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How to Teach English to Kids
English is now a worldwide benchmark for all conversations. Right from personal to professional scenarios, having the knack of speaking, writing, and communicating in English is always prized upon. Parents often wonder how to teach a child English at home and may resort to different methods to achieve it.
10 Tips to Teach English to Young Children
With these simple tips and techniques, you can easily teach kids to speak English and prepare them in advance.
1. Make It An Immersive Experience
Children grasp things quickly once they are in an environment that fully supports their learning process. Let the atmosphere be productive so that they start grasping the nuances of the language from everywhere. These could be from conversations amongst yourselves or on the phone, watching media that has professional English spoken in it, and so on.
2. Teaching English Can Be Made Musical
Most parents resort to using textbook methods of teaching English right off the bat. For small kids, this can get boring rather quickly. Instead, you can start using songs, poems, or even actual music that have English lyrics in them. These could be simple rhymes to even popular songs. By listening to the words and the rhythm of the conversations, kids can get more acquainted with how the language sounds and what it means, and start picking up on these finer details.
3. Converse in English At Home
Small kids will not be able to start making sentences or structuring their thoughts immediately in English. Hence, it is necessary that they learn to communicate what they already can in English. Talk to them about daily activities and things you usually converse about in English. Right from asking them if they brushed their teeth to teaching them how to phrase a question when they want to ask you something. For example, if they want milk, rather than saying “I want milk” in your native language, encourage them to form a proper request such as “I would like some milk from the refrigerator.”
4. Make English Fun By Turning It Into a Game
Reading books or talking in English is not the only way to learn the language. Undertaking fun games and activities that resort to understanding the meaning of the language helps children get a deeper grasp of it. Games like Pictionary help them express their idea in pictures while trying how best a picture can translate into an English word. Dumb charades focus on expressions, hand gestures, and body language, making them better at conveying what they want to say through non-verbal cues. Hangman will help them understand how to eliminate unwanted letters and understand the formation of words and pronunciation in a fun way.
5. Learning is Fun When It is Told Through a Story
Kids have an extremely vivid and visual imagination. Using that to their advantage while teaching English is a great way to make them learn. Use illustrated storybooks to help them understand how words help visualize environments, characters, and settings. Tell them stories and make use of different words to help them understand how it changes their perception of it. For example, help them visualize how a river is different from a stream, a creek, or a brook. Using visuals and sounds helps them express their thoughts better.
6. Grammar Can Be Made Easy By Repetition
Teaching grammar to kids can be quite a task. Teaching English grammar to children is usually done once the child enters a certain grade at school. The number of rules and sentence structure formats can easily get mind-boggling. The best way to introduce them to the world of grammar is to keep using the right grammar in general conversations. The moment they use wrong grammar, allow them to hear the sentence with right grammar and let them understand which one sounds better and is right to be spoken. With enough repetition in daily use, kids can start getting a hang of the right way to construct a sentence.
7. Mix Games They Like with Nuggets of English Language
Not all kids will be up for learning English in the way you would want them to. Therefore, it is best to integrate the language into the activities they already enjoy. If your kid enjoys playing Jenga, you could tweak the game by writing questions on the Jenga blocks and your kid would have to answer the question before the round proceeds. If they enjoy puzzles and riddles, you could pepper clues with one-liners having blanks, or English phrases and poems, that they need to recall and complete to get the next clue.
8. Creative Expression is the Best Way to Gauge Progress
In order to ensure that learning English is a continuous process, it is very important to know where your kid stands and whether you can take the learning a notch higher. Pick a day and time, and ask your kid to come up with their own story or a poem, or talk about something interesting that happened in the week. Help them write it down, even if it has multiple grammatical and spelling mistakes. Let them express it in steps and then correct them gradually.
9. Learning a Language Can Be a Physical Exercise Too
Everybody knows the game ‘Simon Says’ really well. Not only is it a test of language, but it is also a test of how quickly you can process instructions. Ask your kid to get their friends together and treat them to an evening of Simon Says. Announce a small prize for the kid who wins the round.
10. Nothing Beats Learning English Like Watching a Wonderful Film
Learning should always be entertaining. And kids can quickly descend into the zone of boredom and find something else to keep their attention. Show them an appropriate English film and let them experience the dialogues and the storyline. Later, ask them to roleplay certain characters or tell the story in their own words in English.
Teaching anything at an early age has its own advantages. And English is rather easy to pick up when taught the right way. Keeping things varied and interesting is one way to go about it. Make English conversation a natural habit within the household. Allot specific times of the day when every person will speak only in English. Slowly and steadily, your kid will start getting the know-how of the language and begin to experience and express their own thoughts on it.
Also Read: How to Teach Hindi to Kids Read more
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Diet Plan for 6 Month 4 Week Old Baby
Introduction
So, how was your little munchkin’s third week of eating solid foods? He probably has more favourite foods by now. We are certain you have tried several combinations of foods, and are equally enjoying the process of preparing meals and feeding them to your baby. Now it is time for week 4, which, just like week 3, requires you to prepare meals in combination, and have alternating breastfeeding sessions. You can choose to swap recipes according to your, or your baby’s preference, and add some more healthy combinations to ensure his nutritional requirements are met. Week 4, in a way, continues to break the breastfeeding cycle even further when you introduce your little one to new foods in combination. Your recipes can now include ingredients like meat puree, cereals, and yoghurt. Some of you may also combine breast milk with cereals, thus providing a wholesome and digestible meal for your baby.
6 Month 4 Week Old Baby Food Menu & Schedule
Diet for a 6-Month-Old – Week 4, Day 1
Early morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Breakfast
Mashed potato
Mid-morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Lunch
Lauki (bottle gourd) moong dal ( green gram split) soup
Evening
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Dinner
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Diet for a 6-Month-Old – Week 4, Day 2
Early morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Breakfast
Sweet potato + poha flattened rice) powder
Mid-morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Lunch
Tomato- pumpkin soup
Evening
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Dinner
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Diet for a 6-Month-Old – Week 4, Day 3
Early morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Breakfast
Sweet potato + poha (flattened rice) powder
Mid-morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Lunch
Lauki (bottle gourd) rice
Evening
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Dinner
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Diet for a 6-Month-Old – Week 4, Day 4
Early morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Breakfast
Sweet potato + poha (flattened rice) powder
Mid-morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Lunch
Rice porridge with mashed carrot
Evening
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Dinner
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Diet for a 6-Month-Old – Week 4, Day 5
Early morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Breakfast
Dal (lentil) -spinach soup
Mid-morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Lunch
Palak (spinach)khichdi
Evening
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Diet for a 6-Month-Old – Week 4, Day 6
Early morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Breakfast
Mashed potato
Mid-morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Lunch
Ragi (finger millet) – moong dal (green gram split) soup
Evening
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Dinner
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Diet for a 6-Month-Old – Week 4, Day 7
Early morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Breakfast
Spinach-pumpkin puree
Mid-morning
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Lunch
Ragi (finger millet) – moong dal (green gram split) soup
Evening
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Dinner
Mother’s milk /formula feed
Conclusion
In week 4, you will be boosting the nutritional value of the foods you feed your baby. Ensure you have an appropriate mix of dietary fibre, minerals, carbohydrates and proteins. By the end of this week, your little one will have tasted most combinations and would be comfortable with the meals. Read more
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Are You Prone to Anxiety Attacks? 7 Effective Techniques to Calm Yourself Immediately
Anxiety is a complicated set of feelings. Most of us have been anxious at least once in our lives – either before giving an exam, before an interview, or before meeting our special someone to make a big decision – the feeling of uncertainty and fear is something we all have experienced. This is precisely what anxiety is – the fear of the unknown. However, a lot of these instances are often short-lived, and so is the fear regarding it.
A lot of people out there have anxiety that does not seem to go away easily. Some instances, events, habits, and moments cause the same fear of the unknown; the fear can scale very high, causing a bodily reaction to it. When this happens regularly or only during a particular instance, it is called an anxiety disorder, because it has the ability to alter a person’s way of life. The reaction to such instances often comes in the form of anxiety attacks.
What Is an Anxiety Attack?
In simple words, an anxiety attack is a response to the continuous feelings of fear in one’s mind. Let us understand this with an example.
Scenario A - before going in for a job interview, a person can have ‘butterflies’ in his stomach because he is nervous about acing his interview and impressing his boss. He is probably biting his nails or tapping his foot uncontrollably. In this situation, there is a chance that he has thought about a possible worst case scenario - “worse comes to worst, I will tank this interview and not get the job.” Telling himself about the worst case scenario is a practical way of him not putting pressure on himself and calming his nerves. This is how usual anxiety works.
Scenario B – before going in for a job interview, a person feels the ‘butterflies’ but they seem to be bothering him. He is thinking about how he had messed up in his last interview, and immediately concludes that he did not get the job because he didn’t speak properly or that he didn’t dress smart enough. He starts to think about how he will mess up this interview because he didn’t read up enough, or that he didn’t cut his hair beforehand and that will make him look shabby. Instead of the worst case scenario being that he won’t get the job, his mind will continuously tell him this - “how will you ever get a good job if you can’t even remember to cut your hair on time? You don’t know anything about the company you are interviewing for. They will know you are not passionate enough. You don’t have more job interviews lined up. You will remain unemployed, and this is because you are lazy and incompetent.” This continuous thought process will likely end up in him feeling overwhelmed and confused, and add to his fear of not being able to function properly. This can result in a physical reaction, such as incessant crying, hyperventilation, feeling of dizziness, etc. This is the beginning of an anxiety attack.
Thus, we can see that anxiety attacks do not occur in a vacuum; they take place after a series of thoughts that are often backed up by some event or instance that has had an impact in our lives. The thing about anxiety attacks is that they tend to make a person spiral – and the only reason for this is the constant fear of the unknown and cooked-up scenarios in one’s mind. When unchecked, frequent anxiety attacks can be extremely harmful for a person, as they can lead to serious behavioural changes such as agoraphobia (which is a chronic fear of being in public spaces and around people), hypochondria, or depression.
How to Stop an Anxiety Attack Before or When It Is Occurring
Anxiety attacks can be scary and emotionally and physically draining; but there are a few techniques you can try to stop the attack from happening when you sense it, or reduce the impact of the anxiety attack when it is occurring. These techniques are called grounding techniques.
Grounding is a process of getting yourself out of the train of thought that can, or is giving you an anxiety attack, and bringing your focus back into the real world by using the physical act of ‘doing’ to shift focus.
Here are a few grounding techniques you can use when you’re having an anxiety attack:
1. Drink cold water.
This is a simple act, but it has a meaning to it. When drinking water, you are using your sense of touch to hold the glass or bottle, and feeling the coldness in your hand. Focus on how cold your hand feels as you touch the bottle. Next, by drinking the water, you are using your sense of taste. Thus, when gulping the water slowly, focus on how cold your mouth feels. This is a good grounding technique to follow especially before you feel the anxiety attack coming, because you are immediately re-positioning your mind by making it focus on something else.
2. Take three different kinds of uncooked dals in a plate, and begin separating them.
Just as you feel that you are going to spiral, head to your kitchen and pour three different raw dals in a big plate. After that, sit down, look at the plate and slowly start separating the three dals in different corners of the plate. This technique takes your focus away from the spiralling thoughts, and makes use of your senses of touch and sight. You can do this exercise with anything that has multiple colours, like beads and grains.
3. Practice properly timed breathing.
We are usually asked to breathe when we start getting feelings of nervousness or stress, because breathing is a great grounding technique. In case of anxiety attacks, try this: take a deep breath in and hold it for 5 seconds without fail, and breathe out for 7 seconds. Try maintaining a proper count for these breathing exercises, because that is the most effective way to streamline your breathing. Box breathing is an effective technique where you take your breath in for four seconds, hold it in for four seconds, and let it out for four seconds. Your focus will immediately go on counting the seconds, which will make the anxiety subside.
4. Look around the room you are in, and focus on colours/objects.
The next time you feel you are spiraling, stop for a second and look around in your room. Spot any object – a lamp, a book, a bottle – and name it loudly. Keep doing that for each object you find. If you are out, mouth the names to yourself, but make sure to actually say them by moving your mouth. By identifying the obejcts, you are shifting your focus from anxious thoughts to your sense of sight; by naming them, you are coming back into the physical reality you drifted away from by using your muscles to move your mouth. You can try changing the game by spotting all objects that have a similar colour and naming them, or simply naming the colours of the objects you see. The key here is to utilize your sight and muscles to get a grip on yourself.
5. Keep humming.
The moment you feel your mind is overwhelmed with thoughts, hum a song you like. You need not sing it out loud; simply singing the tune from start to finish can help. Here, you are using your voice and your hearing to come back into your physical reality.
6. Do a little stretch.
This is a small act that can benefit you in moments where you can’t do the things mentioned above, like if you’re at work or sitting at your desk. Just get up, notice your feet touching the floor, lift your arms up, and bend any way you are comfortable. The very act of using your body is a great way to shift away from anxiety inducing thoughts, and grounding yourself in reality.
7. Touch objects near you.
Hold your bottle in your hand and observe it. Pay attention to its nooks and crannies, its colour and shape.
Keep it down. Then, pick up your phone (but don’t use it). Observe its colour and how the light reflects on it. Touch your arm and feel it. Touch your legs. Touch your pants and feel the material; rub your palms together and feel the heat they produce. Feel the rug under your feet. The idea is to remind yourself of your physical existence that lies outside of your thought process. Doing so will shift focus, and this is why it is considered a great grounding technique.
By now, you would have understood the importance of grounding techniques to control anxiety attacks – they push you out of your fear of the unknown so you can come back to reality and not concentrate on self-destructive thoughts. Anxiety attacks are brutal and make one feel like there is no solution. While we have a list of temporary solutions to curb and control anxiety attacks, we advise you to see a psychotherapist if the attacks are frequent. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health; it’s important to take care of it in order to be a well-functioning individual.
Also Read:
Science-Based Benefits of Meditation
10-Minute Yoga Poses to Help Relieve Stress and Anxiety
How to Stop Cracking Your Knuckles Read more
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Cooing in your Two-Month-Old
Does your two month old makes adorable noises like “ooh” or “aah”? Although it may seem too early, your two month old baby’s communication skill is now developing. Her first means of communication will be in the form of adorable coos and gurgles. She will unknowingly start practising lip and tongue movement making an attempt to communicate with you.
Your two month old baby has now started responding to her new world. She will focus on your voice and will respond to it. Your different tones of voice will interest and fascinate her more now. She will be attracted to the different sounds you make.
When Does Cooing Begin?
The first attempt to communicate will begin at the second month, and you will notice your baby making noises like “aah”. As the weeks go by, she will continue to make more vowel sounds and gurgling noises. She will also attempt to imitate the baby coos you make.
Benefits of Cooing
Your baby’s attempt to coo will stimulate your baby’s brain, build fine and gross motor skills, strengthen neuron development and increase social-emotional development. The relationship and bonding between baby and parent enhances when your baby begins to start cooing. Here are the excellent benefits of cooing:
It is an indicator that your baby’s communication skill is developing. It helps your baby to graduate to more complex sounds
Your baby begins to start exercising her lips, palate and tongue
This is also an avenue for back and forth conversation to develop between you and your baby
You will be able to understand your baby’s reaction to stress, hunger and happiness. Cooing is now his means of expression
Cooing also helps in your baby’s overall language and vocabulary development
Encouraging Your Cooing Baby
Babies love to hear your voice. They learn to communicate by imitating the sounds you make. It is a treat to watch your baby as he begins to communicate with you or respond to your voice.
When your baby begins to communicate, it is ideal to engage in a conversation with your baby. The more you talk to your baby the sooner he will develop his language and speech skills.
When your baby starts cooing or gurgling, smile back or wink at her. Do this to encourage her cooing.
Imitate your baby’s coos like “ba-ba”, “pa-pa”, etc. This will encourage her speech development.
Respond with excitement. This will ensure that you are paying attention to her.
Use exaggerated vowels just like your baby does.
Always speak in a happy voice.
Use clear facial expressions like raised eyebrows or winking eyes.
Describe your words clearly and use easy words that will help her imitate you.
Emphasize on important words.
In the course of normal development, cooing will help the baby’s brain to develop. He will store the words you speak and the noises you make pertaining to everyday objects. His speaking skills will also improve as the months pass by.
It is important to start noting and observing this milestone right from two months of age to detect if your baby is growing normally or has a speech problem. If your baby doesn’t coo yet, it could mean he is simply taking more time Enjoy this two-way engaging conversation with your baby! Read more
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5 Ways To Help Preschoolers Resolve Conflicts
Out of the many important skills that children learn between 37-42 months, conflict resolution is one of the most important. Parents have to play an important and active role in developing conflict resolution skills for children. They can't learn them on their own!
Conflicts are a part of life. The moment a person develops independent thinking, he also develops an opinion about things. And, preschoolers of today just seem to have an opinion about everything! In such situations, conflicts during play time with peers or even conflicts with parents are bound to arise. You have an important role to play in teaching your child how to resolve them.
5 Steps for Teaching Children Conflict Resolution Skills
1. Approach the Problem Calmly
It’s very important to approach the situation with a cool head and calm your child down when he’s involved in a conflict. Ask him to count till 10, or take a break to think about the problem. Preschoolers can be asked to play with someone else till they calm down and are open to conflict resolution.
2. Restate the Problem in an Unbiased Manner
Ask your child to stay calm and state his problem and his feelings. If his issue is with a peer, you can deal with each kid separately. Encourage them to use 'I' while stating the problem like 'I am upset that the toy was snatched from me.'
3. Encourage Apologies
A good apology can almost always remedy situations quickly. Often, conflict resolution for kids comes about when an apology is given. You must ask each child or the one who needs to apologise to do so. Likewise, the injured party should be encouraged to accept the apology.
4. Find Solutions Collectively
Once peace is restored, ask your child to find a solution to their problems, or guide them towards one so that the same issue doesn’t arise again. Parents can sometimes become tempted to find conflict resolution strategies for kids. However, encouraging them to find solutions themselves helps them develop critical thinking. For example, if the conflict was regarding a toy, the solution can be to take turns to play with it. You can guide them towards this decision, but don’t point to it directly.
5. Follow up
Follow up to see if they’re getting along and doing tasks together after the resolution of the conflict. If they aren’t, let them take a break from each other for a while. You can also try out these conflict resolution activities for preschoolers. They’re fun to play and very engaging:
All children will stand in a circle and speak out the name of a child to whom they want to pass a ball. Only the person whose name is called out will hold the ball and then pass it
Rock, papers, scissors game
Puppet shows depicting a story in which characters face conflicts and effectively resolve them
Stories with conflict resolution that can be told again and again
Read more
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Green Peas puree
Fiber-filled peas are an ideal first veggie for your kid because of its sweet taste and starchy texture. They are packed with carbohydrates, proteins and vital vitamins needed for your child's growth. When in season, you can surely add this puree to a variety of recipes. When not in season, you can use the frozen peas instead. So all you new mums, here's a step by step recipe for making a quick and easy green peas puree.
Serves
Preparation Time
Cooking Time
2 People
2 Minutes
10 Minutes
Ingredients
3 cup green peas
Method
Step 1
Boil peas in a pan.
Step 2
Puree peas in a food processor or blender until smooth.
Step 3
Add water as needed to reach desired consistency.
Step 4
Serve Pea Puree at room temperature.
Step 5
Refrigerate or Freeze Leftover Pea Puree for up to 3 days. Freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in your refrigerator.
Nutritional Information
Serving Size 1/2 cup (80 g)
Calories
62
Calories from Fat
2
Total Fat
0.2 g 0%
Saturated Fat
0 g 0%
Polyunsaturated Fat
0.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg 0%
Sodium
58 mg 2%
Potassium
88 mg 3%
Carbohydrates
11.4 g 4%
Dietary Fiber
4.4 g 18%
Sugars
3.7 g
Protein
4.1 g
Vitamin A
34%
Vitamin C
13%
Calcium
2%
Iron
7%
*Based on a 2000 calorie diet
Tip: For chunkier pea puree, which is ideal for babies 10 months or older, mash the peas with a potato masher instead of pureeing them. Read more
Charul Verma has added a new answer
Mom of a 1 yr 7 m old child
7 hours ago
Q. Hello my baby is 20 months old he swallowed a earpod bur he is normal he eat as well as drink please suggest???
Charul Verma
Nutritionist
6 hours ago
A. hi mom
mostly it will be out once he passes stool
but better to show to doctor
it can be checked in x ray if required
Rashmi has added a new answer
Mom of a 1 yr 7 m old child
7 hours ago
Q. Hello my baby is 20 months old by mistake he swallowed a earpod but he is normal is eat drink plz suggest??
Rashmi
Mom of a 9 yr 7 m old girl
7 hours ago
A. It’s fine it should come out into the poop of your child within 24 to 48 hours a lot of mishaps happened with kids these days but these things since they are not edible they do not get digested which is why they come out into the motion
Dr Priyanka Kalra has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
6 hours ago
Q. i am 5 months pregnant n i haven't gone for check up even once still now is it okay or should I go
Dr Priyanka Kalra
Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
1 hour ago
A. should go. do ultrasound n necessary tests after consulting a specialist. without proper check up we can't advise or help you.. Avoid shirt cuts when it comes to health if mother n baby. ok. better to show to specialist always as they get the correct diagnosis. try to avoid self and extra medication that will only complicate this and create more damage to the child
Dr Sameer awadhiya has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
5 hours ago
Q. my baby is 2 months old and she has developed a white patch on her face. What should I do?
Dr Sameer awadhiya
Paediatrician
3 hours ago
A. White spots on the body and face could be there sometimes, which maybe because of fungal infection or some conditions like pityriasis alba or some other factors some conditions are aggravated by dry skiniu, show a proper mousturisation is required. Also, maintain a proper hygiene and a proper assessment should be done to rule out any other causative factor
Dr Ghouse has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
5 hours ago
Q. my baby passes stool after every feed. Is it normal?
Dr Ghouse
Paediatrician
2 hours ago
A. it's ok normal hai jj. if there is no relief it is better you see your doctor for proper examination particularly physical examination if there is need for doing investigations to find out the problem and treatment ok
Dr Ghouse has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
1 hour ago
Q. how you can
Dr Ghouse
Paediatrician
42 mins ago
A. question is incomplete please repeat ok. if there is no relief it is better you see your doctor for proper examination particularly physical examination if there is need for doing investigations to find out the problem and treatment ok
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