‘My Child’s Growth Journey: What to Expect?’
Date/Day: 20-04-24 Saturday (PS, PP: 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m., and I, II: 12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m.)
Web Platform: Google Meet
Introduction
Owing to the need to facilitate a better understanding of developmental milestones being targeted by the school for classes PS-II, a session explaining the same was conducted for parents by Maxfort School, Rohini. In the session, parents explored the exciting and dynamic world of child development between the ages of 3 and 7 years. The key milestones their child will encounter in various areas, offering insights and guidance to support their growth, were discussed. The following were the domains of development covered:
Physical Development
- Gross Motor Skills: Expect increased coordination and balance. They’ll master jumping, skipping, riding a tricycle, and climbing. Parents received guidance on promoting active play and spending time outdoors.
- Fine Motor Skills: Parents were asked to observe that their child’s ability to manipulate objects improves. They’ll refine their grasp, use utensils effectively, and start drawing more complex shapes. Parents were asked to provide opportunities for creative play with crayons, playdough, and building toys.
Social and emotional Development
- Socialization: Peer interaction becomes crucial. They’ll learn to share, take turns, and resolve conflicts. We guided parents to encourage playtime with other children and role-play activities.
- Emotions: Parents were told that they will expect a wider range of emotions expressed both verbally and non-verbally, so they need to help them identify and manage their emotions with clear communication and positive reinforcement.
- Self-Esteem: A child’s sense of self is developing so parents were asked to offer praise for effort and accomplishments to build confidence.
Cognitive Development
- Language skills: Their vocabulary will explode! Expect them to ask endless questions and engage in simple conversations. Parents were asked to read stories together, sing songs, and encourage pretend play to stimulate language development.
- Problem-Solving: They’ll start to approach challenges with more critical thinking. We guided parents to provide open-ended toys and opportunities for exploration to foster problem-solving skills.
- Imagination: Their imagination will run wild! We asked parents to participate and embrace their creativity through pretend play, storytelling, and art activities.
Language Development
- Active Listening: Experts advise parents to fully focus on their child’s speech. Make eye contact and avoid distractions.
- Positive Reinforcement: We asked parents to focus on praising their efforts and good behavior, rather than just the outcome.
- We guided them to use age-appropriate language and avoid talking down to them.
How School Nurtures Development was also an important discussion carried out during the session.
- Play-Based Learning: It was shared that the school believes play is the cornerstone of learning. So the classrooms are filled with engaging activities that encourage exploration, experimentation, and discovery.
- Socialization Opportunities: Through group activities, circle time, and cooperative play, children learn collaboration, communication, and empathy.
- Language Development: School creates a rich language environment filled with storytelling, singing, and opportunities for children to express themselves verbally.
- Nurturing Independence: Facilitators provide opportunities for children to perform tasks independently, fostering self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment.
- Positive Reinforcement: Facilitators also celebrate achievements, big and small, to build self-esteem and a love for learning.
Parents were thankful for the session and also sought solutions to some of their concerns with respect to their child.
