Get Cookin’ With SPRING Learning Centre Hong Kong

  

Cooking with your children is a great family bonding activity, but it has developmental benefits too. Teaching your child about cooking is a great way to talk about health, nutrition, and to give your child a little bit of independence. So, where do you start? SPRING has a few easy tips and child-friendly recipes for you to try.

Be Patient

Cooking with your child will take longer than cooking alone. Take the time to teach your child about each ingredient and tool. It’ll also be a lot messier than cooking alone. Try laying a tray underneath their workstation to catch some of the crumbs that fall.

Be Prepared

Pick a recipe ahead of time based on your child’s tastes, the difficulty level, and how long it will take. Make sure you have all the ingredients and tools needed ahead of time. Make sure you and your child are wearing clothes that can get dirty and that dangerous tools stay out of reach.

Be Educational and Fun

Talking through the recipe is a great way to get children to recognize words and practice their reading skills. It’s also great for teaching how to follow instructions. If a recipe calls for a certain weight, help your child with math by adding, subtracting, and measuring. Cooking is the perfect time to talk about hygiene. Make sure your child washes up before, during, and after cooking, as well as rinses off vegetables and raw meats. But most importantly, make sure your child has fun! Let them touch, smell, and taste along the way.

Now it’s time to get cookin’! Try this kid-friendly Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe to start. Do you have any cooking tips or family-friendly recipes? Share in the comments below!

For more advice, tips, and more, visit SPRING online. Parents and carers are invited to come check out SPRING and say hello to the team. Discovery Classes are available to see what SPRING has to offer first-hand. Course descriptions are available for each programme.

Visit SPRING online:

http://www.spring-learning.com.hk

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Help Baby Talk With Advice From SPRING Hong Kong

  

Parents are often eager to get their babies talking at an early age. While the wait may seem long until baby says his or her first word, babies begin language development from the moment of birth through observation. Learn how to help your baby’s language development progress at the right pace with the following tips from SPRING Learning Centre Hong Kong.

Zero to six months

Babies this young learn from observation. They listen to parents’ voices and try to imitate sounds with cooing and gurgling. Encourage this behavior by talking to your baby, continuing conversations when baby is near, and giving baby distraction-free sound making time. Singing to your baby will also help this process by showing how nice and pretty sounds can be. Hold baby close, maintain eye contact, and smile to show warmth and affection. When baby babbles, imitate the sounds to offer encouragement. If baby tries to say a word you do, say the word again. Don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t happen today.

Six to twelve months

Baby will start playing with sounds. Some sounds may even sound like “dada”, “baba” or “mama”. Simple words will be understood. Baby will stop and look if you say “no”. Baby will also start communicating through body language like pointing and will continue to make sounds. Help your baby begin to understand more words by playing games like Peek-a-Boo or Pat-a-Cake, describing favorite toys (like a fuzzy bear), and identifying people and pets with pointing while reciting names.

Twelve to fifteen months

Babies will start to switch from sounds to words, like “baba” for bottle. Other words are understood, but not said. Test your baby’s learning by asking for certain toys, cups, and other household items. Encourage vocabulary development by continuing to identify common objects and give baby time to listen and repeat.

18 months to two years

Baby will start following directions and put words together like “want juice.” Maintain progress by asking your child to help you by placing specific objects in specific places. Teach simple songs and nursery rhymes and encourage pretend play for fun language development.

Two to three years

Language will develop the quickest here. Sentences will start to be formed, questions can now be answered, vocabulary grows at a huge pace. Keep encouraging your child by teaching first and last names, describing objects around you, asking open-ended questions, continuing pretend play, and practicing active reading.

Get your baby talking by encouraging sound making and imitation at an early age. For more advice, tips, and more, visit SPRING online. Parents and carers are invited to come check out SPRING and say hello to the team. Discovery Classes are available to see what SPRING has to offer first-hand. Course descriptions are available for each programme.

Visit SPRING online:

http://www.spring-learning.com.hk

Like our Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/SpringLearningCentreHongKong

Check out our Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/SpringHongKong

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http://pinterest.com/springhk/

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https://twitter.com/Spring_HongKong

The Importance of Emotional Development: How to Coach Your Child

  

Parents spend a lot of time teaching their children how to read, write, have good manners, and get good grades. But how do children learn about emotions? Parents can use emotional coaching to teach their kids about how they feel and what appropriate reactions are to those feelings. Children who understand their feelings are more likely to experience less negative emotions and more positive ones, along with performing better in school and forming better relationships. SPRING has these helpful steps of emotional coaching for you to try at home.

1. Pay attention to feelings.

Acknowledge how your child is feeling by labeling their emotions. If you notice your child feeling sad, communicate this to them and ask them to describe any other emotions they may be experiencing. Help them understand that emotions are completely normal for everyone. Remember to pay attention to your feelings as well. When a parent is frustrated or stressed, it’s easy to dismiss a child’s emotions. It’s important to remember to always validate how your child feels, whether you agree with it or not.

2. Discipline actions, not emotions.

Emotions like anger or frustration can appear in negative ways. Guide your children before they escalate into misbehavior by showing them you understand their feelings and are taking them seriously. Don’t avoid uncomfortable situations and avoid judging negative emotions. Set behavioral limits when your child experiences negative emotions so they know how to react without being afraid of feeling. It’s okay to be angry, for example, but it isn’t okay to call someone names.

3. Find solutions.

If your child misbehaves when upset, redirect their behavior after discipline. Brainstorm with your child to find appropriate ways to react to strong emotions and help them understand why certain behavior isn’t okay. The more ideas your child suggests, the better. Remember you are a coach-- your child is more likely to try ideas they think of on their own. It’s also important to praise your child when he or she does something right. But remember, changes take time, so don’t expect too much too soon!

Emotions are a powerful thing for everyone, but can make learning and socializing confusing for your kids. Help them better understand their feelings and how to react to them by using emotional coaching. For more tips, information, and fun ideas, check out SPRING online.

Find out more about us at

http://www.spring-learning.com.hk/

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Learn about Brain Power with SPRING Hong Kong

By Scarlett Mattoli, MSc, MBPsS, MAC 
Chief Advisor for SPRING

 

As parents, we have the huge responsibility of helping another human being develop. This development begins with the brain from birth. While every person has a brain, no two are alike. SPRING knows this is important to keep in mind when raising our children, and wants to help you better understand brain function so you can provide the right stimulation.

The brain already has 100 billion neurons at birth, but they are not very well connected yet. They can’t do a whole lot for us until they are further developed. Our neurons communicate with each other through neural pathways that act like very long wires. These wires allow for communication between our brains and bodies so we can interpret everything our senses pick up from the outside world. As our children grow up, they get a lot of stimulation from the environment, which helps strengthen these connections and make new ones. Practicing the same things over and over again strengthen our neural pathways even more. If you don’t use it, you lose it! Stimulation and care help our brains develop better and keep it running.

There are optimal periods in our children’s development for vision, auditory, cognitive, sensory, motor and linguistic function. It’s crucial to support our little ones’ learning during the first five years of life, while encouraging their natural curiosity about life. At around two years of age, neurons become linked up at a faster rate than any other time of normal human development. This is why two year-olds run around repeating actions and insist on doing it themselves. They feel very happy after completing a new capability with success, and parents should applaud them. Parents who provide emotional support and support for learning opportunities see healthier communication patterns. This leads to well-adjusted primary students and less-stressful teenage years. Who can say no to that?

So, what can you do as a parent? Starting off, touch your child! This first sensory experience develops closeness and better links up senses with the brain, and allows the development of other senses more quickly. Talk to your child and be a model for their language development. Emotional development starts at home, so smile at your little one every chance you get. Children who don’t get their emotional development from home are less likely to develop functional social skills. Play with your child to help the transition from parallel play to cooperative play in their toddler years.

A lot of learning and responsibility comes with being a parent. Knowing how you can support your child’s development is one of the first steps in helping him or her develop real brain power. For parenting resources, activities for children, and more visit SPRING.

 

Scarlett Mattoli, founder of psychology consultancy Psynamo Limited, offers advisory services on issues surrounding normal development and learning differences of children.

Find out more about us at

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Explore SPRING Hong Kong’s Offerings With Complimentary Discovery Classes

  

Optimal child development is one of the greatest concerns all parents share. How can you ensure that your children are reaching their full potential? Say hello to SPRING, a brand new learning centre located in Wanchai, Hong Kong. SPRING is dedicated to using a holistic approach to encourage holistic child development during the most crucial years of their growth.

As part of SPRING’s opening celebration, Complimentary Discovery Classes are on offer for a limited time until March 9. Encourage neurophysiological development with KindyRoo@SPRING. This class is available for children anywhere between 6 weeks and 36 months and is organised by age group. Parents will also get a unique learning experience on how certain activities improve brain development.

In a world where people are increasingly reliant on technology such as televisions and computers to pass the time, most of our senses are insufficiently engaged. Your children will heighten their senses and learn to experience life at its fullest with Sensory@SPRING. This class is available for newborns all the way up to children 3 years old and is developed by experienced Occupational Therapist, Ann Bridgewater.

Nutrition is a crucial part of every person’s life, and healthy eating an easier habit to develop at a young age. Cooking@SPRING gives children hands-on cooking experience and opportunities to learn about healthy foods in an enjoyable way, in SPRING’s state of the art kitchen. This class is offered for children between 18 months and 4 years.

Does your little one just have too much energy? SuperSport@SPRING is perfect for you! Available for kids between 18 months and 8 years, this class is designed to create stronger, more independent children. In addition to burning off extra energy, students will learn about teamwork, sportsmanship, communication, and much more!

Spaces are limited on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up is easy - don’t wait! For more parenting advice, child friendly activities, and more visit SPRING online.

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