NUACHTÁN KINDER | May 2021
How to practice English at home to support our children
Teacher Brenda Velazquez K3
One of the most important things our children can learn is a second language and, nothing better than English. There are several ways in which we can support our children at home to practice this language. One of them is watching TV programs in English. Watching movies or cartoons in another language helps children acquire new vocabulary and expose them to a new culture.
Practicing at home what they learn at school is another way to help our children develop language skills. We can play the music that is used during class so, that they become familiar with it; also read stories and play simple games, these could be the ones seen in class or others. In this way we help our children to reinforce their knowledge and they can realize that there are different ways to learn; at the same time, they have fun and spend time with their parents.
Watching videos that they like, is also another fun way to practice and learn another language. We learn easily and fast when we have fun. What better way to give continuity to what they learn at school than, watching videos they enjoy with topics they like. It is a fun way to spend time with them and learn.
As parents, it is always important to keep in touch with the teachers to be aware of our children’s academic progress and needs. Also, by understanding what is happening in class, we will have a better idea of how to support and practice another language at home.
Emotional Well-Being
Emotional well-being is understood as a state of mental health that contributes to human beings having feelings of optimism, confidence, commitment, happiness, and a sense of self-satisfaction. We know that emotional well-being is related to positive adaptation and coping with adversity.
Here are 6 tips to take care of emotional well-being.
1. Try to identify and express your feelings.
People place a high value on opportunities to express and communicate, attributing to them a sense of reward and well-being. Moreover, the same happens when a person trusts us to share what worries or pleases them.
For this to happen, there must be full trust and respect.
As Pablo Neruda said: «I want my words to say what I want them to say, and I want you to hear them as I want you to hear them».
2. Know yourself. Recognize your failures and limitations
Do not be in a hurry. Patience is key to knowing yourself. Do not expect to find answers to all your questions on the first day. Gradually, slowly, calmly, when you are relaxed and with a clear mind.
The goal is to discover who we are and how we are. There is nothing better than facing our own failures and having the courage to overcome them.
Thomas Szasz said: «People often say that they have not yet found themselves. But the self is not something you find, but something you create».
3. Regulate your emotions. Manage your anger and aggression
Do not let yourself be carried away by the moment or hold a grudge; analyze and respect other positions. Do not allow stress to block you.
Becoming aware of the importance of managing one’s own emotions is essential to understand the full development of the person. On many occasions we cannot control what happens around us, but we can be aware and decide how we want to respond.
Emotional regulation allows us to adapt to the circumstances and improve our level of physical and mental well-being.
Do not wait any longer and start training your emotional regulation skills.
4. Love yourself. Value your achievements and positive aspects daily
Develop a positive self-image. Be optimistic as much as possible.
Self-esteem refers to the value you place on everything that is a part of you. We do not always have to look for a positive meaning of all our personal characteristics, but we do have to know and accept ourselves as we are.
A good self-esteem helps us to develop appropriately in our relationships, in our work, and personal; pushing us to continue building and improving the best version of ourselves.
Following Erich Fromm: «Love (to oneself or to others) is an art or skill that can be learned, and it is the healthiest way to live and coexist».
5. Seek for activities that you enjoy
Participation in recreational activities enhances well-being. Therefore, it is essential that each person dedicates time to it in their life and knows how to make the most of it.
Looking for activities according to your personal tastes, with an open mind to new experiences and preferably with people who provide you with satisfying experiences, will help you to achieve this.
Therefore, be free and have fun doing what you have chosen. You have a great diversity of activities within your reach, discover all of them and choose the one you like the most. Learn and take the most out of each one of them. Make your free time add positive aspects to your life.
6. Set goals in life.
Set realistic goals and try to achieve them, it will make you feel good.
Think about what you would like to achieve and set a clear and realistic goal for it.
Is it meaningful to you and does it bring you positive experiences? If so, write down your goal and those smaller goals that can help you achieve it, plan how and when you are going to accomplish it, reflect on the process, evaluate your progress, and change what you need to. You will feel a great vital and personal satisfaction, you will improve your physical and mental health, it will help you to stay active, positive, and constant.
Dare to achieve your goals and enjoy the process!
Excerpts from, Emotional Well-Being Promotion Guide
Strategies to stimulate creativity in children
Creativity promotes mental elasticity, making it easier for children to adapt to change. It also increases their self-esteem and makes them more independent. That is why it is important that they develop their creative skills from an early age. Below, we will share 5 strategies to stimulate creativity in children:
1. Give them creative resources
Large settings allow children to develop their creativity to the fullest. To achieve this, you must dress them in comfortable clothes and give them some paints. This way, they will be able to create drawings, bring color and feel that they can transform the world with each of their brush strokes. Another way is to get them construction kits or make costumes from what you have at home.
2. Teach them to be patient and persevere
Children need to learn that the satisfaction that comes from accomplishment is enjoyed during the process and not at the end of it, as most think. Children also need to place value on the time and effort it took to achieve a goal and not on the outcome. Only then will children know that perseverance and patience are key to achieve each of the goals they set in their lives.
3. Promote reading and museum visits
It is important that they follow a reading plan at school and at home. In addition, they should make visits to museums, exhibitions, archaeological complexes, etc.
4. Let them do things their way
Understanding that there is no strict manual on how to do things will help children to be less shy and develop their creative abilities. Of course, parents should make it clear to them that they will have all the freedom they want if they do not affect others and respect the rules at home. This way, they will have their own ways of doing their homework and many creative ideas.
5. Respect each of their ideas
It is important for parents to be kind to their children, respect their ideas, trust them, and help them put themselves in other people’s shoes. This will not only help stimulate their creativity but also allow them to recognize the importance of expressing their opinions without the need to raise their voices or generate conflict.
Decision Making Turns Children into Independent Adults
Educating children is the most important task for parents. This education involves helping children to have autonomy, to have their own criteria and to teach them to make decisions.
By learning to make decisions and accepting their consequences, children will become independent and self-confident adults.
Making decisions means having freedom and being who you want to be, but this freedom implies a certain maturity in the person to be able to take responsibility for the outcome of the choices. For this reason, it is important that this learning process begins in early childhood.
Teaching the child to make decisions consists of the child learning to evaluate the different options available, to reflect on what each choice implies, to listen to oneself, and to know how to say no.
For children, facing a situation in which they must choose between several options is a new event, since when they experience it, they do not have the experience of previous scenarios. Therefore, it is important to teach them the correct way to make decisions.
Thus, decision making requires previous experiences to guide us in making the right choice. For this reason, it is necessary to teach and accustom children to make active choices, even if it is about «small» things such as, for example, choosing the clothes they are going to wear; so that, in the future, when they are adults, they will be prepared to face more complex choices.
Teaching them to decide and giving them the confidence to face the consequences of their choices is a job that requires effort, dedication, and perseverance on the part of the parents and, as the children grow, also on the part of the teachers.
Here are some recommendations to help children learn to make decisions:
Avoid overprotection – It often happens that when faced with difficult choices, parents tend to make them to avoid negative consequences for their children. In doing so, parents deprive the child of the learning that comes with being wrong and this can be counterproductive. To help, it is wise that adults adopt the role of companion by providing support and give advice to their children so that they can make their own choices.
Establishing responsibilities – For example, the division of household chores. These duties should be based on the child’s age. This division of responsibilities is very important in decision making, since by assuming these tasks, problems arise that must be solved. This gives previous experiences that will help future choices.
Value mistakes – If every time the child makes a mistake they are punished and feel rejected, what they will learn is to never choose so they will never make a mistake and do not have to assume the consequences. Instead, what we must teach is that making a mistake is an opportunity to learn and that a mistake is just a problem that has not been solved.
To value the different options – When the child is in the situation of choosing between several options, the parents must encourage him to see the choice as a challenge that he must face with attention and time. Therefore, they must be taught to be patient and not to act thoughtlessly. The child must assess what their preferences are, and, in this task, parents help by providing support, advice, listening, opinion and guidance based on their child’s interests. In this way they will be promoting autonomy and independence.
guiainfantil.com
Educational psychologist | October 11, 2017
Early learning and development
Young children’s development proceeds in a complex, and often non-linear, trajectory where individual children follow different pathways simultaneously. Teachers create learning environments and experiences that are both adaptable and appropriate to young students, and they understand the important influence of their sociocultural contexts. As a result, teachers adapt learning goals and intended learning experiences, accordingly, based on their observations of young students’ learning and development.
At Celta School, teachers work with an interdisciplinary approach to promote the development of students, through a planning process that allows us to design strategies according to the age and needs of each child.
The importance and benefits of swimming class
As we know swimming is considered one of the most complete sports, since it is an aerobic exercise that combines strength, endurance, and flexibility. Our lessons are mainly focused on performing movements related to the different styles used in swimming and help to develop lung capacity and psychomotor skills.
Some of the benefits that swimming gives us are:
• Increased flexibility and elasticity
When swimming, we use most of the muscle groups of our body, therefore joints become more flexible, and muscles are toned.
• Burns fat
Swimming can burn between 500 and 600 calories per hour.
• Combats chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, and cholesterol.
• Improves our respiratory system and increases lung capacity.
Learning to breathe is the first step to enjoy swimming, with each stroke and each inhalation the respiratory system is favored.
• Neural and cognitive benefits
• Psychological benefits
By immersing ourselves in the water and concentrating on breathing there is an immediate effect: the body relaxes, and the feeling of stress is reduced, in addition to improving the symptoms of depression.
• Improve self-esteem
With all these benefits, what do you need to jump into the water?
In May we celebrate…
1 – Miss Pau
7 – Miss Arlette
13 – Julieta Constanza K1
14 – Miss Lolita
26 – Zoe Valeria K2
25 – Eduardo Hernández K3
29 – Miss Cynthia
30 – Miss Ili Brien
Happy Birthday!
Dates to Remember
• MAY 5th | Class Adjourn
• MAY 10th| Mother’s Day Celebration – Facebook Live | 9:00am
• MAY 13th | Teacher’s Day Celebration
• MAY 21st | CTE
• MAY 24th to 28th | “Cosecha de Libros”, students bring back the books