. They would definitely need some help to go back to their green zone of calm state. One of the co-regulation strategies that teaches children to self-regulate over time is called emotion coaching, developed by Dr. Adele Lafrance Robinson and Dr. Joanne Dolhanty. Emotion coaching is a component of
The Importance of Early Intervention: Identifying Developmental Delays in Preschoolers and Young Children
Prior to the 2000s and 2010s, Early Intervention was not an option to many parents. Although they may have noticed some delays or differences in their child, it is unlikely that they considered early intervention. One of the reasons are due to some of the myths of older generations. For example, a 3-year old child is not talking yet. This may just be regarded as “delay” and eventually the child would speak after few months. Another example would be, when a child is still unable to walk by 2 years of age, for some, they would think that using a walker
Understanding Sensory Processing Disorders: Signs and Solutions
Have you ever wondered why your child avoids paint while other kids enjoy touching it? Or perhaps you've noticed that your child dislikes the bright sun while others enjoy playing outside on a hot summer day? These behaviours could be linked to Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD), a condition where the brain struggles to receive and respond to information from the senses. Sensory processing difficulties affect how a child responds to information from their environment. This could impact a child’s learning ability, emotional regulation, social participation, and daily functioning. As children grow and explore their surroundings, they first learn to register information
Understanding Our Children’s Behavior Better
Have you ever wondered why your child avoids paint while some kids enjoy touching it? Or have you even wondered why your child hates the bright sun while other kids enjoy playing outside on a hot summer day? As a child grows and begins to explore their surroundings they learn to firstly notice/register information from their senses, then process it and then respond appropriately. This is called Sensory Processing. Oftentimes we complete everyday tasks without any difficulty processing information received from our senses. For young children sometimes this information can become muddled, might appear too intense or the information is slow
Different Ways to Understand Emotions
Recognising and understanding feelings can be difficult especially for kids with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). It’s because these kids have low social awareness which makes them hard to identify and understand social cues. However, it is essential for one to recognize own feelings and emotions especially when you grow older as this will affect the relationship with others and relationship with oneself. Emotions are part of human nature. They give information about what we’re experiencing and help us know how to react. As mentioned, recognizing emotions doesn’t come easy especially for kids with ASD. Hence, there are many ways on
How being barefoot boosts brain development in children?
Have you ever wondered why some of the children hates wearing socks? At times, as parents or teachers, we would always ask our children to wear socks because of various reasons. Some of these are for the children’s safety against hazardous objects on the floor and mainly because we don’t want our children to be dirty. However, studies show that being barefoot actually benefits brain development. Going barefoot has multiple benefits that most of us didn’t really pay attention to. When children have the opportunity to explore and play in their feet, they have much more access to sensory experiences
Choosing the best toys for the children
Play is children’s work. Every time your child chooses and picks up a toy, and plays with you, “he works” at improving different aspects of his development which includes motor, speech and social skills. However, playing with toys is often harder than it looks, and all children vary in their ability to do their so called “work”. This is where choosing of toys comes in. Often times, parents would buy the most expensive toys. Some has this idea of “the more expensive, the better.”, but this does not apply to toys. There is a wide range selection of toys in
How to Help Children Focus in Learning?
Focus is something that requires regular exercise for it to be strengthened. For some, focusing is very natural while for some, it can appear as a challenge. One thing is for sure: focus in children does not come easy. This is one of the issues most teachers struggle with. It is the same sentiments of the parents. In Bridging the Gap, we have a number of kids who have challenges in focusing and concentration. Given that they all have different and individual needs, we have various ways to help each of them to be more focus and more attentive in
Self-Regulatory Activities for Children to do at Home
With Singapore’s Circuit breaker which ran for almost 2 months, the government still calls and encourages everyone to stay home. Your “bedroom” as your office, “delivery services are the normal meal, and all social gatherings & interaction are limited to zoom and online chats. For the first few weeks, yes, it’s nice to stay home and be with your family but as it goes longer, the story changes. It’s not easy. It’s not easy to juggle your job in your company and your responsibilities at home – all at the same time! Imagine having a very important meeting with your
