What a brat!

Your child's out of control and you're running out of patience. Follow these 10 steps to get her back in line.

1. Stand back and take stock

A lot of the battles are centred on activities like tidying up, supermarket shopping and visiting relatives. Maybe same of these ca be skipped every so often. That would reduse the number of confrantation points. Think about possible ways you can change your daily routine.

2. Set limits and stick to them

Decide what you expect in terms of her behaviour and explain that she must not cross the line. Don't give in to her tantrums or she will learn that losing her temper gets exactly what she wants.

3. Don't make empty threats

If you warn your child that such-and-such will happen if she misbehaves, follow through on the treat to punish. Use sensible punishments that are realistic, fair and enforceable. For instance, remove the toy she is fighting over, or reduce the amount of TV she is allowed to watch.(Extreme threats and punishments, like caning or banning her from playing with her friends for a month, are rarely effective.)

4. Use rewards

Assess your own behaviour through a typical week. If you find that you're given out more punishments than rewards, then do things to balance it out. An excess of punishment create a negative downward spiral that makes everyone miserable.  

5. Monitor your "nagging"

Nobody likes to thinks that she is negative and naggy towards her child, but it is easy to fall into this trap. Think about the number of times you have reprimanded her each day. Perhaps you could have ignored some of these instance or made a less negative remark to her.      

      

6. Emphasise her good behaviour

When you see moments of good behaviour - for instance, when she plays quietly with her toys in her room-make a big deal out of it. Let her know how pleased you are with her behaviour. This helps you both realise there are good moments, too.

7. Structure your day

Do your best to have a reasonable schedule of activities. Although you probably won't be able to follow the schedule to the letter, having a plan puts you back in control.

8. Be proud of your child's achievements

She may be very challenging and uncooperative at times, but she's also a fabulous child who does new skills that she acquires. Be proud of her progress, perhaps noting down each new stage in your blog.

9. Have realistic explanations

Set yourself attainable goals and look for small improvements in her behaviour over time.

10. Give her lots of cuddles

No matter how stained your relationship is withj her at times, make sure you give her lots of hugs. Loving, physical contact helps melt away the negatives and encourages you both to have a positive, caring frame of mind.

LEARNING IN 3G

3 type of knowledge that kids learn in school:


*   GO This is " declarative knowledge" or knowing facts like the letters of alphabet, counting from 1 to 10 and matching a number to the correct number of items.

*   GROW Also called "procedural knowledge", this means knowing how to use the knowledge in specific ways. For example, now that your child knows the alphabet, he can check new words in the dictionary.

*   GLOW or "conditional knowledge" - knowing when and where to apply your knowledge. This happens when the child sees a new word that has many syllables. for instance. He tries to pronounce it by breaking it down into syllables, sounding them out and then saying the new word as a whole. It also happens when he does multiplication using his fingers.

To raise a life-long learner, one needs all this types of knowledge - so he should explore on his own without needing a push. "This should be the aspect of learning that can never be enough"

LEARNING FOR LESS

If you want your child to take an enrichment class in the core subjects essential for school early in life, classes are widely available. In fact, if you wanted to read through the course brochures available for your kindertot, you would have to set aside a few days.

Classes range from one-hourly to once a week, and all claim to help your child master different subjects like languages, creative thinking, math, logical thinking, science, and more.

But what do you if you just can't, or won't, travel around from centre to centre? What should you do if you want to save some of the hard-earned money for university instead of putting it into kindergarten programmes now?

Is there an alternative? One very effective way of teaching your child is to spend time working at home with him. This time shouldn't be spent doing assessment book after assessment book, but time spent talking, explaining, experimenting and pondering over different topics.

A great benefit to working with your child at home is that you can work with him when it is most effective for the both of you and not worry about class times clashing with naps or other engagements.

MASTERING MATHS * If you want to teach your child about maths - start counting, for instance. Start with familiar objects. Count the shoes on the shoe shelf, or the number of people at the bus stop. Once you get your child interested in numbers, half your battle is won.
Increase the numbers once the basics have been mastered and move on to adding and subtracting with the same objects.

And don't just limit maths to addition and subtraction. There are topics likes shapes, volumes, distances, amounts, money and patterns to be discovered. This is essentially the same as doing assessment books but with hands - on experience in real - life situations.

TIPS
* Don't berate your child for not knowing the answers right away.
* Don't rush to tell them the answer. Let them work it out on their own first.
* A positive reward like a hug or stickers can go a long way.

DISCOVERING SCIENCE * One way to interest your child in science is to start talking about the things that are happening around him. Science is the study of the world around us, so don't start with the theory of relativity, start with with things that can be seen, touched and felt everyday. Leaves, plants, and animals are start. Introduce them also to non-living objects in our world like water, rocks and crystals.

TIPS
Whatever topics you decide to explore, here are a few tips on managing the lessons.
* Have age-appropriate reference materials on hand. These are easily found at the library.
* Prepare a hands-on activity on the topic like an experiment or start a collection folder. If you're studying plants, you you can collect various kinds of leaves and label them in a folder. These activities make the subject interesting and more personal for your child. You can also find good science experiments at the library.
* Let children think about the topic after supplying them with information. Reject the desire to quiz your child constantly and persistently on the information.
* Be prepared to be asked questions that you dont know the answer to. Admit that you just don't know and show your child how to look for the answers to those questions. They will be more inelined to look up information themselves if it is something that they are used to doing.

LOVING LANGUAGE * Language is often made simple if it is taught through games and stories. Speaking with your child is the best way to teach him a language. However, talking with and talking at are two different things , so be careful that you are indeed talking with and not doing the latter with your child. The difference is that there is a lot more listening involved in talking with your child.

"During the first five years of life, children are involved in acquiring a vocabulary that helps them make sense of the world around them. Early vocabulary can be supported not just by talking and interacting with children, but also by reading to them. Books are full of words, and these words tend to be presented in lively and interesting contexts, with supporting pictures.Vocabulary instruction is an essential part of any good language programme. If a child has a wide vocabulary, he is much more likely to develop strong reading skills and enjoy academic success. The more conversation and reading experiences are a part of child's learning, the more their vocabulary and their interest in words will grow."

TIPS
* Read stories
* Talk with your child about anything and everything they are interested in.
* Do not correct everything they say.

Games like Boggle, Scrabble, Hangman and word search are priceless resources, so use them frequently.

Teaching your child at home can benefit both you and your child in many ways. You'll save money, spend  quality time with your child and your little one will discover that learning isn't just something you do in a classroom.

Salam Aidil Fitri

    

Salam Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir & Batin 

dari 

Tadika Graduan Bestari

Pemberian ALLAH SWT sempena Aidilfitri

Ada pemberian istimewa daripada Allah swt. kepada umat islam sempena kedatangan dan sambutan Aidilfitri pada setiap tahun. Itu janji Allah swt. kepada setiap individu muslim yang berjaya menyempurnakan perintah ibadah puasa di sepanjang Ramadhan dengan penuh keimanan dan pengharapan daripada-Nya.

Nabi Muhammad saw. bersabda: "Usahakanlah pada hari raya untuk berzikir dan melakukan amal amal kebaikan seperti sembahyang, zakat, bertasbih dan bertahlil, kerana sesungguhnya hari raya merupakan hari di mana Allah swt. akan mengampuni dosa dosa kamu sekelian dan memperkenankan doa kamu dan memandang kamu dengan pandangan rahmat".(Riwayat Muslim)

Baginda juga berpesan,"Apabila tiba hari raya,Allah swt. mengirim para malaikat dan mereka turun ke bumi di setiap tempat, lalu mereka menyeru," Wahai umat Muhammad, keluarlah kamu menuju kepada Tuhan Yang Maha Pemurah". Maka apabila umat Muhammad keluar menuju tempat sembahyang masing masing, Allah swt. berfirman, " Saksikanlah wahai para malaikat-Ku, bahawa sesungguhnya Aku memberikan pahala bagi puasa mereka iaitulah keredhaan-Ku dan keampunan-Ku". (Riwayat Bukhari)

Allah swt. menyedikan anugerah istimewa sempena Aidilfitri dengan berjanji akan memberi keampunan, memperkenankan doa, memberi rahmat dan keredhaan-Nya kepada orang yang beriman dan berjaya menharungi ujian Ramadhan dengan jayanya. Inilah sebesar besar anugerah yang patut memotivasikan kita untuk memperbanyakkan amal dan istiqamah dengan ibadah pada bulan Ramadhan.

Jadikanlah kedatangan Ramadhan dan Aidilfitri yang silih berganti setiap tahun sebagai ruang dan peluang untuk kita membina kekuatan emosi dan spiritual ke arah mencapai kualiti hidup yang lebih cemerlang. Begitulah kehendak Ilahi yang sangat menyanyangi para hamba-Nya, yang senantiasa memberi ruang dan peluang untuk insan memperoleh kejayaan yang hakiki (al-falah)