Nancy s corner , life with Chronic pain

Nancy s Corner

Parenting and learning

When a child is born and the Mother picks up the baby for the first time , there is a special bond created between Mother and Child. The child learns what safety is and who he can count on for his every need, from being fed , to clean diapers , to feeling sad and irritable or any other feeling. A mother is there to teach and connect with her child.

The child learns in the first few months to be able to see and grasp as his hand start to explore his world. And how does he learn by picking up everything and putting it in his mouth.

By taste and texture his brain starts to develop brain patterns of what is good and what has an unpleasant taste or smell or feel. As his world grows and expands from being in one place on a blanket , the young child learns to strengthen his arms and legs and masters the art of movement of crawling.

The first extent of crawling is often backwards. We praise and encourage this movement but also on the look out now what the baby can touch and what might cause harm to the baby.

His world is expanding and a Mothers role is to let him explore but within limits. The mobile at bedtime with soft music teaches the child to learn to relax to the sound of music and also to learn to grasp and reach out for what he sees. This a great start and one of the milestones of his development.

Why is it a milestone , it is then with watching and observing we know the child can see and hear and his brain is developing on the steps . A child can not miss one of these steps in his development or there is a difficulty later in learning for this child. As movement and strength increases so does the childs world even more, he is becoming able to walk , not steady at first but to walk from one piece of furniture to another. To be encouraged to let go, that it is a safe thing.

To take a leap of faith when he is unsure of what he is doing. In the next stages we have the child exploring everything he can and also learning the first words from his partent No ..Dont Touch . He is not aware of what this means until the same behaviour is repeated on a constant basis.

He is also learning that he is a separate being from his parents and as his parents start a routine, a child will often become irritable. I dont want to go to bed, I want to be with you ..I am lonely and will cry

. He knows if he cries his parents will come very quickly and pick him up to stop crying and he will do this like clockwork as he is educating his Parents on his ability and what he wants. It becomes a battle , child over parent and the little bundle can become a handful very early in life.

The child is also learning to communicate his needs by about 15 months , he is able to point and also verbally in his own dialogue what he wants and needs.

These cries and small word garbles are the first ways of communication. This will develop later into actual words, by 18 mths a child is able to say Momma and Poppa or Grandma and also the names of his siblings and also pets that do reside in the same house with the child.

The child is still developing his limits and will test them on a constant basis to ensure his needs are heard. He also craves human toucn, babies who are not touched and held do not develop and retreat into their own little world and do not thrive.

The more a child is stimulated and the learning takes place the child is then able to progress from a baby to a toddler. The toddler phase or also known as the terrible twos.

Here the happy toddler is learning to test the limits to his boundries and will often cry and scream and lay down on the floor to have a screaming melt down.

If a parent pays attention to the this behaviour you will have bigger problems of the child displaying this type of learning . You and the child will be at odds with each other.

A parent might think they have failed their child..its a process that happens and repeats in each generation.

The child is also learning about books and music and as the month progress to hold toddler pencils and crayons in their hands. It is encouraged for the child to make marks on paper.

You had better watch this closely as the child might eat the crayons..it has happens before .

Is it better to home school the child that he learns from the parents or to go to a rigid class schedule which will have at least 30 plus children and with one teacher.

If the young would be student is not able to sit for rigid hours this sets up behaviour problems for the child and difficulty for him to relate to his class mates.

To learn to be a good student is to learn to be able to adapt to his environment and also to be eager to chart out and seek new experiences.

How a child LEARNS

Just how does a child learn and what is the best environment for to learn and who is best

to teach . What does a person need to teach , it could be a degree from a university or college.

It is that piece of paper that qualifies a person to be a teacher, but is it enough. Is every person

who graduates with a teacher certificate a good teacher or suitable to be in that position.

A teacher is someone who is in authority and in control of what happens within the classroom.

She is responsible for the preparation of class content and what and how it is presented to her

class. But she is not responsible for what she teaches as that is outlined by the Ministry of Education. This states on the overview what is expected and each and every moment of what

is to be expected and also how much information is given. The tools and guidelines of how when and where and level is needed.

It is with these tools that the Teacher has to work with , it is her enthusiasm and people skills, her

passion for teacher and her love of creative thinking. Her classes can be one of interest and reaching out to her students in a way that relates to them . By using different methods all students

can learn .

The teacher has first to determine the needs of each and every student in her class.

She needs evaluate each student not just by what is written on the class report that is given at

the first of the year.

The teacher needs to evaluate by observing and getting to know personally

about the student with a teacher and student relationship. The teacher needs to observe with

her eyes and ears concerning each student. Are the students happy when they enter class and

are healthy and look like they are well nourished. Are the clothes clean and the student washed and dressed in clean clothes. Clothing and appearance for students is important as if a student

is dressed different or is not groomed or something different. The consequences for the student

can lead to that student not being included in with other students.  Does each child interact with

the other students or are they off and alone and isolated.

Each student in the class is an individual and coming to class with many differences in ability and

learning . The environment in which a child is raised also is important for the child to succeed. His

home must provide a safe and nurturing place for learning to happen. To learn social skills and behaviours that make a harmonious class.

If a child appears to be withdrawn and a loner and does

not associate with other , there is a potential problem . In many homes there is not enough food

to eat and the family is in crisis . This is solved now to assist with poverty there is a breakfast

program where the child is given an eats nutritious food before school . If you are hungry , you

can not learn period. The behaviour of the child is also completely different if he is not hungry. The home environment is one of stable resources that a person needs to grow and learn.

Learning takes places in many different ways depending on student's strength and style. We

learn by watching, seeing ,listening and hands on experience. We learn the basic skills this way

and our brain intakes the information and stores it for future needs. We see a skill and then

it must be individually learned by each student.  

For an example we will use the subject of Math as that is a specialized learning for many students.

Each year from the primary school years the basic skills are taught to each student , the four skills that are needed in any situation. How to add, subtract, multiply and divide and the process on how

these are added together in a math problem.

The ability to remember numbers on how to add two

numbers and then several columns. Without the use of a calculator but using our brain only is an

important indicator of a learning ability. How quickly a student can add and answer a questions demonstrates an a ability or compromise that there is a learning problem . What if after a short class of simple math test and each student is timed and observed . Why is important to observe ,

you can watch facial and body expressions . You can see the brain at work by seeing how fast

a child answers each problem . If there is a smile that process is a simple ability for a mainstream

student who does not have any difficulty. Watching each child you can see if there is hesitation

by the student that the child keeps physically moving , scratching there head and slow and can

even seem agitated. Then there can be noted early that there is a learning problem with that

area of the brain.

Reading and writing are another two sets of skills that each child must be at a certain level

to successfully complete each learning skill in the school year. If a child is lacking in any area

then the child needs extra assistance to bring up her ability to match her classmates. It could

be possible that there is a delay in learning and the IQ level is low that it will never happen.

it is then needed for the child to be in a class learning situation that is suited to her level of needs.

Not every child is a gifted child , each child has their own potential to live a positive and rewarding

life. It is our job as teachers to bring out the best learning environment for each child.

Adult learning