Development at 59 Months
Click for more details:
Activity 1
Age Appropriate Social Development
Willingly Tries Out New Activities On His Own
 I am developing a good sense of self mastery skills as I can handle and master some things in my immediate environment. I am willing to try out new activities. Sometimes I may even initiate to do so. These activities must clearly be within my capabilities. You can let me try new simple activities on my own between 55 and 60 months (4 year 7 months and 5 years). |
Steps
-
Use any new games/toys that are within your child's ability: - E.g. assembling airplane or teddy bear models using different shapes; playing treasure hunt; color a cartoon figure using the indicated color; peeling onions instead of garlic, etc.
-
Ask your child, "Do you like to try doing/playing ____?"
-
Prepare and explain to your child what he has to do. Demonstrate if necessary.
-
Observe whether your child: a. is willing to try a new activity you suggest b. tries out new activity.
Feedback 1
Your child's willingness to try out new things shows that he is keen in learning new things. You have encouraged his natural curiosity towards his environment. You have also built up his sense of competence and adequacy to such an extent that he is willing to try anything new. You will observe that when you bring him to a friend's place, he is willing to play with whatever games or toys there may be over there.
If you notice that your child may be reluctant to try new activities with certain people only, in this case, he may not be confident in the presence of these people. He could freeze with certain adults because he is not familiar or scared of them. Use a positive and encouraging approach, focusing on your child's strengths to continuously build up his sense of competence. Minimize criticisms to specific and constructive comments.
Look at our suggested activities for ideas to encourage your child's independence and willingness to try something new.
|
-
Introduce a variety of new things/activities for your child to try. E.g. let him try swimming, cycling, roller blading, child's sewing, board games, etc.
-
When the activity is familiar to your child and he actually enjoys it, suggest that he leads the activity for the whole family or with a small group of children. Encourage leadership by letting him wear a ""leader's hat"" and to give instructions on the game to everyone.
-
Try to teach your child to approach an activity/task a lot more systematically by first looking and examining it before rushing into it without thinking.
|
|
Feedback 2
If your child shows consistent reluctance to try new things across different people and a need to be continuously encouraged, then it may indicate an inadequate sense of self-competence or a higher level of sensitivity towards suggestions/feedback. Do not be discouraged. Parenting is difficult precisely because different children have different personalities. One approach may work with one child but not for another. Trying the following ideas to help him in building his confidence :
|
-
Always patiently demonstrate to your child first before expecting him to do something on his own.
-
Always praise your child's efforts and not how well or successful he is in doing an activity. Praise your child specifically. Frequent critical, disapproving and negative personal comments will create a lack of self-confidence and initiative in your child.
-
 Plan developmentally appropriate activities/tasks for your child. Developmentally appropriateness means activities/tasks that are within or just above your child's level of abilities. E.g. If your child is having difficulty copying circles, then try to engage him in copying and tracing circles first instead of copying more complex figures like alphabets, squares and triangles. With success, he will naturally want to try copying more difficult figures.
-
Assign some simple responsibilities for your child to do independently everyday at home. Offer the child choices of what he wants to help out with. Here is an example of a list.
-
Leisure: Water the plants/put away toys into basket.
-
Mealtimes: Bring cutleries to table/wipe table with cloth/pour drinks into cups/bring dishes to table.
-
Cleaning: Sweep floor with a child's broom/wipe shelves/push the vacuum.
-
Laundry: Keep dirty clothes into basket/sort clothes.
-
Food preparation: Wash vegetables/rub salt into meat.
|
|
Activity 2
Age Appropriate Cognitive Development
Matches Objects That Are Light Or Heavy Using Sense Of Touch
 I am learning to match objects that are light or heavy just by feeling their weight. Place two golf balls and two ping pong balls on the table (you may also use four tumblers, two completely filled with water and two only filled with a little water). Encourage me to put the two heavier balls together on one side and the two lighter ones together on the other side. Observe if I am able to do so just by holding the balls. You may need to first explain the concepts of light and heavy to me. I usually develop the ability to match objects that are light and heavy using my touch sense between 57 and 60 months (4 years 9 months and 5 years). |
Steps
-
Place two golf balls and two ping pong balls on the table (you may also use four tumblers, two completely filled with water and two only filled with a little water).
-
Encourage your child to put the two heavier balls together on one side of the table and the two lighter ones together on the other side.
-
Observe if he is able to do so just by holding the balls.
-
You may need to first explain the concepts of light and heavy to him.
Feedback
Your child is developing good touch discrimination and matching skills in this activity. These are essential skills which will enable your child to learn important concepts as he relates such concepts to real-life objects through his senses. You may look at the suggested activities for more ideas with this task.
|
-
Provide lots of opportunities for your child to explore the environment using his sense of touch. This will help sharpen his touch discrimination skills.
-
You may challenge him further by getting him to match weights that are only slightly different using his touch sense alone.
-
Encourage your child to feel objects of different weights and discuss their differences.
-
Make sure your child is familiar with the terms 'heavy' and 'light'. If not, take him around the house and explain to him the meaning of the terms using familiar objects.
-
You may let your child compare a real object with a toy one. For example, let him feel the difference between a toy hammer and a real one. Discuss the differences in weight with him.
-
Discuss the concepts of weights with your child whenever there is an opportunity. For example, a thick book is heavy while a sheet of paper is light.
|
|
|
