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The ages 1 to 6 are your child's
formative years. During this period, your goal is to provide a loving,
safe and constructive environment in which he can grow and discover his
potential. You will find the years laden with ups and downs. Often
heart-warming, sometimes heart-breaking, every moment is made more
precious by experiencing it with your child. Nurture, nourish, protect
and encourage him always, you will ensure his continued well-being
while bestowing upon him the skills and strength of character that will
determine his future success.
An understanding of the normal changes that your child is to experience
will enable you to anticipate and respond appropriately to his
physical, intellectual, emotional, social and nutritional needs. We
shall focus on the normal development in the four areas, namely gross
motor, vision and fine motor, hearing and speech and social behavior
and play.
Having gone through your child’s first birthday, you will expect more
delights and surprises to come your way. A toddler now, he recognizes
you as his source of security and comfort. At two, he is walking and
running around. With increasing self confidence, he ventures further
away from you and starts to play alongside (though not actually) with
other children in your presence. He begins to tell you what’s in his
mind using his own words and sentences. By three, your toddler is
climbing, jumping and playing with other children. He names colors and
shapes, he is able to speak in multi-word sentences. He also learns how
to share and handle his emotions. By four, your child will learn his
ABCs and 1-2-3s, he will also sing and rhyme. In the process, he
acquires more mature skills to get along and interacting with other
children.
By the next two years, as your child grows further, he becomes more
independent with ideas and opinions of his own. But it will certainly
be unwise to leave him entirely to his own devices. These are the
crucial years to help him in distinguishing right from wrong, good from
bad and what’s proper. Praise, encouragement, guidance and discipline
are the signs of attention that he will recognize and love you for.
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