I visited a kindergarten as part of work today. My role was to coach teacher to guide children to be aware and be more observant of their surrounding environment. One teacher reported to me that there was a child who was weak in observing and thinking actively and asked if I could give some pointers to guide this child. For example, it is noted that during art class, the child was asked to draw the school playground. The child drew only one slide on the paper and left the rest of the paper blank.
During an online meeting, the child’s parent reported that he still runs out to the rain on rainy days. Even though he had learnt the types of weather such as sunny days and rainy days in class, he still could not make appropriate actions in daily life. In addition, although he had promoted from K1 to K3, he still needed his parents to help him check whether there were any missing items before going out every day, and he needed to be told what to make up, otherwise he would not be able find it and would not be able to solve the problem.
These behaviour showed that the child was static and passive in thinking. He needed constant prompts to help him focus on the present, observe and think in the process in order to solve any daily problems.
Later, I took the child to a small bridge. When I returned, I asked him to think about the landscape. He immediately drew the bridge. Real life experience sharing helps the child observe and think better.
So I asked the parents, if the child runs out to the rain again, what can you do instead?
I suggested for the parents to let the child feel the raindrops on the skin when it rains and observe the drizzle, and wait to see if the child can think of taking shelter or using a rain gear.
For solving the issues of missing items to school, I suggested for the parents to guide the child
by counting the items everyday before packing. After confirming the total number, guide the child to check the items before school, and give them the responsibility to take ownership of their own items, instead of telling the child what to do directly.
Although it is only a small change in guidance, as long as adults are willing to slow down and mindfully guide the children, they can make significant progress.
If you want to know more ways in guiding your children, Relationship Development Intervention ® (RDI ®) is a way to go!