Building self-esteem in early ages

Self-esteem is how children think or feel about themselves and how they are valuing themselves, which be or destroy not only by their thoughts and perceptions but also by their families , friends, classmates and community's thoughts and perceptions .
We can discover the healthy and unhealthy self-esteem by observing their behavior and attitudes.

For example in solving picture puzzles, try to observe their behavior in case of failure. In unhealthy self-esteem you can easily notice that they behave negatively and they my say "I can't solve it". However in the healthy self-esteem they will act positively by saying "I will try to solve it again"

Here I will give you some key points that help to build a healthy self-esteem. Especially in early childhood years because in this stage we can strongly build a good foundation for strong and stable personalities in our children.

The most effective technique is to give them more responsibilities by participating and contributing in activities and sufficiency monitor them and focus on supporting, encouraging and focus on their personal potential and pride to feel more confidence in facing challenges, taking decisions and controlling situations,

In case of failure we should train them the feeling of guilt or shame, we need try to accept their mistakes as an effort towards success and motivate them that to have a healthy self-esteem.

بناء احترام الذات في الأعمار المبكرة

احترام الذات هو كيف يفكر أو يشعر الأطفال تجاه انفسهم وكيف يقيمون أنفسهم. وذلك يبنىُ ويُهدم ليس فقط عن طريق أفكارهم 
وإدراكهم، بل وأيضا عن طريق أفكار ودراك عائلاتهم وأصدقائهم وزملائهم في الصف ومجتمعهم أيضا.

 
يمكننا اكتشاف احترام الذات الصحي والغير صحي عن طريق رصد سلوكهم ومواقفهم. مثال على ذلك حاولوا رصد سلوكهم عند لعبهم بحل ألغاز الصور، ففي حالة الفشل عند وجود عدم احترام الذات ستلاحظون بسهولة تصرفهم بشكل سلبي كقول "لا استطيع حلها"، بينما في حال وجود احترام للذات سيتصرفون بشكل إيجابي كقول "سأحاول حلها مجدداً”

هنا سأعطيكم بعض النقاط الأساسية للمساعدة على بناء احترام الذات الصحي، خصوصاً في سنوات الطفولة المبكرة لأنه وفي هذه المرحلة يمكننا وبفعالية بناء أساس جيد لشخصيات قوية ومستقرة في أطفالنا.

أكثر تقنية فعالة هي إعطائهم مسؤوليات أكثر بمشاركتهم في الأنشطة و الإكتفاء بمراقبتهم والتركيز على دعمهم وتحفيزهم والتركيز على  تحملهم الشخصي والاعتزاز بالنفس للشعور بثقة اكثر في مواجهة التحديات واتخاذ القرارات للتحكم والسيطرة على الأوضاع. وفي حالة الفشل يجب أن ندربهم على تجنب الإحساس بالذنب والخجل وأن، نحن بحاجة إلى تقبل أخطائهم كمسعى نحو النجاح وتحفيزهم، بهذه الطريقة سيكون لديهم احترام الذات الصحي.

Toddler Lunch Ideas from Second Home Nursery

New ideas for sandwiches, wraps, mini-pizzas and more tasty lunch recipes for kids. 

Honey, Almond Butter & Banana
Spread 2 slices of whole-wheat bread with almond butter or peanut butter. Top 1 bread slice with a drizzle of honey (for kids 1 and up) and a layer of banana slices. Cover with the other slice, butter side down.

Apple, Cheddar & Peanut Butter

Split a focaccia square in half crosswise. Spread the cut side of 1 half with peanut butter. Top with a layer of cheddar-cheese slices and then a layer of thin apple slices. Cover with the other half, cut side down and press gently.

Strawberry & Goat Cheese

Split a muffin and lightly toast the halves. Spread each half with softened goat cheese or plain whipped cream cheese. Top with a thin layer of strawberry jam, followed by a layer of thin strawberry slices. Place the top half of the muffin over the bottom half, and press gently.

>> IDEAS :

Cut It Out
Turn the ordinary lunch-box staple into a menagerie of animals with these sandwich cutters.

I Heart Turkey
A plain ol' turkey sandwich heart-shaped version. (Kid not a heart-lover? Stars or dinosaur shapes work, too.) Spread a thin layer of cranberry sauce on two pieces of whole wheat bread. Layer two slices of roasted turkey breast and sliced cheese. Use a cookie cutter to cut the sandwich into the shape of a heart.

Serve with:
Baby carrots with ranch dressing dip
Squeezable applesauce tube

Keeping your child safe at home

Accidents are a main cause of death among children aged between one and five years old.

Every year, about 500,000 children under the age of five go to hospital because of an accident at home.

Exploring and playing are an essential part of learning, and children shouldn’t be overprotected.

Bumps and bruises are inevitable, but you can do some simple things to make sure that your child doesn’t get seriously injured.

Keeping children safe from house fires

Housing safety

If you live in rented accommodation and are worried that your housing may be unsafe for you and your child, contact your housing association or your landlord

If your home catches fire, you and your child could breathe in poisonous smoke. It’s especially dangerous if the fire breaks out at night while you’re all asleep.

• Fit smoke alarms on every level of your home. Test the batteries every week. Change the batteries every year or, even better, get alarms that have 10-year batteries or are wired into the mains or plug into light sockets.
• At night, switch off electrical items wherever possible before going to bed and close all doors to contain a potential fire. If you smoke, ensure you put any cigarettes right out.
• Practice how you'll escape if there's a fire so you know what to do if the alarm goes off.

Your local fire and rescue service can give you the right advice for your own home and may be able to provide and fit smoke alarms free of charge.

Avoiding bath water scalds

Bath water scalds can be very serious injuries, needing prolonged treatment and care. They can kill a child. Toddlers may play with the hot tap, scalding themselves and other children sharing the bath with them.

• Never leave a child under five alone in the bath, even for a moment.
• Fit a thermostatic mixing valve to your bath's hot tap to control the temperature and stop your child being badly scalded.
• Put cold water into the bath first, then add the hot water. Always test the temperature of the water, using your elbow, before you put your baby or toddler in the bath. The water should feel neither hot nor cold.

Preventing children being burnt or scalded

• Fit fireguards to all fires and heaters. Use a sparkguard if you have a coal or wood fire. Guards can prevent under-fives falling or reaching into fires.
• Don’t leave hot drinks in easy reach of little hands. Babies and toddlers may grab at cups and mugs on low tables or on the floor and pull the contents over themselves.

Preventing child strangulation

• Make sure any cot toys have very short ribbons, and remove them when your baby goes to sleep.
• Never hang things like bags with cords or strings over the cot.
• Cut or tie up curtain or blind cords well out of your baby’s or toddler’s reach.

Preventing child poisoning

• Fit carbon monoxide alarms wherever there's a flame-burning appliance (such as a gas boiler) or open fire. Carbon monoxide is poisonous, but you can’t see it, smell it or taste it. Make sure that your appliances are serviced regularly and that ventilation outlets in your home aren’t blocked.
• Remember that child-resistant devices, such as bottle tops, strips of tablets and cigarette lighters, aren’t completely childproof – some children can operate these products. Store medicines, household chemicals (including cleaning products) and lighters out of sight and out of reach, or locked away safely.

Building Parent-Teacher Relationships

Effective communication is essential for building school-family partnerships. It constitutes the foundation for all other forms of family involvement in education.

Parent Benefits

Positive parent-school communications benefit parents. The manner in which schools communicate and interact with parents affects the extent and quality of parents' home involvement with their children's learning. For example, schools that communicate bad news about student performance more often than recognizing students' excellence will discourage parent involvement by making parents feel they cannot effectively help their children.

Parents also benefit from being involved in their children's education by getting ideas from school on how to help and support their children, and by learning more about the school's academic program and how it works. Perhaps most important, parents benefit by becoming more confident about the value of their school involvement. Parents develop a greater appreciation for the important role they play in their children's education.

When communicating with parents, consider your remarks in relation to the three categories that influence how parents participate. For example, are you communicating about:

• Classroom learning activities?
• The child's accomplishments?
• How the parents can help at home with their child's learning?

Student Benefits

Substantial evidence exists showing that parent involvement benefits students, including raising their academic achievement. There are other advantages for children when parents become involved — namely, increased motivation for learning, improved behavior, more regular attendance, and a more positive attitude about homework and school in general.

Teacher Benefits

Research shows that parental involvement can free teachers to focus more on the task of teaching children. Also, by having more contact with parents, teachers learn more about students' needs and home environment, which is information they can apply toward better meeting those needs. Parents who are involved tend to have a more positive view of teachers, which results in improved teacher morale.

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