Homework: how to teach a child to do their homework on their own. Why doesn't he play by himself or can't keep himself busy with toys?

In just a year, a child turns from a tiny fool into a fully developed man with all the basic skills necessary for life.

• Per month he tries to hold his head, this is especially good when lying on his tummy.
• At two he manages to pull his head and chest away from the surface for a short while, on which he lies, again, on his tummy.
• At three o'clok months, some manage to roll over on their own.
• At four- almost all children easily change their body position, turning from back to side.
• Closer to the year most babies walk well and even run.

The peak of development of children under one year old falls at about 5-6 months of life. At this time, they begin to understand how to control their bodies and are almost completely ready for new "great" skills, which means that parents will have a completely logical question: how to teach a child to sit? Here we will try to answer it.

In this article, you will learn:

Many of us are impatient to seat our baby, and there is a reasonable explanation for that. All that the baby sees, lying in his crib or cradle, is the ceiling, the edge of the room, parents peeking in, as well as tree branches, clouds and the sky during a walk.

Only a change in the position of his body helps to bring variety to the life of a little person. The first thing that is practiced with children after "rolling" in their arms is sitting.

There is an opinion that it is not worth starting to sit down girls until they turn 6 months... At this time, there is a risk of provoking in them the development of a bend of the uterus. With boys, things are different, already at 5 month their development can be gradually prepared for a full-fledged sitting.

It is very easy to determine the child's readiness to master the science of sitting.

A round back and a fall on its side at the first attempt to seat him indicate that the baby is not ready to change the position of the body from horizontal to vertical, but if he lies confidently and for a long time on his stomach, holding his head, he rises on the handles, tearing off the solid the surface of the chest, keeps an emphasis on the elbows and knows how to roll over from back to side and back, then we can confidently say that not without help, but the baby is ready to learn to sit.

We act smoothly, without rushing

Parents often train their children to sit on their own, throwing pillows on all sides, but often this ends with the fact that they simply fall on their side.

As mentioned above - this is evidence of the child's unwillingness to sit... In addition, such early experimental attempts to plant a baby can end in disaster, namely the occurrence of problems with the spine, including scoliosis, and therefore it is better to abandon them right away.

In order for the learning process to go smoothly, you should not rush, it is better to start it from scratch. The first step is to physically prepare your baby for sitting, that is, do frequent short-term workouts with him, which will help strengthen the muscles of the back, neck and abdomen.

For these purposes, a whole complex of special exercises has been developed that the baby can successfully perform together with his parents.

But, before starting the exercises themselves, you should thoroughly "warm up" the crumb with the help of simple massage and gymnastics, which you do every day.

Stroke the arms, legs, tummy and back - activate the circulatory system, spread the arms to the sides and up, cross them on the chest, gently bend and unbend the legs at the knees, spread the bent legs to the side and fold them together, according to the principle of opening a book, simulate walking , resting your feet on a hard surface, touch your bent knees to your chest and do the "bicycle" exercise.

In general, conduct standard activities with your child, which take no more than 5-10 minutes in time.

After the body is ready to "work", you can start doing exercises that train the desired muscles.

Cooking and teaching the child to sit

Exercises on how to teach a child to sit are familiar to many. These include:

Pull-ups

The child rests on the back. Mom holds out her hands to him, and the baby grabs her thumbs. In this position, the baby will certainly try to pull herself closer to her mother. Here it is important to fix the hand well, keep the hands motionless and give the child the opportunity to rise on his own, slightly pulling him towards himself.

Since the tiny handles are still weak, you don't need to overdo lifts. A few approaches are enough, after which the baby should rest.

Push ups

Spread a blanket on the floor and lay your baby on top of it with his tummy down. He will try to stand up on his hands, lifting his chest off the floor. This will create mini-push-ups for yourself, in which the back of the child will gradually become stronger.

Strengthening the back and neck

On the same blanket, in the same body position, spread bright toys, colorful books, pictures, in a word, everything that may interest the baby at a distance of twenty to thirty centimeters from the baby.

In trying to reach the target, he will have to use the main muscle groups that are necessary for sitting, which means that performing such an exercise for 2-4 minutes 2-3 times a day will significantly strengthen them and prepare the child for the next stage of training.

Remember the position

Sit the child on your lap so that he rests well on you. You can stay in this position for 2-3 minutes at the initial stages of training (at the age of 5 months), and up to 20 minutes a day, with a gradual increase in the time interval for crumbs from six months.

Day after day, this position will become more and more familiar to the baby, and you can help him hold it on his own, gradually reducing the support with his own hands.

We train perseverance

This exercise can be done both on the hands and on a hard surface. Sit down the baby and fix his legs with one hand, grab his hand with the other hand, so that he securely grabs the thumb of your hand. Now the child can be gently rocked - smoothly left, right, forward, backward.

The exercise should be given no more than 2-3 minutes. Such simple actions will not only help to force the baby to keep the body in a straight position, thereby straining alternately the press, oblique abdominal muscles, neck and back muscles, but also allow you to train its vestibular apparatus.

Slopes

The lateral core and back muscles are strengthened with bends. In order to perform the exercise correctly, you need to turn the child with his back to you and put him on his legs. With one hand, the mother fixes the baby above the knee, with the other supports him under the breast.

Now you can slowly tilt the baby until the back takes a horizontal position, after which it should be returned to its original vertical position. You can repeat the inclines 8-10 times.

Keeping in a sitting position

The last exercise on how to teach a child to sit is suitable for children of six months of age.

To complete it, you will need to sit the baby on the sofa and secure him with a high pillow, which will become his main support. As soon as the child sits up straight with his legs stretched out in front of him, invite him to hold your hands. First try rocking it so that it can be held while sitting.

Now you can set the task more difficult: invite your child to get his favorite toy. To do this, take it in your free hand and lift it slightly above the one for which the baby is holding. The main goal is to get him to release you and try to get the toy, while remaining in a sitting position.

In the first couples, it will be difficult for him to do this, but the more often you do this exercise, the better the child's coordination of movements will become.

We have already talked about how to teach a child to sit. Supplement your classes with a good mood and a positive attitude, conduct them in an unobtrusive playful way. Accompany all your actions with a kind word, praise, song or poem. This way you will not only enjoy the exercise, but also contribute to the mental development of your baby and establish emotional contact with him.

Do not force children to sit if they do not want to. Do not break the natural course of things if your child does not like your desire to teach him. Coercion will not end well.

Remember that babies learn to sit, on average, at 6-8 months... Babies that are weak from birth learn the process of sitting later.

If you perform regular exercises, then the child will delight the parents with a new perfected skill by the age of 7 months, and therefore go for it, and one day your child will meet the morning, sitting in the crib and smiling with all his toothless or toothed mouth!

Teaching a child to use a spoon is not always possible without various misfires. Mom needs to be patient, as meals will become longer, and the process of instilling the skill will take more than one week.

It is necessary to mentally prepare for the fact that the baby will begin to dirty everything around, including himself. Mom will have to clean up a lot, wash the baby's face. However, such problems are overcome, but each spoon brings the child closer to independence.

It is important to understand that the exact dates when the child will start eating from a spoon on their own is quite difficult to name, since there are simply no specific age limits and parameters.

Of course, there is averaged data that at 1 year old a child should hold a spoon firmly, and at 18 months of age he can confidently wield this tableware. But since the baby develops at its own pace, the timing of the appearance of this skill is individual.

Some children already at 8 - 10 months are quite adept at using cutlery, sending cereals, mashed potatoes and other first-feeding dishes into their mouths, while others at 2 years old wait for their parents to spoon feed them.

And yet there is a certain pattern - by the end of infancy (12 months), the child himself tries to serve himself at the table. The increased interest in eating and copying adult behavior leads to the fact that the baby takes the spoon from the mother.

In such a situation, you cannot refuse a child. Of course, his initial attempts to try a spoonful of mashed potatoes will end in failure or a smeared face. Therefore, the task of adults is to consistently and without haste to show and explain how to properly take and use the cutlery.

The popular TV doctor Komarovsky is convinced that there is no need to force children to use a spoon if they are not yet ready for this or they are not interested in this tableware. Excessive persistence often leads to the refusal of the child from feeding.

To teach a child to eat on their own, you must first take care of choosing the first cutlery. The right spoon will speed up the skill acquisition process and reduce misfires.

When purchasing this cutlery you should pay attention to several important nuances:

• the most important condition is that the spoon must be safe. It is necessary to purchase tableware in specialized children's stores, which have all the necessary certificates confirming the safety of materials;
• Do not confuse the first feeding attachment with the self-feeding spoon. The item of kitchen utensils required in our case should have a wide scoop so that the child cannot drop the captured food;
• Since babies at 1 year old initially grip and squeeze the spoon with their fist, it is important to take care of choosing the correct holder. The handle of the utensil should be short and wide. In this case, the child will hold her tighter;
• spoons with curved handles are commercially available. It is believed that such devices are easier for young children to cope with. Another option is products with swivel holders. No matter how the child turns the handle, a special rod inside spins behind it, so the collected food does not fall out. Additionally, there is a lock for locking the rod when the child grows up.

For babies from 10 months to two years old, it is better to purchase plastic spoons. They are light, bright, fit well in a child's hand, differ in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Plates and cups are also best purchased from heat-resistant food grade plastic. Such dishes are lightweight, resistant to impact and falling from a height, as well as environmentally friendly. To develop nutritional skills, it is worth purchasing a plate with a suction cup. It won't roll over.

Also, do not forget about bibs made of fabric or of an especially soft and flexible plastic material. Fabric aprons will have to be washed after each meal, plastic aprons do not need to be washed, just rinse off the drops and dry them.

It is necessary to teach a child to eat with cutlery only after he has developed an interest in the process of eating. And generating interest with the help of games, threats or cartoons is largely useless - it will not make you want to learn something.

And in order to speed up and simplify training, it is worth listening to the following recommendations of specialists and experienced parents who have already gone this way:

1. It is necessary to voice the decision that the baby now eats on her own, to all household members. Otherwise, it will turn out that the mother teaches the child to hold a spoon, and when he starts to visit his grandmother, she will feed him herself. In such a situation, the training process will be delayed.
2. To become skillful, a child needs to learn to use a spoon every day. But if he does not feel well due to illness or, there is no need to force him to eat on his own. On such a day, it is better to deviate from the rule and feed the crumbs from a spoon.
3. Mom needs to be close to the baby while eating. Situations are different - the child gets tired, naughty, can choke on even a small piece. Therefore, it is better to sit down next to and watch the baby.
4. Teaching a child to hold a spoon is not only possible during feeding. The sandbox is perfect for training, where the kid is wielding a paddle. You should also play with the dolls more often, explaining that they also "want to eat."
5. How to quickly teach a child to spoon? It is important to choose the optimal consistency of the dish - puree, but not liquid. Porridge, vegetable purees, cottage cheese or thick cream soup are ideal. Portions should be small in order to maintain the required temperature.
6. If the child is not reaching for a spoon, but for a fork, let him choose this "toothy" object to start learning. It is only important to purchase a special fork with rounded edges and blunt teeth. But then the food should not be liquid, but in pieces (boiled vegetables).

For more information about when to add to the children's diet and how to properly prepare these dishes, read the article of the children's doctor.

The child will be interested in the feeding process if you decorate the dishes beautifully (make flowers, animals, emoticons) and serve them in plates with drawings on the bottoms. It is necessary to explain to the kid that at the end of the lunch he will have a small surprise.

Baby etiquette

For preschoolers, schoolchildren, and adolescents, see another article in more detail. Be sure to read it too to get a general idea of ​​your child's good manners.

As already noted, it is foolish to expect from a little fool that he will begin to eat neatly the first time. At first, the product eaten, or rather, brought to the mouth, will be everywhere - on clothes, a table and even on the floor.

However, this pattern does not mean at all that a small child does not need to be shown how to behave correctly at the table. Healthy food habits are formed already in early childhood:

1. Before each meal, the baby must wash handles... This is the foundation of hygiene and should not be neglected. Mom shows the baby how to do it correctly and why it is so important (the simplest explanation is that the tummy does not hurt).
2. You should not surround the eating child with numerous toys., turn on cartoons for him, trying to catch the moment when he opens his mouth. The kitchen is the perfect place to eat, but play in the nursery.
3. Playing with a spoon is permissible only at the stage of acquaintance with the subject.... Then, play with cutlery should be avoided. If the crumb is spoiled, the dinner is stopped.

You can not scold the kid for careless actions. Just offer him a napkin. A trained kid from the age of two will be able to wipe his hands and face, of course, as much as possible.

The solution to the question of how to teach a child to eat independently with a spoon does not tolerate fuss. If the baby soon needs to go to the nursery, do not rush too much and literally force him to take the cutlery in the handle. Usually, in a team, kids adapt faster, if, of course, they consolidate their successes at home.

And finally. There are universal principles that will be useful for a mother who wants to accustom her baby to self-service. First, do not impose unbearable demands on your child. Secondly, do not do for him those actions with which he himself copes.

Children must receive certain skills and knowledge from their parents. All moms and dads should know how to teach a child to read correctly at home using an ABC book or using other techniques. This skill will help the kid to more easily perceive the world around him, to adapt at school, to gain knowledge in other subjects. There are different methods of teaching children to read. Learn about their features.

How to correctly and quickly teach a child to read

Some parents believe that only specialists should deal with the baby, but this opinion is erroneous. Knowing a few secrets, showing perseverance and patience, you will teach your baby the basics of quick reading on your own at home. With such skills, it will be much easier for the child to adapt in society, he will master the school curriculum much faster.

When to teach your child to read

Previously, this skill was instilled in kids only at school, in extreme cases, in kindergarten, i.e. not earlier than the age of five. Now times have changed and children are recommended to start learning almost from the first year of life. How can parents be convinced of the psychological and physical readiness of the baby to do:

1. A good sign will be that the child is interested in children's books at an early age.
2. The kid should be fluent in speech, understand the meanings of simple words, be able to formulate sentences, express thoughts in phrases, perceive information and sounds in a phonemic way.
3. The child knows the basic directions (up and down, left and right), can navigate in space.
4. The baby has good hearing, there are no serious problems with pronunciation and other developmental disabilities. If you have speech defects, make an appointment with a speech therapist.

What alphabet to teach

As a rule, a classic ABC book and some other materials are used for classes: posters, cubes, cards. Many parents, having tried modern techniques, return to teaching reading in the usual way. You can purchase the primer developed by Natalia Zhukova. This teacher offers a way of teaching that combines classical and original approaches.

Basic rules of reading technique

It is worth noting that some of the actions of parents are capable of killing a person's interest in books for life. How to teach a child to read correctly:

1. Never force. Try to keep your child interested by telling interesting stories. Read aloud to him, set your own positive example, so you will quickly teach him. Do not force the child and do not swear if he makes mistakes. Praise your kid for their success.
2. First, learn to perceive sounds, and only then move on to the letters of the alphabet.
3. Practice mastering syllables. This will make it easier to learn the letters.
4. Review the material you have covered regularly. Better to do it in a playful way, do not arrange tests, because it can be offensive.
5. First, learn the simplest words with repetitive patterns (ma-ma). Then you can move on to more difficult tasks. The syllable-letter scheme (to-t, to-m) is suitable. When the baby has mastered the technique of reading words, teach elementary, and then complex sentences. The very last to introduce the exercises with d, b, b. This is a very simple mechanism for mastering the skill of reading aloud.
6. On a walk, ask your baby to say what is written on signs, billboards, so you will quickly teach him to read.
7. Choose games for the knowledge of individual letters. Buy alphabet cubes.
8. Do not teach the names of the letters ("er", "es"). He can distort words later.
9. Practice every day to teach you how to read. Do not give up lessons, even if you think that the baby already knows everything.

Methodology for teaching a preschooler to read at home

There are different schemes of classes with children, proposed by specialists. Parents are encouraged to study in detail the features of each of the techniques, choose the preferred one and practice only on it. If you use several lesson schemes, you can simply confuse the baby, discourage him from learning. Check out several popular early learning paths.

Maria Montessori technique

The Italian teacher suggests starting the study with writing. Maria Montessori advises children to draw capital letters. Techniques such as stroking, shading should be used. Then you need to move on to making letters from bulk materials, for example, plasticine. Drawings and layouts need to be drawn up, letters added, and at the last stage, syllables should be pronounced.

Nikolay Zaitsev's technique

One of the most popular training methods that provide quick results. Perfect for active kids. Training is carried out on cubes with warehouses. There are those with one letter and those with two. They are multi-colored. Cubes with vowel sounds are golden. Those in which ringing warehouses are gray and are called iron. Brown wooden cubes contain voiceless syllables, and white and green ones contain punctuation marks. For ease of perception, they all have different filling, weight and size.

All lessons with cubes according to the Zaitsev method are carried out only in a playful way. The set includes tables with warehouses, which should always be in sight, and examples of special exercises. Warehouses need to be assembled according to certain principles, singing, imitating the sounds of animals. You can invent games on your own, together with the baby, relying on what will be more interesting to him.

Glen Doman's technique

It is aimed at mastering not sounds and syllables, but whole words at once. They are written on special cards with pictures. Parents should show each of them to the child for 15 seconds, loudly explaining the meaning. The first sessions should be very short, no longer than 5-10 minutes. The advantages of the effective Doman technique:

• suitable for children from birth;
• you can use an individual approach, form a certain vocabulary;
• develops comprehensively;
• the material can be made independently.

Doman's system is not devoid of a number of shortcomings. Teachers highlight such disadvantages and shortcomings:

• the learning process is passive;
• not perceived by children over three years old.

Where to start teaching a child to read

Be sure to find the right class aids. Use books, posters, cards, and blocks. Stages of training:

1. Introduce your baby to open vowels. Say them and chant them.
2. After the initial stage, go to voiced consonants.
3. Memorize the muffled and hissing sounds. Only after that you can proceed to teaching reading by syllables. Memorizing letters, not sounds, can be difficult in the future.
4. Teach your kid to make syllables from two vowels. He must understand how sounds connect.
5. Move on to syllables where the first letter is a consonant and the second is a vowel. It will be easy.
6. Fold syllables with sibilants.
7. Go to closed warehouses (vowel-consonant).

Teaching a child to read in a playful way

Having fun, the easiest way for a kid to instill an interest in books. There are many game techniques aimed at developing reading techniques:

1. Teach short rhymes together about letters.
2. Make the letters yourself. To learn the alphabet, collect them from scrap materials: plasticine, counting sticks, matches. You can cut them out of cardboard and glue them over with colored paper.
3. Create an album in which each page will be the "home" of a letter. Paste there pictures with words that begin with it.
4. Select the letter you are studying. Throw the ball to the crumbs and name the words. If he hears the necessary sound in them, let him catch the ball, and if not, he will beat it off.
5. Make round cards with syllables and play Shop. Each warehouse is a coin. The buyer gives one of them and orders from the seller the product that begins with this syllable (ba - banana, ku - doll).
6. Write warehouses on cards in large bold. Cut each horizontally and stir. Let the child collect all the halves and read the syllables.
7. Give your baby a long word. Let him find a few small ones in it.
8. Make cards with syllables. Show your child a picture of a word. Let it be composed of syllables.

How to learn to read syllables

Experts recommend starting to do this right away, the child does not even need to know all the sounds yet. Then the learning process will go much faster. Use play techniques, various auxiliary materials. If the baby is confident in making up warehouses, go to the stage of collecting words. Remember how to properly teach your child to read syllables. Classes should be held in the sequence described below.

Reading lessons by syllables

The process must be consistent. What are the stages of learning to read by syllables:

1. First, make simple words from repeating syllables (pa-pa). Watch your pronunciation.
2. Move on to easy and understandable words of three or four letters (le-s, po-le).
3. The process gets more complicated. Teach your child to read words of three or more syllables (ko-ro-va). It is advisable to study with pictures.
4. Move on to reading simple sentences (ma-ma we-la ra-mu).

How to teach a child to read not by syllables

Combining warehouses into words takes a lot of time and attention for children. Parents should teach the child to read fluently, pronounce syllables together, assimilate the text well and perceive it as a whole. There are such techniques for this:

1. Reading at speed. Choose texts that are suitable for your child's age, and note how much he can read in a minute. Then let him retell a summary of the text.
2. Shuffle the words in the sentence and have the child compose it correctly. Start with simple examples.
3. Role reading. Choose a children's story. Let the child voice one character, and you another. Read by role. This will help the kid choose the right intonation, keep the rhythm, pause in the right places, and understand the meaning.
4. Difficult words. Every day, let your baby read 2-3 times about 30 words, in which there are many difficult combinations of consonants.
5. Develop peripheral vision and logical thinking, train memory, correct pronunciation, reading speed.
6. Eliminate speech therapy and other problems.

How to teach a child to read Zhukova's ABC book

This book offers a mix of traditional and modern techniques. Already on the third task, the child will have to read syllables. The author suggests his own order of acquaintance with the letters, not the traditional alphabetical one. The book contains detailed instructions for teaching lessons, so even parents without teacher training can easily organize a lesson. To teach a child to read at home, the following scheme is used:

1. Acquaintance with vowels and consonants.
2. Learning to read syllables.
3. Mastering closed warehouses.
4. Moving from simple words to complex ones.

Video

All parents dream of their child growing up healthy. Therefore, it is quite natural that during the first years of a baby's life, they pay special attention to the correct organization of his nutrition. Many parents use special tables, count calories, and consult with pediatricians about the age menu. In the first months of his life, the baby obediently opens his mouth and eats absolutely everything that his mother offers him. But time passes and he has his own taste preferences and favorite dishes. The kid is trying to "take over" the feeding process. Today we will talk about how to teach a child to eat on their own, how to avoid whims at the table, and what to do if the baby refuses to eat.

At what age should a child eat on their own?

Some (especially impatient) parents make their first attempts to teach their baby to eat on their own, as soon as he is six months old. All their efforts, as a rule, end in complete disappointment and general cleaning of the walls and floors in the kitchen. Which is quite natural. By this age, children have not yet developed coordination of movements, and no matter how hard the child tries, he cannot master this skill.

When to start teaching a child to eat on their own?

According to experts, the optimal age for mastering this skill is one year - plus / minus two months. You should not try to force the child and forcefully "shove" a spoon into his hand. But it is not advisable to delay the learning process too much. As practice shows, the older the baby becomes, the more difficult it is to interest him. After two years, little fidgets may consciously refuse to eat on their own. It is much more pleasant for them to simply open their mouths condescendingly. So, the optimal age for mastering this skill is 10-14 months.

• At eight to ten months, you can replace the bottle with a sippy cup. At this age, the baby can put cookies or soft pieces of fruit in his hand so that he tries to send them into his mouth on his own.
• At one year old, babies should master the skill of using a cup and spoon.
• At two years old, a child should confidently use a spoon and actively master the skill of using a fork. At this age, you can already begin to acquaint the baby with the rules of etiquette.

How to teach a child to eat himself: specific techniques for parents

Immediately I want to warn all parents that the process of learning the skill of independent eating is quite long and painstaking. All household members will have to be patient. Spilled soup, porridge smeared on the table, bread crumbs on the floor - a picture that you will have to see every day. Remember, your child is not to blame, his coordination is still poorly developed and he also has a hard time. Learning something new is never easy. Praise your child more often, teach him to eat correctly and carefully.

In the process of learning, you cannot scold and scold a child, even if he dropped a plate of porridge on the floor. The kid can get scared and he will lose all desire to eat on his own. However, parents should not allow pampering at the table. The child should not play with food!

Probably, it is not worth explaining to parents that the baby should wash his hands before eating. The sooner you teach him to practice hygiene, the sooner he will develop this healthy habit.

Can a child eat in front of the TV?

Turn off the TV while eating. American scientists conducted a study, during which it turned out that children who eat under footage from their favorite cartoon chew it badly and eat much less. But as soon as they make this process habitual, they immediately begin to overeat, absorbing a huge amount of poorly chewed food. In the future, they will hardly be able to avoid digestive problems.

Why does a child eat very slowly: 2 common reasons

When eating, the baby should not be rushed. What if he eats very slowly? As a rule, a child's slowness is associated with two reasons:

1. He is careful , afraid to hear criticism from you.
2. He deliberately slows down the process, hoping that your patience will burst, and you will feed him yourself. This situation can be corrected in a very simple way - if possible, sit down at the table with the whole family. Having finished eating, immediately go about their business. The Kapusha Baby will not like being alone at the table and will try to keep up.

Among other things, you need to strictly adhere to the regime and eat at the same time. Dinner should end two hours before bedtime.

The main rule that all parents must learn is that if a child does not want to eat, do not force him. None: "A spoon for dad, a spoon for mom." Hungry, the baby will ask for food himself and with great pleasure will eat it on his own. Child psychotherapist Alison Schaeffer noticed that a person can go without food for a week. However, two hours later, a young mother begins to think about whether her child is dying of starvation! Agree, a rather ironic remark. But how true!

But if the child has lost appetite, then you need to determine the reason.

How to teach a child to eat on their own for up to a year: step by step instructions

The famous pediatrician E.O. Komarovsky divided the entire process of teaching a child this skill into 4 stages. In his opinion, food should be not only tasty and high-calorie, but also bright. And the learning process itself is entertaining.

1. The first stage of training should be filled with game moments. Parents at this stage can show all their creativity. It is good if your favorite fairy-tale characters will surround your baby while eating. But this does not mean at all that there should be toys on the table. Nothing like this. Just buy baby tableware with colorful designs for your child. Many parents buy plates with fairy-tale characters painted on the bottom. Until the baby eats the porridge, he will not see who is hiding at the bottom. Believe me, having such an incentive, he will be much more willing to wield a spoon. You can ask the child to feed the mother. As a rule, children are completely delighted with such a game. True, mothers have to "after dinner" quite a long time to put themselves in order. By the way, Komarovsky advises first to let the kid play with a spoon, examine it properly, and only then put a plate in front of him.
2. The second stage is copying. The kid needs to be seated at the table next to you and, by your own example, demonstrate skills in handling a spoon. Children at this age willingly repeat all the movements after their parents, and this should be used.
3. The third stage includes “correcting mistakes”. Parents should carefully monitor the actions of the baby and, if necessary, correct his movements.
4. Stage four - consolidation of the acquired skills. In the sandbox, you can give the baby a spatula, let him build Easter cakes. Having learned to use the spatula, the baby will sooner learn to handle the spoon. By the way, according to E. Komarovsky, children under three years old can eat, holding a spoon in either hand - both in the right and in the left. It is not worth retraining them by shifting the spoon from the left hand to the right.

What if the child does not want to eat by himself?

The child does not want to eat on his own: what to do?

• First, don't worry. Children are very impressionable, They immediately feel a nervous situation and fall into a "stupor". Therefore, no unnecessary fuss.
• Secondly, parents must exclude the possibility of any problems with the baby's health. Even the smallest can lead to loss of appetite.
• Thirdly, one should not succumb to childish manipulations. You should not promise a new toy, candy, cartoons in exchange for food. You need to explain to your child that he is not doing you a favor by taking a spoon in his hand.

Many parents are wondering if young children should be allowed to have a snack or should they wait for dinner? Can. But only low-calorie foods. For example, you can give an apple or yogurt. The apple must be cut and given to the baby so that he can eat the pieces on his own.

As practice shows, children are more willing to eat beautifully decorated dishes. The kid, most likely, will want to eat a beautiful flower himself, which will be in his plate.

How you can not teach a child to eat with a spoon on their own: mistakes of parents

• You cannot, having lost patience, begin to feed the baby. Even if you are in a hurry. The child must finish what he “started” on his own! But experts do not recommend keeping the baby at the table for more than half an hour.
• If a 10-12 month old baby does not even want to take a spoon in his hands, do not rush, trying to forcibly instill a new skill. Everything has its time!
• Many parents choose to feed their baby separately. This is the wrong decision. The more often your baby watches others eat, the sooner he will master this skill.
• Another mistake made by loving grandparents is considered quite common. They are ready to spoon feed their grandchildren up to a hundred years old. Despite the fact that the child eats with a spoon at home, when visiting his grandmother, he only obediently opens his mouth. Little sly ones instantly come to the conclusion that it is not necessary to eat on your own.

How to teach a child to eat carefully with a spoon?

• The learning process takes place without less loss, if you first give the child thick food. That is, the consistency of food is close to mashed potatoes. This food is easier to spoon and does not spill. Of course, at first, not every spoon gets into the baby's mouth, but you should not worry about this.
• Parents should remember that this skill is not easy for children. To help your child learn it, you need to purchase a convenient plate and a special spoon for his age. ... It is advisable that the dishes be unbreakable.
• Don't forget about an apron or bib. Most mums prefer curled hem bibs. They are made from soft plastic. They are quite convenient as they do not allow liquid food to drain and do not need to be washed. After the child has eaten, it is imperative to wash him, remove the bib and (if necessary) change his shirt. After each meal, the mother should wash the dishes and wipe the table so that the child can see it.
• In accordance with the method of M. Montessori, two-year-olds are already quite capable of not only maintaining order on the table, but also cleaning up the dishes after eating. Try to teach your child to order from this age. If your baby is forced to clean up after himself, he will try to eat more carefully, as they say, with minimal "losses".

How to teach children to be independent? This question worries many young parents, but it is often too late to start studying.

Most adults face a lack of independence and complete helplessness of their child with admission to school. Previously, they were touched that the child asks for help at every opportunity. All adult families happily rushed to feed the child, clothe or tie the shoelaces. If the baby hasn't folded the toys, it's okay, he has a mother, she will collect.

Why do parents understand their mistakes only at school and think about how to teach children to be independent? At preschool age, adults believe that the child is still small, they try to please him in every possible way, thereby showing their love. Then they tell the child that he has a new stage in life - he must be independent, not realizing that the upbringing of such an important quality for the baby should begin much earlier.

As a result, they realize with bitterness that the child is not able to complete the lessons without help, he cannot collect the portfolio himself, he constantly forgets that he was asked what needs to be taken to school today. Bad grades begin, parents scold the child, but precious time has already been lost, because it was necessary to teach independence from the second year of life, when the child first wanted to put on slippers himself or awkwardly took a spoon while eating.

When to start learning

Independence develops in early childhood, when the baby for the first time wants to sit, eat or drink, assemble a pyramid or put on slippers. How to teach children independence in different life situations from the very beginning of life, we will consider further in the article.

The main thing in learning is to have patience, not to force the child by force, to act gradually, but systematically. If you miss the time when the baby wants to do something on his own, then very quickly he will understand that you can do nothing, the parents will do everything for him, you just have to be capricious or cry, do it awkwardly or slowly.

Be sure to reinforce new behaviors with praise. The child requires an assessment of his actions in order to understand whether he is acting correctly or not. This stimulates him for new achievements.

Learning to sit

One of the first independent actions of the baby is to sit down without the help of the mother. Learning begins only when the child's muscles are strong enough, at about the age of 6 months, and weakened children master the skill at 8 months.

How to teach a child to sit independently? First you need to practice so as not to harm the still fragile spine. Various exercises will help, for example, put the child on his feet, put a large pillow behind him, and hold the baby by the hands. Get interested in a toy that mom holds a little higher. The child will have to strain and reach for her. Each exercise should not last longer than 2 or 3 minutes. Be sure to encourage your child with praise, approving intonation.

Thanks to daily activities, the child will not only act independently, he will develop a vestibular apparatus, he will be able to independently get to objects around him, which will contribute to the knowledge of the world around him and mental development.

Learning to use a spoon

Before you teach a child to eat independently, you need to know the features of his development. Mom begins to use a spoon already at the first feeding, but this does not mean that the baby is immediately given it and requires independence. A child at such an early age does not have developed coordination of movements, even if you gave him a try to hold a spoon, and he accidentally got it into his mouth, then it is too early to rejoice.

It is best to wait for a conscious action when the child already understands the meaning of this cutlery. Pediatricians recommend starting to teach food independence from about 1 year old. Previously, you can offer the child himself to take pieces of fruit or cookies from the table directly with his hand.

The first attempts are accompanied by the help of the mother, for example, she picks up mashed potatoes in a spoon and puts it in the baby's hands, and he himself sends it into his mouth. Puree should be tasty and make you want to eat it.

A good incentive to eat on your own will be a joint lunch with all family members. Do not teach your child to eat near the TV screen or entertaining him with a toy. The beginning of the journey will be long, the baby may be distracted and smear food on the table or on himself. For many, the baby's first attempts to eat on their own cause a feeling of impatience, attempts end with the mother taking the spoon and feeding on herself.

You can start feeding in two spoons, that is, one is in the hands of the child and he occasionally sends food to his mouth on his own, and the other is in the mother. During periods when the baby is distracted, they feed him from another spoon.

Do not rush, do not act forcibly, do not scold the child if he does not want to eat himself. After all, the baby may have a bad mood or well-being.

We accustom to the cup

After the baby has learned to eat himself, you can decide how to teach the child to drink on his own.

You need to get rid of the nipple as early as possible so as not to spoil the baby's bite. You can try to drink from a cup already from 4 months, just act carefully so that the baby does not choke.

Already by the age of 1, give a cup with two handles. This is a special sippy cup with a narrow spout. It is better to start training with a sippy cup with a silicone soft spout. It looks more like a nipple to a child than a hard plastic one. Already by 6-7 months, sometimes let the baby drink from such dishes for a test.

Only after the child has mastered the cup, start learning to drink from a cup.

Choose a cup that is bright, colorful, light. It is desirable that it has two handles, like on a sippy cup. So the baby will be more accustomed to holding it with both hands.

The child should like the new cup, pick it up with the image of your favorite animal. Be sure to buy only good quality plastic cups, as your child can drop it on the floor and break it. Check that the dishes are environmentally friendly.

How to teach a child to fall asleep on their own in a year

This is perhaps the most pressing problem for many parents. From an early age, a child very quickly gets used to falling asleep next to his mother, but over time this develops into a big problem. Firstly, mom has a lot of things to do, and I want to do them while the child sleeps on his own in his crib. Secondly, problems often arise in personal relationships between father and mother, when the baby is constantly present on the adult bed.

What to do, how to teach children to be independent? The obstacle will be the lack of an additional motion sickness or soothing item. This can be nipple or motion sickness by mom, holding hands or stroking the head, lying next to adults. Do not miss the moment when, when falling asleep, the baby spits out the nipple or shows unwillingness to be rocked, arching the back. These are the first signs that the baby is ready to fall asleep on its own.

He puts it to sleep in his crib as early as possible. It gets harder with age. You can hold the baby by the hand or pat on the head, but he should lie in bed without prior motion sickness. It will take the mother's patience, but, judging by the feedback from many parents, the task is quite solvable.

Learn to dress yourself

The best age to study is 2 years. Even earlier, the baby shows a desire to take off his hat or tights. The desire to do the work independently arises only when the child has developed hand motor skills. If you followed our advice and taught your baby to eat, drink, hold objects in his hand, then you will quickly understand on your own.

It is from the age of 2 that the baby shows a desire to do something without the help of an adult. During this period, parents should give him the opportunity to prove himself, not to rush, not to scold for mistakes, but to encourage independence in every possible way. To get started, buy loose clothes without complicated fasteners, such as a T-shirt and elasticated sweatpants. At first, you can help the baby in word or deed. It stimulates the competitive moment well, especially if there are older children in the family.

First, let the child, getting up from the pot, put on his panties and pants. Easy to put on a no-tie hat or comfortable slip-on slippers. Then you can start putting on your pants. Choose moments that are good, such as when your toddler wants to go out for a walk as soon as possible. If the child wants to put on his favorite thing, give him the opportunity to choose.

Conclusion

By following the tips on how to teach a 2-year-old child to independently carry out self-service processes, you can further develop in the child the ability to make decisions for himself, to think, which will help him in school. Start educating such an important skill from an early age, then your child will grow up initiative and independent.