Written by Julia Gorham

Family is the important gift given to us. Many people can help you, but your family understands you best.

Family is an important word, it means to feel secure, to have someone who you can count on, whom you can share your problems with. But it is also means to have respect for each other and reasonability.

What family means to me is love and someone that will always be there for your through the good times and the bad. It is about encouragement, understanding, comfort, advice, and faith.

Family traditions are experiences that families create together that create a sense of belonging.

The morals and values become a family’s guiding force.

Family is the strongest unit of strength. Spending time with your family forms a strong  bond. 

What makes the difference ?

 Family Connection

 Family is the bond that we are born with. When you are blessed with a family connection, you should make it a point to stand by them. When the roads of life get weary, it is the support of family that will matter to you. No one wants to live a lonely life and so you should understand the importance that family plays in your life.

  You Need Them

 No matter what you believe, it is important to understand that every individual needs their family. If you do not value your family, you will find yourself in a spot of bother later on. So, you should understand their importance in your life and try to shower your love and care. Love has a way of coming back and so your family will help you out when you need them.

Need People To Call Our Own

 Have you met those who live all alone and have no one to call their own? The agony and suffering which they undergo is huge and whopping. Sometimes, it can crush them deep because it is human mentality that we always need someone whom we can call our own. The kind of love and emotions that will flow from you is serene and heart touching. Sub consciously, we all love our family. However, sometimes, it is we ourselves who need to be convinced about our love. So, call your family, be a part of their happiness and spread happiness in their lives too. When you call them your own, they are likely to call you theirs too and this can go a long way in spreading happiness all round.

  Loneliness Kills

 You may or may not realise but we all need a shoulder to fall back on. If you are a lone warrior, you are likely to get tired on the dreary roads of life. When the clouds cover you up, you will always look for a silver lining. It is your family that can turn out to be the silver lining. 

By Julia Gorham

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” Kay Redfield Jamison.

Play is the most valuable way that that children learn. Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them.

Maria Montessori  stated “The hands are the instrument of a man’s intelligence.” This statement recognizes the tremendous importance to a young child of having exciting objects to hold and listen to and feel and manipulate. And, as young children struggle to create a desired effect with a toy, they discover that it isn’t always easy. They realize that there is perhaps a problem to be solved and that they have to practice to acquire and improve the skills necessary to achieve their goal.  

Studies have proven that play with other children is also critical for the development of children’s social skills too. They are developing skills and habits and attitudes that will stay with them throughout their lives. Play is children’s work, and they give a tremendous amount of energy and effort to it. It promotes the facets of emotional well being learning awareness, acceptance, personals integration, coping skills and building values including empathy, trust and respect for others while they play.

Play stimulates a child’s perceptual motor development with eye-hand co-ordination, where they learn to manipulate objects, locomotive skills, learning to jump, hop, climb etc. learning to control their bodies.

Play promotes the aspects of the child’s intellectual development with problem solving skills, initiation and memory, concept formation and association and classification.

Play develops language skills that forms the basis of the child’s language which include receptive, expressive non-verbal and auditory memory and discrimination skills.

Different types of play can also include manipulative play where children use their small muscles to build something, play with educational toys, sensory play involving touch and feel with different mediums, water play which is a calming activity, sand and water play and creative play in the form of art.

Play is vital for the child’s total development for the very reason that it is the most important way that a child learns. No activity is as valuable to the young child.

As parents, we must not underestimate the value of play for young children.

So let your child learn, have fun and play, play, play!

By Julia Gorham. 

Written by Julia Gorham

Children are naturally curious. From the minute they gain control of their limbs, they work to put themselves out into the world to see how it all works. They explore, observe and imitate, trying to figure out how things operate and how to control themselves and their environments. This unrestricted exploration helps children form connections in their brain, it helps them learn—and it’s also fun.

Art is a natural activity to support this free play in children. The freedom to manipulate different materials in an organic and unstructured way allows for exploration and experimentation. These artistic endeavors and self-directed explorations are not only fun, but educational as well. Art allows youth to practice a wide range of skills that are useful not only for life, but also for learning. So why is art so important for preschoolers?

Skills youth practice when participating in art activities include:

• Fine motor skills. Grasping pencils, crayons, chalk and paintbrushes helps children develop their fine motor muscles. This development will help your child with writing, buttoning a coat and other tasks that require controlled movements.

• Cognitive development. Art can help children learn and practice skills like patterning and cause and effect (i.e., “If I push very hard with a crayon the color is darker.”). They can also practice critical thinking skills by making a mental plan or picture of what they intend to create and following through on their plan.

• Math skills. Children can learn, create and begin to understand concepts like size, shape, making comparisons, counting and spatial reasoning.

• Language skills. As children describe and share their artwork, as well as their process, they develop language skills. You can encourage this development by actively listening and asking open-ended questions in return. It is also a great opportunity to learn new vocabulary words regarding their project (i.e., texture). In addition to helping youth develop important skills, free expression is also good for overall health and well-being. Giving your child a creative outlet can help relieve stress and work through things happening in their lives. By encouraging artistic expression, you can help facilitate learning.

• Talk with your child about their work. It’s often hard to decipher a child’s drawings, even though the child knows exactly what it is. When we ask, “What is it?” we are saying that it should look like something we’d recognize. Instead, ask openended questions like “Tell me about your picture.” You can also describe specific things your child is doing by saying things such as, “You’re making short lines, I see you are using red, green and blue.” You can also describe the actions your child is taking or the materials they are using by saying things such as, “You are using a soft paintbrush, I noticed you are making small circles, you are using two crayons at the same time!”

• Imitate your child. Instead of drawing your own picture, sit down with your child and imitate their actions. Make big scribbles, small lines or practice drawing circles. If your child is focused on what you are drawing or how “good” your picture is, they are less likely to be imaginative and creative on their own.

• Provide choices. Gather a wide range of materials for your child to use like paint, coloured pencils, chalk, play dough, markers, crayons, oil pastels, scissors and stamps. Mix it up by bringing in unexpected materials like Q-tips, dinosaurs, dry pasta or beans.

• Support, don’t lead. Have you ever noticed that activities become much less fun when they are dictated by someone else? The same goes for kids—let them decide what materials they want to use and how and when to use them. Maybe they want to peel the paper off a crayon and use it lengthwise on the paper, instead of writing with the tip.

• Keep it open-ended. Instead of sitting down with a specific plan or outcome in mind, let your child explore, experiment and use their imaginations. They might make a big mess or change their mind several times—this is all part of the creative process.

• Focus on the process, not the product. Encouraging your child in the action of unstructured art helps them work with intrinsic motivation. It teaches them to express themselves freely, without worrying about what others think. If a lot of attention is given to the final product or we spend a lot of energy praising the end result, a child may be more likely to do things to get your approval instead of doing what they want to do. Part of focusing on the process involves encouraging effort; exploration and effort are more important than the end product. Notice their hard work!

• Let it go. As long as a child is safe (i.e., not running with scissors), let them explore. They may spend the majority of the time sharpening coloured pencils instead of actually drawing with them. Children learn through playing, exploring and trial and error. When we give them freedom to discover, they are learning to create and experiment in new and innovative ways.

Get your child creating and learning—all you’ll need is a paintbrush and an open mind.

This post was also published on Montessori Rocks here.