Peer pressure and Social skills

Parents in Dubai send their children to a  Children’s Nursery Dubai, hoping they will make good friends and build on their social skills and learn to communicate with each other in a cordial manner. Instead, what do you do when your child comes home with a new found attitude and new behaviour which is rude, defiant and aggressive. Spending lots of time with peers doesn’t seem to have improved social skills or good behaviour,  but made it worse.

Children like to feel that they belong, especially in Nursery Schools in Dubai and inorder to do this they will engage in certain behavioural patterns to fit in among their peers. They try to adapt themselves to the same behaviour shown by their peers. Even as early as preschool, children are becoming conscious and concerned with what their friends think and do. They want to be liked and included in a group, this makes them susceptible to peer pressure. Peer pressure can affect children as early as preschool age and becomes an even greater risk as they make their transition into school.

Peer pressure in an Early Years Education in Dubai, setting can have a negative as well as a positive impact on the child. Every child is susceptible to various forms of peer pressure. Negative peer pressure can lead to bad behaviour such as bullying and substance use in later years while positive peer pressure may influence a child to engage in healthy behaviour.

Peer pressure in young children centers  around the  toys they play with or what games to play. Preschoolers and young children often exert pressure through teasing, name-calling, withholding friendship, and by threatening exclusion from play. Later on when your child goes to school, the pressure becomes more intense and centers around styles and material things to be "cool" in order to be included in the group.

Peer pressure can be resisted by the style of parenting. Parents should adopt a child-centered approach, which is a balanced parenting style, where the parent-child relationship fosters  healthy, positive relationships, but also helps the child to build confidence and skills to resist negative peer pressures.

Here are some useful tips to help parents deal with peer pressure in preschoolers,

• Build a firm foundation with your child based on culture and norms.
• Set limits for your child, even if this means saying no to certain things, so that they too can learn to say no to things they don't like or want to do.
• Make sure they choose good friends. Invite friends for play dates so that you can get to know the child's parents and observe the child's behaviour.
• Teach your child to take a firm decision. Think out a loud and let your child listen to your decision making process as you consider the outcome. This will help the child think about the outcome and consequences of an act before they do it.
• Build self confidence in your child. Make sure to praise your child when they do well and encourage them to be positive, and surround them with people who value them. This increases self confidence, making their opinions more important than someone else.

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Dubai Nursery Schools that Nurture a Child's Imagination

Most Dubai nursery schools boost a child's imagination through play and physical activities. A child's imagination can be enhanced and fostered by providing opportunities  such as exploring, problem solving, experimenting and discovering. Children with an enhanced sense of creativity view the world as their canvass with endless possibilities, opportunities and challenges. By encouraging and nurturing their creativity they can become future leaders and great thinkers, says an educator at the Children’s Nursery Dubai. 

 Here is a look at some creative ways to set the stage for your child's creativity,

• Encourage the child to ask questions.
• Provide a variety of opportunities for observing, exploring and expanding thinking patterns and processes.
• Encourage the child to experiment with new ideas and play with new adventures.
• Do things that gets them thinking. Encourage them to think about how they can do something better, other than the usual method. Ask them to break away from the ordinary pattern and come up with something unique.
• Give a child time to think and come up with ideas.
• Let the child come up with an alternative to create something by depriving the child of something.
• Don't be critical or judge the child's efforts. Encourage the child to bring out his or her creativity without expecting any results or outcomes.
• Turn off the TV and electronic games, they are an unnecessary distraction.
• Allow the mess and let your child play with the dirt. Let them use their imagination with things. Like boxes being used as cars and sticks as a secret fortress. An eco friendly nursery in Dubai, will involve children in a lot of nature activities like hunting for bugs or collecting leaves, which gives children the ability to explore nature by getting in touch with their creativity.
• Let the child take the lead, parents should just observe.
• Listen to your child and answer their many questions.
• Encourage and stimulate imaginary play. Let the child dress up in various costumes and pretend to be a prince of the princess. Let them enjoy pretend play.
• Encourage them to read stories and make up an ending the way they want it to end. This is a great way to encourage them to read as well.
• Ask questions that are stimulating and requires creative thinking.
• Let your child be the center of the story or the activity.
• Get the child to choose a word and begin a story making up things about the words.

 Some of the benefits of using creative play for children, 

• The increased ability to solve problems.
• A high level of self-esteem, confidence and self-fulfillment.
• Ability to cope better with challenges and difficult situations.
• Ability to become future creators and innovators.

The Kindergarten in Dubai focuses on developing a child's imagination by exposing them to the same environment to play, helping them create and build on what they have. If they are constantly given new things, they will not develop their imaginary skills or their creativity.

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Bullying in Preschools

As an educator, at the one of the leading  Nurseries in Dubai there are lots of questions parents ask me and one common question I hear often asked is, how to raise a child with leadership skills who is kind, has a voice and is responsible.   

There is always a huge difference between children who are well liked and children who are popular in Nursery Schools in Dubai but they both have common characteristics such as being good at sports, attractive and well dressed. The difference is between the way they treat other children and how they perform academically, is what separates the two. Popular children use their relationships as weapons, manipulating and hurting  another child, in ways that increases their popularity. These types of children are not well liked by others in the class.

This type of behavior buds during the preschool years,  where children display some very disturbing behavior.  Parents of the child that is being subject to preschool bullying, often feels powerless over the entire situation, and needs to help their little child cope with the situation and emotional pain. It makes a parent want to take on the toddler bully themselves!.

While some Nurseries in Dubai cannot take away the anguish a parent feel for their children, the parents are made to understand that they should  offer support and  teach the child to stand up to a bully and not become a victim.   

Parents should encourage leadership traits in their child, but they should be taught to do this without using ways to hurt another child physically or mentally, this is the most important advice a parent can give a child. As a parent, share a childhood experience you had with a bully in preschool and the positive resolution that came out of it. Make it short yet to the point and concrete, so that the child understands precisely what you are trying to tell him or her.

As a parent, share some useful tips on how to identify good friends and be a good friend,  for instance teach the child to be an empathetic person and to tolerant other children as opposed to being impatient and critical about another child. Allow your child to use their influence in positive ways and be a good leader not a follower.

Dubai Nursery Schools  request parents to look for the following traits to identify if their child is being bullied,

• Scared to go to preschool
• Complains of sickness for no reason
• Clingy and whiny
• Talks about a particular child giving them a hard time
• Comes home with unexplained physical  injuries
• Quiet and sad
• Has trouble concentrating
• Avoids eye contact  and keeps quiet when asked about school

However, if the bullying continues in the school the parents should consider,

• Talking to the teacher.
• Take advantage of the open door policy in the school.
• Schedule a meeting with other parents to address the situation.
• Consider changing your child's classroom.

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Nature Study for Preschoolers

It's the new school year in Dubai, and as an educator at a Children’s Nursery in Dubai you are thinking about what sort of activities might be enjoyable for the children in your class, something a little different than the activities you have been doing during the rest of the year. Well, since the weather is warm in Dubai you and your preschoolers will be spending more time outside over the next few months.  Being outside gives you and your little explorers the opportunity to enjoy one of the most important areas of the curriculum, which the study of nature and the environment.

Learning about nature and the environment,  preschoolers get a sense of wonder and excitement as they explore the world around them.  The Kid's Island Nursery, an Eco Friendly Nursery in Dubai explains that nature study for young children is feeling the wind blowing, smelling the flowers, watching a squirrel hunt for food, hearing the birds sing and watching a butterfly flutter by!.  A child's knowledge of nature can be expanded by encouraging children to observe, compare and contrast, experiment, ask questions, research, predict and talk about it with others.

If you are a Nursery in Dubai and would like to include nature in your curriculum, here are a few suggestions for doing nature study with preschoolers,

• Field trips - A nature field trip for preschoolers can be a simple trip to the park, the botanical gardens, a farm, the beach or the zoo. These are great environments to learn and observe the trees, the flowers, the birds, the animals, and anything else that might be present.
• Create a nature and environment room - Once the children have had the experience of the great outdoors, encourage them to bring back samples of what they you have found and bring in things from home for them to investigate in the future and set up a room dedicated to nature and the environment. Store objects such as shells, stones, leaves, petals and feathers. This can be sources of much exploration and discussion. Have posters and decor on the environment and nature, create a little area where the objects can be on display and children can observe them with tools such as magnifying glasses and also feature little fact sheets with observations made by the children.
• Collect books, magazines, posters, photographs, info graphics  and pictures about nature that is suitable and understandable by preschoolers, such the life cycle of a butterfly and parts of a flower
• Dedicate a day to watch a movie or video about nature and the environment
• Sings songs and rhymes and listen to various media related to nature study
• Ask the children to come dressed in his or her favourite nature outfit on a dedicated day
• Celebrate days dedicated to nature and the environment such as World Environment day and Earth day

The hot climate in Dubai is a good excuse for Nurseries in Dubai, to include a nature trip or field trip to allow preschoolers explore their environment and gain knowledge about nature.

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How to Handle the First Day of Nursery

Now that you have taken the first steps in selecting the best childcare nursery in Dubai, you may now be excited about the first day of sending your child to the kindergarten in Dubai or preschool in Dubai.

While nurseries in Dubai could help you cope with your anxieties of how your child will settle in to their schedule, it is still the first time for you and your child and there is nothing wrong in doing some background reading to prepare for this day.

Ensure that you don’t rush things in the morning. Start early. Get everyone to sleep early the night before and wake them up with considerable time to spare in the morning. So that the little one can take his time to eat and get ready and you will also have time to calm him or her down if they start throwing a tantrum.

Go as early as possible to the preschool. This way you can spend a little more time with your child till the other children arrive and the child can clearly see and get to know his or her teacher personally before it becomes packed with the other children.

If the school allows it, let your little child take along one of his favourite comforting object, a blanket or a soft toy, so that the new environment will not be too scary. Once he gets familiar with his or her environment and makes new friends this object can slowly be removed.

You as a parent should set the mood by being happy and smiling. If you show any sign or anxiety the child will be likely to pick up those signs and be scared as well. But if you sound happy and confident the child will start off with a confident step as well.

Some nurseries will allow the parents to stay around on the first day of school. Try not to be in hovering over the child always and just stay out of the class only to step in if needed. So with time the child will understand that you are close by to come if required and help him to get more comfortable around the teacher.

Help the preschool teachers to do their job by keeping your goodbyes short and sweet. Be clear to the child when you will be back, like after lunch. Leave with a smile and try not to look back as it can make the child feel insecure.

Don’t panic and run back if you hear your child crying, the teachers have experience in handling many children. Trust them and your instinct to make the right call.

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Motor skills Development You Can Expect from Pre-Schoolers

When little children first start to walk and move around, they will need a lot of guidance and you will see that they are unable to handle equipment’s firmly without dropping or losing control over them. The difference between these children and adults are the development of motor skills. We as adults are able to understand the difference between carrying a small object and a large object, walk and move without tripping and carry out activities like tying a shoe lace or even drive a car. Can you image a young toddler doing these tasks?

So how do these little hands and legs learn to do these tasks in the years to come? What role do parents and nursery care givers at Dubai nursery and day care in Dubai have to play in helping them to develop their motor skills?

Childrens nursery in Dubai encourages children to be independent every day. It helps the children to feel more confident and keep attempting tasks like placing blocks on top of another perfectly, or placing items back in the rack. This will help towards the gradual improvement in fine motor skills. Childcare nursery in Dubai is careful not to rush children to complete tasks, patience is key in letting the children carry out tasks slowly till they master a specific skill. Even parents are encouraged to practice this at home and try to avoid rushing the children into completing tasks. This will also help to ensure that the children do not rush to complete tasks and run the risk of injuring themselves. 

Parents and nurseries are encouraged to not to help the children in all tasks, and let them gradually start doing things on their own. Like putting away the toys after play, hanging the water bottle, removing the shoes, etc. When they are encouraged to carry out these tasks every day their tiny hands and feet will begin to develop. With time they will be able to draw and write and even dance, jump and run without falling. The activities in the nurseries will the children in developing these physical and mental skills towards fine and gross motor skills development. 

It is found the young children develop gross motor skills faster than the fine motor skills. This is why they are able to walk within the second ear but not able to write till around the third or fourth year in their life.

The important role you play as an adult in their life is to carefully monitor their activities and when they begin to show interest in a specific task encourage them to try it out. Be patient around them and let them make mistakes. With practice they will be able to grasp new tasks faster. 

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