All About Your Child

Characteristics

Although KeatKeat and BinBin are no where near 5 year old, but I have seen so many 5-year-olds displaying the following characteristics, through my 3 years of helping out in a Child Care Centre, My nieces Cheng Han and Cheng Yee and my nephew Matin.

Seriously, I can’t wait till my boys are five, cos’ I am already so amazed by the little things they do and say everyday….I can’t imagine what more Fascinating Things the can do when they are 5.

Language Skills As they are good in language skills now, children love to talk, tell stories and quiz adults with wild questions.

High Initiative Five-year-olds are usually the first to start a conversation or to try new things.

Vigorous and Noisy Group Games Noisy and vigorous, these children enjoy games and play in groups of their own age.

Need for Approval Approval and acceptance are all important at this stage, so there is a definite desire to please and cooperate with both parents and teachers.

Sense of Responsibilities They feel ‘grown-up’ when they perform little tasks and duties and are always eager to help mum and dad to things like setting the table or washing the car.

Tips for Handling Five-year-olds

• Plan time for conversation with your child. Read stories together. Encourage them to tell stories or share jokes with one another.
• Recognise good work and reward them appropriately.
• Organise games for their participation and do encourage them to join in group games. Put aside watching TV and get them out for the exercise they need.
• Provide children with responsibilities in the house such as setting the table, drying dishes, picking toys, etc.

Characteristics

Inquisitive This stage is the age of many questions. Even when answers are given, the four-year-old continues to ask “Why?”
“yes..yes..yes” day in day out, “why this, why that?” Keatkeat will be 4 on 2nd November, so I think he is starting to show his Age 4 characteristics…
Think of it this way, deep in you, you want your child to be knowledgeable, or even more intelligent than his/her peers…
So other than ABCs and 123, which he learns in school, who else can he learn general knowledge from? YOU! How would you feel, when he say something or do something that create a “Wow! that’s a smart boy!” response from a stranger, and your child said:”Mommy taught me that.” *wink*
To all great moms of the universe: Take a deep breath and answer the questionssssss…

Talkative Because of their increasing capacity for language, children now tend to talk incessantly. This can often frustrate and wear out the adults!
*Laugh* yes…it can really bring up the blood pressure sometimes…but by just sitting back and looking at his energy, his enthusiasm, his relentless spirit, the intensity in his voice. You really can’t help but to be so amazed, “why have I lost that type of energy, ‘cos I strongly believe that I once had that when I was 4years old.”

Emotionally Unpredictable Children at four can often burst into laughter or tears at the same time! There are also sudden bouts of anger but the squalls are over quickly.
Thank God! The squalls DO GO AWAY QUICKLY…

Lively and Sociable Full of energy and life.
How they enjoy being with other people now!

High Moto Drive The swings, the monkey-bars, the jungle gym, cycling…their need for muscular movement drives the four-year-olds to frequent activities.
Whenever its not raining, after his nap, he would definitely ask: “Playground is not wet already, we can go play now, right?”

Tips for Handling Four-year-olds

• Encourage the child to ask questions. If you don’t have an answer, find out the answers together with the child – look up an encyclopedia, visit the local library, etc.

Do that! Its fun learning TOGETHER. You will be surprise at the number of things he noticed and asked you, and Ooops, you don’t know the answer! Huh?! Didn’t “you eat more salt than he eat rice?” – that’s how we say it in Chinese to someone that should be more knowledgeable in comparison.

• Encourage lots of large motor skills activities. Allow them to climb, swing, ride a bicycle, jump, etc. Be sure to take safety precautions so that the child can play heartily.

Safety first, never forget.

• Talk to your child, read to your child. Build on his vocabulary skills. Allow him to participate in your conversion.

Occasionally, when my husband and I are in a not-too-serious kind of conversation, we would ask Keatkeat’s view. He loves to give his views, man!

• Provide opportunities for your child to have social activities. let them invite friends home for a party, or have a popcorn night.

My husband has two elder brothers, all married with children. Every Sunday, we would bring the kids to their grandparents’ house, everyone will come together. We call it the ‘family day’. That’s the regular time for the kids to mingle and update each other what new toys or gadget they bought over the week. …..and a time for parents to relax…phew!