Like I said before, all my work experience (5 years) it’s about childcare, working with teens, and social work. I love to work with children, especially to make a difference in their lives, I watch them growing and developing.
Children develop quickly in the early years, and the persons around them have to do all they can to help children have the best possible start in life.
From early on, babies produce responses – such as smiling and crying, cooing. Infants can smile and cry. Initially these are reflexes but parents typically respond as if they were intentional communications. So the infant learns the social consequences of crying and smiling.
Birth – 11 months:
Enjoys the company of others and seeks contact with others from birth
Baby can respond when talked to, for example, moves arms and legs, changes facial expressions
Seeks physical and emotional comfort by snuggling in to trusted adults
Can recognise and react to Mom’s voice for example
Stops and looks when hears own voice
Makes own sounds in response when talked to by familiar adults
Baby can turn head in response to sounds and sights
Makes movements with arms and legs which gradually become more controlled.
From 12 months to 24 months:
Between 1-2 years old, they are developing important fine motor skills and gross motor skills. Their balance, climbing, speaking and running will develop rapidly. It’s the transformation time, you will see the baby transforming from a baby to more a toddler.
1–year-old will begin to try and become independent in many ways.
gross motor skills: Most babies take their first steps before 12 months and are walking on their own by the time they’re 14 or 15 months old.
Fine motor skills: By 24 months, your little one can likely drink from a cup, eat with a spoon, and help get undressed.
Explores new toys and environments, but will checks in regularly with a a familiar adult as and when needed
Demonstrates sense of self as an individual, e.g. wants to do things independently, says ”NO” to adults.
Also they can have tantrums.
Their vocabulary will count many easy words.
Notice: Children develop at their own pace, so don’t worry if your child doesn’t do what your neighbour child does. As a parent, you know your child best.
In the USA, UK and Canada – Fathers’ Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in June since being made a national holiday in 1966. In Australia and New Zealand, fathers are honoured the first Sunday in September. Other countries celebrate fathers throughout the year. For example in my country (Romania) we celebrated in May.
I wanna talk about the importance of being a DAD for the children, to be there, to be a foundation for your family.
I could not enjoy that much of my dad, I was his princess for 14 years. But I know that in the moment when dad wasn’t there It felt like a collapse.
Believe me, a dad can make a HUGE difference in his daughter life! He is the one that the girl will look up at and she will take him like a future model of her future husband. When I was about 16 I remember having a boyfriend and I used to compare his actions with my dad, the way he treated me, how my dad treat my MOM and even the appearance.
A father has an even greater influence on his children than a mother when it comes to the development of behaviour traits.
Fathers who show love to their daughters and accept them as they are help foster a positive sense of self in the female. Negligent fathers, on the other hand, can send their daughters down a dark path of depression, substance abuse, and psychological problems.
Fathers also play an important role when we talk about the financial and physical health of their daughters. Girls see their fathers as a symbol of financial stability. If the father was involved a lot in his daughter’s childhood, his daughter will be more likely to have better physical and financial health which can lead her to success.
Now, do not get me wrong, but fathers are important not just in his girl life but in the family as a whole!
Here is testimony from a anonymous person
”My father was emotionally absent, rejected me and was not the ideal father. I also watched him cheat on my mother. This article is so true because I became aggressive, angry, and did terrible in school. They got a divorce and it just caused so much depression and I’ve always felt like something was missing”.
It can affect children from birth and left unchecked and unchallenged, can impact negatively on every aspect of a child’s life.
Usually, poor children are located in hard to reach villages, isolated, but not only. In these villages, communities people follow traditions, they copy each others even if it’s bad or good. Sometimes no one is going to these villages to make a difference, and the children grow up and have no future.
I used to live like a disadvantaged kid some years of my life, what was the reason? well, an alcoholic dad and unemployment of both of my parents. I do not condemn them, but I try to understand their actions.
There are a number of reasons why a family may be disadvantaged, and therefore, vulnerable.
Unemployment
Single parent
Low income
Substance abuse…
What are the effects on a child living in poverty?
A child may suffer from:
A poor diet or neglect
Low educational achievement: no school trips, no books, uniform packed lunch, healthy snack
Lack of positive interactions with parents
They might be unable to understand their own emotions and those of others
Poor/dirty clothes, shoes.
The child may have low self esteem
Tensions/fights between parents at home.
The child may experience some types of abuse from parents or family.
Depression does not only affect adults. Children and teenagers can get depressed too, same like adults, the important thing is to understand and to be aware of that.
I can say about myself that when I was 14 years old I felt really depressed for about a year, there was some changes in my life I had to embrace. I did not knew that was depression but I can identify it now by the symptoms I experienced.
Here are some examples of depression I also experienced
Signs of depression in teenagers
sadness, or a low mood that does not go away
being irritable or grumpy all the time
not being interested in things they used to enjoy
feeling tired and exhausted a lot of the time
refusing to eat, shower themselves or clean their room
Aggressive
Refusing to go to school; look at the changes in performances at school
Sometimes is tricky for parents to identify the signs of depression, but if you see any changes in your child just talk with and find the right help, is important for kids to have someone on their side. Like I had no one to help me, even though there was my teachers, social worker, some friends, but I still felt alone and discouraged. Dad became an alcoholic and my Mamma left the home, and I started the High School with no support from parents, God, is so hard and depressive. But you, yes you the one who reads this post you can help a child by showing support.
Let’s talk about young children, it’s hard to hear for them words like ( I am angry, upset, sad, you know, words that describes feelings). But you can see changes in their behaviour, in this way they telling you that something might be wrong and they are feeling depressed.
Signs of depression for 3-5 years old
They might not be interested in the activities
They might have problems sleeping
irritable ;social withdrawal
decreased appetite
If you’re a believer in God, you know that praying is weapon we can use all the time! Pray for your child and know that every person can go through depression, but God is there to help and He knows our problems!
Physical development is an important area of child development that includes children’s physical growth.
Physical activity is vital from birth and develops not only the body, but minds and emotions too.
P.D. involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food (eyfs).
The department of Health says, children should have at least 3 hours of physical activity, spread out over a day. This doesn’t mean three hours of planned activities, as every movement a child makes, is included, and they move a lot.
Physical Play allows children to understand why being physical and moving around is good for health.
P.P. can help children develop confidence, social interaction with their peers, friendship, control and balance, and also allows children to discover their own bodies ( sweating, redness, fast heart beat, fast breathing, tiredness).
For babies (children under 2) physical activity consists of playing and rolling, they can reach the objects, pull. hold, push.These experiences help use muscles and develop motor skills.
How to introduce P.D to children?
Gross Motor Activities – Talk about the fun of skipping, jumping, climbing, running, rolling. These will help the child to be active during the day. Obesity is a main problem in our days, so keep ypur child involved and active in different activities which promote Physical health.
Fine Motor Activities Give the child opportunity to enjoy these activities; cutting, drawing, holding, pressing, twisting, threading.
About this subject I can talk, write a lot. I can relate to it. My parents used to neglect us sometimes, neglecting is a trauma. But shall we let the trauma affect our lives? I did not, I understood my parents actions.
When you are a child, the parents are the ones that should raise your in a healthy, caring, loving way. But what can a child do if the parent, carers, exposes him/her to some forms of abuse, trauma? Well, here comes the adults which are in contact with the child, they should be the heroes in cases of abuse (social workers, health visitor, teachers, etc).
Childhood trauma affects self image – According to psychology today, one of the most devastating impacts of childhood trauma is the effect it has on self-image. Adults who experienced significant trauma as children are more likely to develop a pattern of victimised thinking. Adopting this ideology is incredibly dangerous, as the way people perceive themselves impacts their words, choices, careers, opportunities and relationships. Individuals who genuinely think the world is out to get them will inevitably attract situations and people who reinforce these beliefs, regardless of how incorrect they may be.
I am thinking about the children who lived in a orphanage, their self esteem is so low. I used to work with kids in orphanages and they had some sad stories about the way they were treat there. Some of them experienced forms of abuse. I can just imagine while in adulthood they might have the same low self esteem or their lives to be totally changed in good. God can heal us of all our past, bad experiences and help us forgive and understand peoples actions towards us.
Their are 4 types of abuse ( physical, sexual, emotional, neglect). Some kids experience this types of abuse, and usually happens in family, but family should be LOVE, isn’t it?
If you experienced trauma, abuse in your childhood and now you have anxiety, depression, feel like worthless, just give all to God and HE is ready to heal and love you unconditionally.
If you are a parent, love your kids and treat them with care, compassion, you have to power to model the child today for tomorrow’s adulthood.
What is grace, and how we can give grace to children?
GRACE – receiving a blessing you didn’t earn and don’t deserve
I love the meaning of God’s grace- We deserved punishment but God offered us grace, mercy. He gave His son for us at the cross.
Ephesians 2:8-9
I think a parent gives the children grace after grace everyday. Just think about it (if you have a child), let’s say the child broke a vase, would you scream and punish your kid? No, instead you give forgiveness and love, using nice words with your kid. This is grace. If you want the child to have mercy and to learn the grace of God, show it to them, usually kids learn by observing, kids are very much like sponges, soaking up the experiences they have each and every day.
Here are some ideas/activities for the parents to do with their kiddos.
Teach them about the grace – Read a bible story, for example the the story of prodigal son.
Show them grace – try to understand the reasons behind the actions. Be there, the children needs parents presence, talk with them, love them unconditionally, teach them the right from bad
Talking with kids about grace is so important and wise. Just imagine when that child will grow up, he/she will offer grace to other people, they will be kind, ready to forgive, compassionate and ready to help.
CRINAMORPHO 