VAPC will be having a Social Thinking Skills Group for children age 6-12 years of age.
This social thinking curriculum is grounded in the theoretical framework of Cognitive Behaviorial Therapy (CBT). It is through this approach that the children will explore different ways of “thinking“, how their thoughts affect their behaviors and feelings and finally how these things may affect others in their environment. Find out more below
Come Saturday, 5th March 2011, The Singapore Art Museum’s Glass Hall will be transformed to an enchanted workshop space inspired by the fairytale Land of Oz.
Conceptualised and organised by Arts Management students of LASALLE College of the Arts, this Oz-themed art workshop, for children aged 5- 8 years old, will take art beyond the mere colouring book.
Children will explore unique art techniques of printmaking, pointillism and relief clay modelling. Dorothy herself will also kickstart each workshop session with a storytelling performance, recounting her adventures through the Land of Oz.
Workshop fee also includes a goodie bag and complimentary ice cream.
Date : Saturday 5th Match 2011
Time : Various sessions from 10am-6pm
Duration : 80 minutes per session
Venue : The Singapore Art Museum, Glass Hall
*Workshop fee :
$20 for early registration
$25 at the door
$8 for every additional adult
*Limited places only. Early registration recommended at http://www.ozartfun.com.
Terms and conditions apply.
I love the idea that there are no fix rules towards teaching children art. There is flexibility in its learning approaches. Through my eight years, I have noticed that children fall into five basic categories. This does not imply that the children express their view through one vessel. They don’t. They are simply stronger in their preferred vessel. The corresponding learning approaches can be used to play out their strength.
For any child who is learning art, I strongly encourage him or her to learn to how paint first. The reasons are simple, besides being the easiest / fun medium to acquire a skill, painting improves
Accepting and overcoming mistakes made on top of problem-solving are two plus points that are critical in art. Painting greatly reduces the need to erase, and this in turn, increases the child’s confidence and the I-can-do-it spirit. When a child realises his mistake, he could paint over the area after the surface of the paper is dried.
Case Study: Using Paint to Create a Composition
Philip, aged 6, loves anything and everything about the ocean. He has a wealth of ideas and has a great eye for colour. His drawing was done fairly well for he was able to capture the shape and essence of the story he wants to convey. Each time he starts to fill in his colours, the composition would end up with dots, splashes or strokes of colours. There were two reasons why his works often turned out the way it did.
To improve his pieces, we started to have him create his art on a larger piece of paper. We taped two sheets of drawing paper together. The fun part was when we taped the shorter sides together, we created a long or tall composition. This fueled his ideas even more!
Next, we provided him with a range of colours, always keeping black as the last shade to apply. We gave him a size ‘2′ round-tip paint brush and a size ‘4′ flat-tip paint brush. He would fill or stack shapes of colours. There will also be prompts, reminding him to connect the lines drawn. This proved to be helpful as slowly but surely, he began to understand the concept of time management and the nature of paint. He would wait for the surface to dry before applying another shade or he will consecutively paint two-three colours to create some form of texture.
To ensure the skill set will be applied throughout, we alternate two-three paintings or colouring
project with one drawing project. A timeframe was set for each project. This meant he was able to return to work on the project for up to three sessions.
Contributed by Teacher Ranae’s Art Workshop
1. Sherry Lim (266) (Coverpage Winner)
2. Sophie Aleena Likwan (33)
3. Zachary Ng Kian Meng (697)
Their photos taken will be published in June July 2011 issue of Today’s Motherhood Magazine and the winner will be the Coverpage Model of the same issue.
The Coverpage Photo Contest - Baby Photo Contest Apr - May 11 is on-going.
Today’s Motherhood Coverpage Photo Contest Feb/Mar 2011 is open for submission. The contest theme will be Photogenic Baby Contest.
1. You must be a subscriber of Today’s Motherhood mailing list to enter the contest. To subscribe
2. Only ONE photo per child (multiple entries will be deleted)
3. File size of photo must not exceed 1M btyes.
4. You can only submit photo of your own child.
5. Age of child is 5 years old or less
For details of prizes, rules and regulations, terms and conditions and how to enter the contest, please see details at Coverpage Photo Contest.
The contest will be an INTERNAL voting contest by Today’s Motherhood panel of judges. The judges decision are final and no correspondence shall be entertained.
Closing Date : 31 Mar 2011
Steps To Submit a Photo:
1. Click Upload Photo below
2. Select an image to upload : You can either choose from your harddisk or a WebURL (Note : File size must be less than 1M bytes)
3. Caption : Please enter photo description
4. Enter Your Name, Your Email (the one used to join our mailing list)
5. Key in Your Phone Number, Your Child’s Name, Your Child’s Birthday
6. Click Submit
7. Once the photo shows up, click Done
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Brain stimulation for babies has often been a contentious subject for many parents. Many parents may doubt the efficacy of these child development programmes due to the difficulty in observing immediate beneficial effects. Many may in fact deem the entire idea of brain stimulation as a myth promulgated by brain stimulation centers as a way to make a quick profit off parents.
However, such thinking would ignore the research that demonstrates the positive impact of child development during early childhood. In the 1960s, a group of scientists in North Carolina sought to prove the efficacy of child development programmes. They came up with the Abecedarian Project in which infants receive early childhood education programmes. The curriculum includes many of educational tools that are prevalent in today’s brain stimulation programmes for babies. This included games that emphasized age appropriate parent child interactions which offer infants ample opportunities to develop their cognition and language skills. And as the child become older, the child development also evolved to emphasize more on individual development.
The results of the Abecedarian Project were astounding as the scientists followed this select group of children from early childhood into their adulthood. The children who had the opportunity to receive this unique childhood education outperform their peers at I.Q. tests and various other academic achievement tests. In fact, they were more likely to complete their college education and secure a skilled job compared to their peers who did not receive similar childhood education. The benefits extended beyond the academic spheres but also into the social spheres. These children are less likely to suffer from teenage pregnancy or get involved in drug and tobacco addiction.
These results firmly dispel the myth that brain stimulation for babies is merely a way to make a quick profit. They clearly show that children who received this type of education in their early childhood are likely to benefit from it throughout their life. As such, it is clear that brain stimulation for babies is more fact than myth.
As such, parents have a duty to ensure that their children receive sufficient stimulation during their early childhood. Effective child development programmes will ensure that their children receive sufficient brain stimulation. This in turn makes sure that their childhood education will provide a solid foundation for them to build upon as they move on with their lives.
Recent research has shown that the environment a child is exposed during his early childhood has a significant impact on the development of his brain. A child’s brain undergoes an enormous amount of development during his early childhood. This presents a time limited opportunity for parents to ensure that the child receives adequate stimulation.
A child is born with brain cells that has a huge capacity and if properly used will allow the child to have phenomenal potential in a wide variety of areas ranging from musical to physical activities. However, if this time-limited opportunity during the early childhood is not taken advantage of, the brain will begin to prune away neurological connections that are not being used. As such, parents have significant influence in deciding whether their children will lag behind their peers in their later life.
A high level of parent child interaction will be of significant impact on the child’s development during his early childhood. This can range from simple activities like playing peek-a-boo or just allowing the child to grab on to the toy that the parent is holding on to. And as the child grows older, this interaction should also evolve to ensure that they are age appropriate and continue to stimulate the development and enhancement of the neurological connections in the child’s brain. For example, to stimulate the growth of his memory capacity, a parent can talk more about past experiences of the child. A child can also build up on his strength if a parent gives him ample opportunities to practice crawling and walking.
During the early childhood, it is also critical that parents avoid negative stimuli for the child. Exposure to negative experiences like abuse or violence will affect the neurological connections of his brain and his future development. As such, parents who are unable to provide constant attention to the child should be careful when they pick their child’s care givers.
With so many critical developments occurring during the early childhood, parents very often feel overwhelmed by the constant need to stimulate the child and to expose them to positive experiences. Hence, parents can turn these responsibilities over to professionals like those at My Little Genius. With a wide range of programmes catering to the age-specific needs of young children, it ensures that the child receives adequate and appropriate stimulation at all stages of his development.
For parents who still find it difficult to accept the importance proper child development during early childhood, they need only to refer to research on feral children. From the late eighteenth century to even today, feral children are often found in the wild. Many of these feral children actually take up the characteristics of the wild animals that have helped to raise them. This may be difficult to believe but one only need to Google feral children to find a myriad of examples.
To use just one example, two girls, Amala and Kamala, were raised by a she-wolf in India. They were described to be ‘wolfish’ in both appearance and behavior. They walk on all fours and were actually fond of raw meat. In fact, like wolves, their tongues are permanently hung out of their lips and they even consumed their food and liquids in a crouched position. Furthermore, they had a very acute hearing and were also able to smell meat from a great distance.
Feral children demonstrate the efficacy of child development to the extreme. Hence, the role of the parent is very critical to a child’s development. Whether the child grows up to be an effective hunter of small animals or a boy genius will be highly dependent on the type of stimulation he receives during his early childhood.
Contributed by Ivy Lim (from MLG Hougang) & Lim Wee Ming (MLG Jurong East)
Couples usually tend to forget the romance especially when bills begin piling up, children need extra attention and work is demanding more time.
It inevitable that couples set aside them selves to prioritize home needs. This could sometimes lead to more serious relationship problems as the negligence of romance could gradually build that dividing wall between them until that time they would get drowned into other priorities and would forget their roles as the other half of their spouse.
There are many ways which couple could do to keep the romance alive as they work for other responsibilities:
All these and your promise of faithfulness will indeed enhance the romance between you and your spouse and keep your romance alive.
Yahoo! is sharing Top 10 Internet Safety Tips for parents and teenagers:
Please feel free to feature the Top 10 Internet Safety Tips for parents and teenagers on your blog anytime.
The link for Yahoo! Safely Singapore is http://sg.safely.yahoo.com/
How to bring Romance to Each Other’s Sex Lives
There is always time for romancing your spouse. We use the word romance all the time. It is easy to assume we know what it means.
Romance Defined
Romance is a general term that refers to the attempt to express love with words or deeds. It invokes the feelings of excitement associated with love. To continue to romance and woo your spouse is also to not take each other for granted.
Different Understanding
Men and women have different definitions about what is sexy or romantic. Generally, women’s sexual fantasies tend to be filled with more romantic interludes then do men’s: such as a candlelit bubble bath or a spontaneous picnic at dusk.
For boys (whom become men), their sexual fantasies tend to focus more outrightly on sex without all those romantic frills. So it’s not that he loves you any less: he’s just different. In addition, some men have a harder time expressing their deeper emotional feelings, and fear feeling vulnerable if they do.
Spell it out
This may be a shocker for you: HE ISN’T A MIND READER, so, he isn’t doing what you want romantically to hurt you, but because he genuinely doesn’t know! Ask for what you want and be specific — for example: “It would be really romantic if we forgo the roses this year and have strawberries and champagne by candlelight.”
Set Intentions
Would you like him to make you ‘be mine’ card? How about heart-shaped candies, roses, and fine wines? If not objects of adoration, how about him making you a romantic dinner or affectionate sweetheart kisses when you wake up? When you set clear intents for what you want, you are more likely to get it.
Drop Gift Hints
When it comes to presents, it is still reasonable to tell him what you want. If you can’t bear to do that, email him or place a little note on his pillow that says: “I would like some pearl earrings for Valentine’s Day this year.”
Ask for simple things. You want to make him a hero for pleasing you. And if you have children, don’t bring them into it, because they might end up feeling responsible for your romantic happiness.
Compliments, Compliments
So he’s done what you wanted to be in the mood, but he needs to see that romancing you is worth the effort and will also further his goals. So after you tell him what to do, give him feedback. Tell him how much you liked it, what a turn-on it was, how much you appreciate his doing it and how you hope he does it again soon — hopefully before next Valentine’s Day.
Bring Yourself To The Table
If you sit back waiting to have the desire or mood to initiate sex, it might not happen. The spark you need in your relationship with spouse is out there waiting for you to ignite it! On Valentine’s Day, and any other day, your love life is what you make it: it’s what you create with your actions.
Byline: Dr. Martha Lee is Founder and Clinical Sexologist of Eros Coaching in Singapore. She holds a Doctorate in Human Sexuality and provides sex and life coaching, runs sex educational workshops and gives public talks.
This article was first published in Today’s Motherhood Magazine Feb-Mar 10 issue Page 30
Congratulations to the winners of Today’s Motherhood Smart Alley HotDots - Phonics Fun! Giveaway. They have won themselves a HotDots - Phonics Fun! set worth $75.90 each.
Below are the names of the winners:
**Winners will be notified by Smart Alley individually.
Note : Winner will have to collect the prize from Smart Alley Singapore by 28 Feb 2011.
** Terms and Conditions apply.
The prizes are sponsored by Smart Alley.
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