PROPER CHILD PROJECT

  Teachers and educators can inadvertently contribute to pupils' and students' poor and dismal academic performance in the following ways: 1. Ineffective teaching methods:  These are cases where teachers and educators use obsolete, unengaging, or ineffective methods that fail to afford suitable learning styles (I wrote extensively on styles of learning in one of my posts.). 2. Lack of clear instructions:  This implies teachers and educators inability to provide clear, concise, and understandable instructions, thereby leading to confusion and misunderstandings. 3. Insufficient feedbacks: This refers to the inability of teachers and educators to provide regular constructive and actionable feedback that helps pupils and students identify areas for improvement. 4. Poor classroom management: This is the inability of teachers and educators to create a conducive learning environment, thereby leading to disruptions, distractions, and decreased focus. 5. Unrealistic expectations: ...

  Autism Spectrum Disorder (ADS) is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects communication, social interaction, and behaviour of a child. Its diagnosis is based on behavioral observations, developmental history, and clinical evaluations. Early signs of autism can be detected as early as 6-12 months after birth of the child. The characteristics and symptoms of ASD are as follows: 1. Communication:  There is difficulty with verbal and nonverbal communication such as delayed or absent language development, and difficulty understanding tone of voice and sarcasm.  2. Social interactions: There is difficulty with social interactions such as initiating or maintaining conversation or understanding social cues , and developing and maintaining relationships. 3. Restricted and repetitive behaviours: This is where there is a history of repetitive behaviours such as hand flapping, body rocking, or insistence on sameness, or restricted interests such as intense focus on a...

  Advocacy refers to the act of supporting, promoting, and defending the rights, interests, and wellbeings of individuals, groups, communities, or other human entities. It involves actively working to influence policies, decisions, and behaviours that affect the lives of those being advocated for. There are three major types of advocacy. They are as follows: 1. Individual advocacy: It means supporting individual children or families to address specific needs or concerns. 2. Systemic advocacy: It means working to change policies, laws, or regulations that affect children's lives. 3. Community advocacy:  It means mobilizing communities to promote children's rights and interests. The fundamental principles of advocacy for children's rights and interests include: 1. Best interests of the child: Prioritizing the child's needs and wellbeing above all things else 2. Child's participation: Involving children in decision-making processes that affect lives 3. Non-discriminato...

  Childhood trauma can have a profound impact on an individual's physical, emotional, and mental health throughout lifetime. Here are some ways childhood trauma can affect health: 1. Childhood trauma causes sleep disturbances, including insomnia and apnea. 2. It causes post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) which can persist in  adulthood. 3. Childhood trauma is a significant risk factor for developing anxiety and depression. 4. Individuals who experienced childhood trauma are more likely susceptible to substance abuse problems, smoking and drunkenness. 5. It leads to suicidal thoughts and actions. 6. Childhood trauma can alter the structures and functions of the brain, particularly in regions involved in emotional regulations and stress    response. 7. It disrupts the balance of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, which regulate mood and emotional response. 8. Childhood trauma leads to difficulties in forming and maintaining healthy relationships....

 (Continued from previous post)  19. Have realistic expectations. Set achievable goals and expectations for your child, avoiding unrealistic or overly high, and untenable standards. 20. Encourage resilience. Teach your child coping skills and strategies to deal with setbacks, failures, difficult emotions, and disappointments. 21. Provide opportunities for socialization. It will help your child develop essential social skills.  22. Parents and caregivers should model healthy habits. They should model habits such as balanced eating (though I know that in many cases they don't have money to do so), regular indoor and outdoor exercises, and regular sleep patterns. 23. Foster a sense of curiosity, invention, and exploration, encouraging your child to ask intelligible questions and seek answers to them. 24. Help your child develop problem-solving skills, encouraging him/ her to think critically and come up with solutions. 25. Provide physical and emotional support, offering hug...

  Effective parenting is the foundation upon which a child's future success, happiness, and wellbeing hinge on. Here are some proven principles of effective parenting: 1. The young couple should have good education on conception, pregnancy, child birth, and parenting. 2. They should promote breastfeeding and responsive feeding practices especially in the early age of the child's birth that prioritizes the child's physical and emotional needs. 3. Parents should respond to the child's needs in a timely manner, increasing the child's emotions and trust. 4. Give your child physical touch and affection to promote feelings of safety, security, and love. 5. Establish clear rules and consequences, while also explaining the reasons behind them. 6. Parents should endeavour to model good behaviours. According to Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory, it is generally believed that children learn by observing and imitating their parents and other people in their environmen...

  The relationship between a parent and child is one of the most significant and enduring relationships in a person's life. This relationship is built on a foundation of attachment, which plays a crucial role in shaping the child's emotional, social, and cognitive development. The concept of attachment refers to the emotional bond between a child and his/ her primary caregiver, which typically is the mother. This bond is formed through a process of interaction and mutual responsiveness, where the caregiver provides a sense of safety, security, and comfort to the child. The child, in turn, responds to the caregivers affection and attention, by developing a sense of trust and dependence. Attachment is essential for a child's emotional and social development, influencing their ability to form healthy relationships, regulate their emotions, and develop a sense of self-worth. A secure attachment provides a buffer against stress and adversity, helping the child to cope with chall...

  Special needs education and inclusion are very essential for providing equal opportunities to individuals with disabilities. Inclusive education aims to create a supportive learning environment where children with disabilities can learn alongside with those who are physically and mentally fit. The pursuit of inclusive education has become a global imperative, recognizing the inherent value and dignity of every individual, regardless of ability or disability. The types of inclusive education models include: 1. Inclusion: In this setting, children with special needs (disabled) spend the entire school hours of the day together with the non-disabled ones. 2. Mainstreaming: In this type of inclusive education, children with special needs (disabled) attend classes together with non-disabled ones for specific periods.  3. Segregation:  Under this type of inclusive education, disabled children attend classes, lessons, and schools alone without the non-disabled ones. 4. Co-...

  Homeschooling and alternative education offer diverse learning experiences for children, catering for individual needs and performances. As traditional schooling models face increasing scrutiny, homeschooling and alternative education have emerged as viable options for parents and families seeking for personalized and effective learning experiences for their chidren. Homeschooling is an educational approach where parents and caregivers take responsibility for their children's education, often in a home-based setting. There are four types of homeschoolings, they are as follows:  a. Traditional homeschooling,  b. Online homeschooling, c. Eclectic homeschooling, and d. Unschooling homeschooling. What are the benefits of homeschooling? The benefits include: a. Personalized learning, b. Flexibility, and c. Family bonding. What are the challenges facing homeschooling? They include:  a. Parental burnout,  b. Socialization limitations, and c. Curriculum developm...

  Parenting styles can have a significant impact on children's development, shaping their behaviours, emotional well-being, and relationships with parents, caregivers, educators, and peers. There are four types of parenting styles. Each of them has its own different effects on child's development: 1. Authoritarian parenting:  It is a parenting style characterized by: a. High expectations: The parents set high standards for their children's behaviours and achievements.  b. Strict rules and punishments:  Parents enforce strict rules and punishments for their children's misbehaviours, often without explanations and warmth.  c. Low warmth and nurturing:  In authoritarian parenting, the parents are often distant, unresponsive to the children's needs, and unaffectionate.  d. Limited autonomy: Children raised by authoritarian parents are not encouraged to make decisions or take responsibilities for their actions. Like baby bats, they are tied to the apron cal...

  The impact of stress on child brain development is a pressing concern that has garnered attention from international agencies and health organizations worldwide. Stress, without any doubt, can have a profound impact on child brain development, affecting structure, function, and connectivity of the brain. Find below some ways stress affects child brain development: 1. Chronic stress can drastically reduce the volume of the hippocampus, a region essential for learning and memory retention. 2. Stress can lead to an overactive amygdala, which can impair emotional regulation and increase anxiety. 3. Stress can affect the development of the prefrontal cortex, leading to difficulties with executive function, decision-making, and impulse control. 4. Stress has adverse effects on brain connectivity, by disrupting the development of the neural circuits, leading to impaired communication between brain regions.  5. Chronic stress can reduce the function of the white matter tracts, whic...

   Talking back (also called back talk or sass) is a hurtful and worrisome behaviour in which a child responds to a parent, caregiver, or figure of authority, in a disrespectful, argumentative, and confrontational manner. Some examples of talking back include: 1. Disagreeing with parents with a raised voice:  In this situation, the child raises his/ her voice to show disagreement and resentment to parent's instructions, advices, or decisions. 2. Using a sarcastic or mocking tone:  This is a situation in which a child responds with a sarcastic or mocking tone, often with the intention to degrade, belittle, or ridicule his/ her parent or an adult. 3. Refusing to comply with parent's order:  In this case, a child refuses to comply with, or follow instructions or established rules  through verbal resistance or argumentation. 4. The bad habit of talking back can manifest itself in the form of making dismissive or disrespectful comments. In this case, the child m...

  Excessive screen time has become a pervasive issue in modern childhood development, with unspeakable disastrous implications for academic achievement and overall wellbeing. While the proliferation of these technologies are useful to mankind, it has turned out to be a colossal challenge confronting us daily. The use of televisions, computers, and mobile phones has so much adverse effects on children, teenagers, and adolescents globally. The children are helplessly addicted to these technologies, thereby affecting their physical, mental, social, and cognitive development. It has been proved beyond all reasonable doubts that excessive screen time hinders children's academic performance and also affects them in other ways such as: 1. Excessive screen time leads to a decrease in attention span, making it very difficult for children to focus or concentrate on their school works. 2. It impairs memory and learning abilities since it readily affects the brain's ability to process an...

  Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media messages. It involves understanding the ways in which media shape our perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs. The key components of media literacy include: 1. Access (It is the ability to access and use various media platforms and tools.) 2. Analysis (It is the ability to break down and examine media messages to understand their meanings and significances.) 3. Evaluation (It is the ability to deeply assess the credibility, accuracy, and relevance of media messages.) 4. Creation (It is the ability to create and disseminate (spread) media messages effectively.) Critical thinking (I have treated it in my posts in 2024) is the systematic evaluation and analysis of information and ideas to form a reliable judgment or decision. It involves objectively considering multiple perspectives, evaluating evidence, and avoidance of all elements of bias. A critical thinker does not respect or fear anybody when he is judgin...

  Educational Apps and Digital Learning Tools are software applications, online platforms, and digital resources designed to support teaching and learning in various educational settings. In this 21st century digital age, educational apps and digital learning tools have been thoroughly tailored to make learning easy, accessible, engaging, and effective. Some educational apps are as follows: 1. Duolingo:  This is a popular language learning app that offers lessons and games. 2. Khan Academy:  It is a free app that provides video lessons and exercise for various subjects, including Mathematics, Sciences, and lectures on humanity. 3. Photomath: It is an app that helps students solve Maths problems step-by-step, using augmented reality technology. 4. National Geographic Kids: It is an app that offers interactive games, videos, and educational content science, nature, and the environment. 5. Mobile apps: They are software applications downloaded on mobile devices such as table...