Informative and solutions

1. How to Keep Child Busy in Vacations
It is very necessary to keep children occupied or busy during vacations in some way or the other.
Keeping children busy in hobby classes or extracurricular activities can help to avoid wastage of
time during vacations. This activity will help children to learn new things and improve their skills.
Read on to find tips for keeping your child busy during vacations.
Vacation means no studies, no homework and no specific time table for children. Since
they follow a definite routine everyday especially during school days, they simply love to
have lots of free time and do whatever they like. But, after few days they get bored and
will perhaps get destructive or will try to go out even in sun to play.
The main problem in summer is to keep your children indoors. For this you need to keep them occupied
and it will be successful only when the engagement is positive and gives them some results. Here are
some ideas that can help you keep your children busy during summer vacation.
Ideas for Keeping Children Busy
Have a quick look at some ideas for keeping children busy during vacations.
School or Community Activities
Keep your child engaged in extracurricular activities which are organised by the community or school. As
such activities are organised by school and many schools friends take part in it, your child may easily
agree to join such extracurricular activities.

2. Organise a Family Trip
You can go out for a trip and have fun spending quality time with your family. Probably you wanted to go
to a place or you can plan some new place.
Enroll Your Child for Summer Camps
Get your child engaged in summer camps if they are interested. There is whole lot of fun and things to
learn in these camps. Your child will have a different and unique experience and will learn to manage
many things independently. When you are sending your children for summer camps, make sure you are
well aware of the safety and security arrangements over there and see that your child is more than willing
to go there. Do not forget to check out the medical staff work at the camp.
Involve your Child in Creative Arts
You can look for the option of scrapbooking. Introduce your child to the creative art of scrapbooking
especially when your child has creativity and imagination in him. You can provide him with some
memorable pictures and other interesting keepstakes and let him arrange and put together things
according to his wish. Make sure you have an idea about the interests of your child. Try to find activities
and if possible help him to improve his skills by joining related classes and courses.
Habit of Exercising Regularly
Encourage your child to follow a routine of exercise and you can also make him join a yoga class for
better results. Yoga helps in improving concentration and keeps the child’s mind and body healthy as
well.
Involve Child in Household Chores
Ask your child to help you in your household work. Children love to take responsibilities especially when
they are considered younger than what they are allotted to do. They can fold clothes; arrange books and
toys, dry utensils and plates and so many other household works. This will not only help them stay busy,
they will also learn cleanliness and stay in discipline.
Avoid and do not let your child watch TV or play video games the entire day. This will do no good to him
instead it may harm his eyesight or make him overweight during vacation. Along with preparing their
favourite food items, you should pay attention to the nutrition of your child too. Make sure you provide him
with fresh fruits and vegetables.
If you keep in mind few things and help your children stay full of activity and energetic during vacations,
you will see a huge difference in them. Pay attention to their interests always and make them attend
classes or opt for activities that they find interest in.

3. Speech and Hearing
Communication skill is very important for overall development of a child. Speech development
starts from the age of 0-5 years. Speech development is a complex process. Here we have listed
the prerequisites of speech development. Read on.
In every child, the development of speech and language is an ongoing process, beginning at birth. The
period from 0-5 years is recognised as important for all aspects of development in a child, including
'hearing', 'language' and 'speech'. Each month, the baby matures in each of these three interwoven
areas, and gradually learns the skill of communication with those around him. The development of
communication skill is essential for every child's emotional, social and intellectual development.
Although it may seem that babies just develop speech naturally, without trying to put in much effort,
acquisition of 'language' for communication through speech is an extraordinarily complex process. Most
parents are not even aware of how the process unfolds. They frequently do not realise the importance of
their role in helping child develop adequate communication skills. Some developmental skills, such as
crawling, sitting, standing and walking seem to occur without much help. "Learning to talk" must be
taught by parents and adults around the child. Without the right kind of help at the right time, the child
may learn the communication skill later, improperly, or not at all. If parents can familiarize themselves
with the process of communication development and how children learn to talk, they can offer great help
in this important aspect of growth and development. To familiarise the parent with the process in this
area, we begin with listing down the pre-requisites for normal development of speech and language for
communication.
1. Normal Hearing:
Speech and hearing is acquired primarily through hearing. The maturation of a child's hearing occurs

4. systematically in early months and the child gradually learns to comprehend the spoken language. Then,
through initiation and adult speech, the child learns to express himself through speech.
2. Stimulating Environment:
A stimulating environment, i.e., an environment which provides adequate verbal interactions with family
members and peers, is necessary.
3. Normal Intelligence:
To acquire language, a child must have the mental capacity to reason, to make associations and
generalizations, and to store items in memory. In other words, a child can talk only as well as he can
think.
4. Normal Coordination of Body Movements:
Since speech is a very rapid and complex motor art, it requires finely tuned neurological regulation and
normal coordination of body movements controlled by the brain.
5. Normal functioning of Voice Organs:
Normal structures and functioning of lips, tongue, palate and voice box (larynx) is necessary for speech.
6. Adequate physical and Emotional Health:
Adequate physical and emotional health of the child is necessary to support the growth of
language. Physical and emotional illnesses can affect, restrict and distort relationships with family
members.
A number of communicative disorders are known to result if any of the above pre-requisites are not
fulfilled. A variety of factors could prevent the availability of these pre-requisites. (These will be
discussed in detail in the upcoming articles). However, timely intervention can prevent the limiting effects
of such disorders. In case of any doubts, consult an audiologist and speech-language pathologist at the
earliest.

5. Helping child to cope with speech delays
Do you think that your child may be suffering from speech delay? Identifying and treating speech
disorder at right time can prove to be very helpful. Here are some tips to encourage your child to
start speaking.
Watching your child grow during the early years can be both wonderful and a nerve-wracking experience.
One of the common worries every parent has is when will their child start to speak. Read on to find out
whether you should be concerned about your child's silence and how to help him to start speaking.
Ten percent of children have delays in starting to speak. Some of the most common causes for a delay in
speech could include being a twin and overall slow development. Twins are known to be able to
communicate effectively with each other in 'twin talk'. This is a language of gestures and body language
that delays the need to actually develop language skills. Children who live in bilingual homes may also
take more time to pick up a language.
In severe cases, speech delays may be caused by mental retardation orautism. Speech delays can have
far-reaching effects. It may have an impact on the child's social, academic or vocational life.
Normal speech progression
One-year-old children start by learning to speak simple words like mama and dada. By the second year,
their vocabulary skills increase to approximately ten to twenty words. They can point to objects when the
word associated with them is spoken. Their cognition skills will have developed to a stage where they can
recognise familiar people. The normal flow of speech development is from initial cooing, babbling,
echolalia (instant repetition of sounds made by others), jargon (incoherent and meaningless talk), to
proper words and word combinations resulting in sentence formation.

6. Types of speech delay disorders
Speech disorders can be caused due to problems in articulation. Another type of disorder would involve
the quality of the voice or its volume. Children may have a minor break in the rhythm or flow of delivery or
may even have a more serious stutter. Speech delays can also be due to hearing loss. Some key factors
maybe:
Maturation delay: Maturation delay is one of the main causes for speech delay. Here, the central
neurological process in the brain required to produce speech takes time to develop. This late-bloomer
effect is more common in boys. Most children who have speech delays due to maturation begin to speak
by the time they have to join school.
Expressive language disorder: This is when a child is perfectly alright in terms of skills of articulation and
normal intelligence, has no hearing problems, and has good emotional relationships. The child has a
problem in converting ideas into speech, thus having a problem in expressing himself. This child will use
gestures extensively to express himself. The difference between maturation and expressive language
disorder is that a child suffering from the former may develop his speech skills without any intervention
while a child suffering from the latter requires assistance.
Elective mutism: This is a unique condition where though the child can speak, he chooses not to. When
left on his own or with his friends, the child will talk. However, in the presence of strangers or in public, he
will refuse to speak. A child who suffers from elective mutism is shy, timid, and withdrawn. Causes for this
could be poor peer relations or being over dependent on parents.
Ways to encourage your child to speak
In order to ensure that your child picks up a language and starts speaking a few words, it is essential to
give him some motivation and assistance. Here are few tips to give your child a helping hand in
developing his vocabulary.
 Communicate with your child as often as possible. Even during infancy, keep talking to him and
singing. Encourage him to imitate your gestures.
 Read to your child. These books should be age appropriate. For example, reading picture books
to him will help build associations between pictures and words.
 Understand your child's interests. Children have more ways than words to tell us what they are
interested in. Understanding your child's body language and the signs that he is giving will help
you identify what his interests are. Watch his eye movements. Once you understand what holds
his interest, then you can talk to him about it. Try to get him to respond to your actions or
comments using words.
 Always try to explain why something may be wrong. If your child is playing with a puzzle and tries
fitting a square piece into a circular slot then explain to him the properties of the square and that it
doesn't fit. These explanations need to be at the child's level verbally. Imitate his movements and,
when he uses incomplete phrases, repeat the complete one. For example if he says 'Ca' for car
then frame a sentence with the word car to reinforce the right pronunciation.
 Encourage your child to speak. Do not monopolise the conversation into a one-sided tirade.
Instead ensure that your child contributes to the dialogue no matter what kind of sounds he
makes.

7.  Stay at your child's level of comprehension. If your child uses a maximum of one word, then
ideally you should frame simple sentences with not more than two words.
 Use gestures to give visual cues while saying things. You will notice that children themselves use
signs to identify objects before they can speak. This helps both ways. It helps parents to
understand what the child is trying to convey along with enforcing what the parent wants to say.
Pairing of words and signs is important to ensure that a relationship is built up. Repetition of the
word will add the final touch in ensuring the child learns the new word or phrase.

8. Baby Talk
Everybody loves the babbling and cooing of a baby but if this type of baby talk is done by an elder
child then it becomes irritating. Children revert back to baby language as they feel that they will
get more love and affection. Read on the tips to cope with baby talk
There is nothing as adorable as a babbling, cooing, lisping baby. But when you're five year old lapses into
baby talk, it's not cute - it's revolting and annoying. Yet this is quite a common happening. Many parents
report that their children suddenly regress back to cutesy-pie, whiny baby language. Children labour
under the misapprehension that it will trigger off an outpouring of love and affection from their parents.
While this is usually not the case, as parents tend to react as they would to an annoying buzzing fly, it is
attention-getting, even if the attention is negative.
This regressive behaviour in the language department is usually triggered off by some environmental
factors that are disturbing the child. There are many possibilities. Some children feel threatened by the
arrival of a new baby and think that baby talk is one way of clinging onto their position as baby of the
family. For other children, the transition from kindergarten to proper school, or a run-in with a teacher or
their mother's new job is enough to set them off. But there is no need for parents to get alarmed. This
situation is usually just temporary till the children learn to cope with what's bothering them. Parent should
keep in mind that if they make a fuss about the baby talk, it is likely to last longer.
Tips for coping with baby talk
 The first thing parents should try to do is to ignore the baby talk. Reacting with ridicule,
amusement or annoyance will only fulfil the children's purpose in getting your attention.

9.  Talk to your children as you would to another adult. Explain firmly, but kindly that you cannot
understand what they are trying to say and you will only converse with them when they revert to
their normal speech.
 Praise them immediately on how adult they sound if they do respond to your admonishment by
speaking normally.
 As mentioned earlier, lapsing into baby talk is a signal that your child is disturbed about
something. A little tender loving care from you may do the trick. May be you could take the time
out to give your child a hug or put him on your lap and tell him a story. You don't necessarily have
to probe into what's bothering him. An outward display of affection goes a long way in soothing
insecurities.
 Express your irritability to him, but in a way that he is made to realize that it is not him you find
irritating per se, but his habit of talking in a babyish manner.
 Tell him what you will do the next time he annoys you by talking like a baby and follow through
consistently.
 Make him realize that he is growing up and that talking like a baby is not consistent with his
growing maturity. Gradually give him small tasks and responsibilities and do not mollycoddle him
by doing things for him that he can do himself.
 If you can't identify what could be bothering him at home, go and see his teacher to check if there
is a problem at school. Once you have discovered the root of the problem, you can help your
child cope with it in a more normal fashion.

10. Talk To Your Baby
Communication is a way of expressing one's feelings. Babies can not talk but they love to listen.
Talking to the baby develops his intellectual skills and grasping powers. The baby loves the
attention, he gets when you talk with him. This also helps in language development.
Most parents, when communicating with their babies, indulge in what is known as baby talk. They go goo-
goo gaga and cootchie wootchie all the time, and then wonder why their daughter still finds it difficult to
speak a full sentence when Rani and Deepak's son can recite the entire Baa Baa Black Sheep without a
pause.
Talk
So how do you teach your children to get an early grasp of the language? It's simple. TALK to them. Talk
to them as much as possible, and at every opportunity you get. Find any excuse to talk. If you are feeding
your little one, keep describing and explaining what you are doing. Say things like "Now I'm going to pick
up the spoon, fill it up with this yummy potato and
put it in your mouth! There. wasn't that delicious? Isn't mommy a good cook?" Go on talking and
chattering with your child. This is a surefire way to enhance and motivate your child's language
development. Babies
learn to talk by listening and responding to the sounds around them.

11. Sing
In addition to talking, teach your child nursery rhymes and songs. Sing to your children as much as
possible, to enhance their awareness of the cadences and rhythmical patterns of the language. Read
poetry to them and teach them action rhymes (where you move your hands according to the words of the
poem).
Attention
Children hate to be ignored. They love it when you are speaking to them, especially if you are looking
directly at them, even if they don't understand what you are saying. The fact that you are focusing your
entire attention on them is sufficient.
Read Aloud
Read to your baby everyday. Make this a routine. This will expose your child to the wonderful world of
books, and instill the healthy habit of reading from a young age. Show the book to your baby, let her turn
the pages for you and admire the pictures.
In Conclusion
Remember, the more you speak to your children, the higher will be their intellectual development. Studies
have shown a strong connection between the amount a parent speaks with their children and ultimate
grasping power. So go ahead and start chatting!

12. Saying NO
The word NO has a lot of power. Say 'no' as little as possible, but don't stop your children from
saying 'no' to you.
According to most parents the golden rule of parenting is that their children should never turn to them and
say 'no'. When children use this word to their parents, it seems to portend disobedience and rebellion. In
an ideal world our children will bow down to every request we make, our every wish will be their command
and they will never, ever question our authority. But wait a minute. Is this really how we want our children
to be? To never use their own individuality, and to follow orders blindly? Certainly not. We all want our
children to be able to stand up for themselves, and to be able to say NO in situations later on in life.
Teach your child to say 'no'
If you keep punishing your child every time he says no, or keep insisting without giving reasons that he
must listen to what you say "Because I said so," you will be curtailing your child's individuality, and your
child may not find it easy to resist peer pressure in his teens. You have to keep communication lines
between you and your child constantly open, and constantly explain to your child why you want him to
behave in a particular manner. Do not resist arguments, and don't stop your child from expressing his
mind. What seems to you like an argument may actually be communication and an exchange of ideas.
Curtail your use of the word
At the same time another mistake parents often make is to say 'no' to their children far more often than is
necessary. It becomes such a habit that parents often automatically say no to harmless requests. If your
asks you for something, think about it for a minute before saying no. Why are you saying no?
Interruption: Is it because it would be an inconvenience to you? If your child gets a sudden urge at
midnight to go to the neighbourhood store for a cup of ice-cream, you are completely justified in refusing
his request. When children are very young, there is little they can do on their own. So, saying yes to them
would mean a certain interruption from what we were doing. Parents are not super-beings, and it would

13. be unfair to expect them to bow down to every wish of their child, but every now and then, wherever
possible, try and say 'yes' without making your child wait endlessly for their request to be fulfilled.
More work: Parents also say no when it means more work for them. At this juncture, instead of saying no
straightaway, parents should make the child promise to clean up after himself wherever possible, and let
the child shoulder the responsibility.
Risky: Over-protective parents deny their children many occasions for fun and personality development
because of the risk involved. If the risk involved is minor, like a few bruises, let your child go ahead and
try it. By doing this your child will develop a lot of self- assurance and confidence, and will learn from his
mistakes. Don't be afraid to let your child make mistakes. Better now, than when he is a full grown adult.
 http://www.indiaparenting.com/raising-children/134_306/saying-no.html
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