independence

Shelves and Gross Motor Development

Once my son started slithering, he would find his way out of his room and try to find us. He started spending more time in the living room and so we set up another shelf for him in the living room.
Slithering out of his room to find me

Slithering out of his room to find me

Around this time, we started the weaning process and he was also sitting comfortably. We would put him in front of the shelf and let him play. There were usually two to three items in the cubbies. A treasure basket and another one or two items. The red ball stayed on top of the shelf.

New areas created in the living room. You can see the independence in these pictures. Moved from the blanket to the shelf and when he was done he came to us. These pictures were taken over 47 minutes. Note: Once he started pulling up (same week) he never went back to the blanket and preferred to stay by his shelf so that area was removed.

New areas created in the living room. You can see the independence in these pictures. Moved from the blanket to the shelf and when he was done he came to us. These pictures were taken over 47 minutes.
Note: Once he started pulling up (same week) he never went back to the blanket and preferred to stay by his shelf so that area was removed.

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By Ndoma, ago

Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed

I observed a two year old today (2yrs and 2 months to be exact). He was playing with some manipulatives in a corner of a public office. His mum, myself, other adults and another child about his age were present but everyone was doing their own thing.
He played for a while with the first set of manipulatives and as he played, a few pieces fell off the table but no one said anything. When he was done, he picked up the pieces on the table, put them back into the container and took the container back to the shelf. He had not picked up the pieces on the floor…
At the shelf, he struggled with putting the container back because it had these rails you have to match the containers to. He struggled for a while, but none of the adults tried to help. We (his mum and I at least) just watched him. He finally got it on the shelf but not in the “correct” way at least not the way the manufacturer intended.
He then took another container with a different but similar kind of manipulatives and went back to the table to play with them. Once again, he finished, packed up, and went through the same process of getting the container into the shelf… he struggled for a while but finally got it in his own way. As he walked back to the table, this time without any container, he realized some of the manipulatives were on the floor. He proceeded to pick them, separate them and put them into the right containers. When he was done, he moved on to play with the other child. It was awesome to watch!

What was so interesting about this episode or why am I even writing about it?

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By Ndoma, ago

Sucking vs Pacifiers

I mentioned the disadvantages of pacifiers in my last post and one of the commenters, Mo mentioned pacifiers as a way to prevent sucking. I know a lot of people/parents share this sentiment so I just wanted to quickly post a friend’s thoughts on the topic. Before I post it, I have to say I agree with her that sucking is a way to deal with an emotion. It may be boredom, anxiety, hunger or tiredness. All of these emotions can be addressed in proper ways thus eliminating the need to suck.

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By Ndoma, ago