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Exercise to strengthen the brain function. Three moves to make children love sports

Asian and mixed race happy young kids running playing football together in garden. Multi-ethnic children group, outdoor sport exercising, leisure game activity, or childhood fun lifestyle concept
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I participated in a professional development exchange program for teachers in Taiwan earlier, and I was inspired by the emphasis on sports in Taiwan education, which I would like to share with parents. One of the schools on the exchange was the “Tiger Forest Elementary School”, a version of the Sports Institute Elementary School. As soon as we entered the school, the students welcomed us with a gymnastic exercise promoted by the government. They moved their hands and feet together to the beat and made all kinds of warm-up movements, which made people feel that they were as lively as the old tigers, and I was like entering a forest full of old tigers.

 

 

Sports can strengthen children’s learning ability

Principal Lau of Tiger Forest Primary School said the school is a government priority school, focusing on the physical development of students and believes that sports can strengthen their learning ability. Based on the research of John J. Ratey, MD, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, they promote a zero-hour exercise program. The program encourages students to be physically active at all times, i.e., Anytime. During recess, students run to the playground to play sports. They play dodgeball, climbing frames, or badminton, and all students enjoy every moment of exercise.

Benefits of Exercise to Strengthen Brain Function

Exercise is known to be physically stimulating, but in Ratey’s research, he points out more benefits of exercise for the brain. He describes the brain as a message processing center that transmits messages through different transmitters (chemicals) in different pathways. When exercising, the brain can effectively produce more transmitters and strengthen the pathways, allowing messages to travel faster and more accurately.

 

Applying the theory to learning, students use exercise to strengthen their brain function, which in turn improves their learning performance. Studies have shown that exercise improves students’ concentration and memory, both of which are necessary for successful learning. In addition, exercise enables the brain to produce Dopamine (a chemical that makes students feel happy), which makes learning more enjoyable and leads to better grades.

How can I get my child to love sports?

In order for children to enjoy the time and benefits of sports, parents need to get their children to love sports. Here are three suggestions:

1.Sporadic exercise

Give your child more opportunities to play sports, such as providing the right time, tools, and place, and make sure the environment is safe for parents.

2.Healthy exercise

Teach your child to do exercise for the love of health and mention the health benefits of exercise. 3.

3.Exercise together

Enjoy the moment of exercise with your child and enjoy the good time of parent-child relationship.

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School Articles

Do not let children rely too much on the use of e-learning.
Diversified learning is more helpful to enhance interest

Asian toddler boy student online learning class study online video call zoom teacher, Happy boy learn science online with laptop at home.New normal.Covid-19 coronavirus.Social distancing.stay home.
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Written by: Director of Program Development, Carmen Leung

 

In the midst of the epidemic, there is a wide range of educational animations or online children’s programs for parents to choose from. Many parents also download different tablet apps for their children to use in the hope that they can learn through interactive or interesting images and sounds. Which animations and apps are good for children’s learning? What should parents pay attention to when using multimedia to help their children learn?

 

Time to use e-learning according to age

 

In early childhood, as the brain area responsible for coordinating the five senses is developing rapidly, I do not recommend children aged 0 to 2 years old to rely too much on TV or tablet computers for learning. This is because the images on the TV or tablet are flashing at a very high frequency, and children’s eyes and brains will unconsciously receive stimulation continuously, and over time, visual stimulation will become a habit, and brain development will be affected, resulting in reduced concentration.

 

Some parents say, “My child is very attentive when watching TV and playing with iPhone, but not when reading books, so I buy a lot of learning animations for her to watch. Have parents ever thought that if the eyes and brain are accustomed to constant stimulation, relatively static things such as books and teachers’ explanations will naturally become uninteresting, if you continue to let young children rely on rich images to learn, what to do if one day in the future they will need to face books?

Since the brain of children over 2 years old is more mature, parents can let children over 2 years old use TV and computer to learn in a limited way. The time should be no more than 15 minutes a day as a starting point, and older children can watch a little more. As children grow older, the high-frequency flicker of the computer or TV will have a relatively lesser impact on brain development.

 

Multi-learning mode is recommended

 

Although displays have an effect on children’s attention span, I do not believe that using TV and computers for learning is undesirable. Multimedia or computer programs can make learning more interesting and interactive, so that children can enjoy learning more and learn more quickly. However, in addition to using interactive multimedia for learning, children also need to adapt to other less interactive learning modes, such as books and one-way lectures, and find the fun in learning.

Parents should provide their children with a variety of learning channels, such as taking them to the library, playing educational games with them, visiting museums, going for walks on nature education trails, or even teaching them to read the English menu at restaurants, etc., so that they can try different learning modes and methods to find the joy of learning.

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School Articles

Self-protection mechanism of children

Little boy play game with angry feeling
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Written by: Psychotherapist Lee Wai-Tong, Unleashing Mind

 Professional  Counselling Academy

 

One day, a colleague told me that he/she had received a call from a mother who was anxious to bring her son to see me. On the phone, I learned that the boy had pointed a knife at his neck several times in the past month, threatening his mother to give her change to buy snacks, or else he would stab himself in the neck. The mother, on one hand, of course, was surprised at her son’s behavior, and on the other hand, worried that he might stab himself accidentally, so she had to give him money. But the boy did the same thing many times afterwards, which made the mother feel distressed.

 

The first time I had a play therapy session with the boy, he entered the playroom, sat down on a chair and looked at me with a smile on his face, so I invited him to choose the toys in the room: “You can choose any toy and play with it in your own way. The boy looked at me and said, “Really? I responded again, “You can choose any toy and play with it the way you want. So the boy stood up, swept all the toys on the table to the floor, and looked at me with a smile.

At this point, I was thinking that this was the first time I met with the boy and he responded in such a way, so I could imagine that he had a lot of anger in his heart, but he had suppressed it for some time, so now he let it out in this way.

 

Later, I used games and creative psychotherapy to allow him to slowly express his inner feelings of dissatisfaction with his parents, for example, his father blamed the boy for breaking the computer for no reason, but in fact it was his brother who did it; when the boy did something wrong, his mother beat him with a coat hanger …… When his emotions were released, the boy did not do these behaviors anymore. And he also became cheerful.

Children need the protection and love of their parents as they grow up. But if a parent causes harm to a child and does not deal with it properly, what the child can do is to use his or her limited ability to protect himself or herself, such as becoming rebellious, silent, or telling lie. We all understand that parenting is not perfect and it is normal to misunderstand and blame our children sometimes. However, the important thing is that when we find out that we have misunderstood or blamed our children wrongly, we can open a space for parents to communicate and let our children express their unhappiness.

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Education Bureau Information

(Video) Event Highlight on Play with Your Children Day

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Activities of the “Playtime with Children” series aim to encourage parents to play with their children, increase mutual communication, build a stronger bond and enhance their relationship. To let parents understand the importance of play to children’s development, the Education Bureau (EDB) organised a territory-wide “Play with Your Children Day” on 11 December 2022 at Hong Kong Baptist University Affiliated School Wong Kam Fai Secondary and Primary School.  On that day, the Under Secretary for Education, Mr Sze Chun-fai was the officiating guest and kicked started the activities under the “Playtime with Children” series launched by the EDB in the 2022/23 school year. Around 200 kindergarten and primary school parents and students joined the event. The parents made a pledge to create quality time with children together under the leadership of the Chairman of the Committee on Home-School Co-operation, Mr Eugene Fong.

Source：家長智NET (https://www.parent.edu.hk/en/article/video-childrenday-highlight)

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Education Bureau Information

Parent-child tips – Ten health tips for parents to guide children to use the Internet and electronic screen products

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(Chinese Version Only)

Source: https://www.parent.edu.hk/article/ten-tips-online

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Education Bureau Information

「校園復常‧好精神」專頁

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(Chinese Version Only)

因應學校由2023年2月起逐步有序恢復全日面授課堂，教育局於2023年1月26日在「校園‧好精神」網站推出「校園復常‧好精神」專頁，為學校及家長提供多元化的實用資源﹙如錦囊、資源包及短片等﹚，協助他們提升一般學生的適應力、及早識別有精神健康風險的學生，以及就學生的不同需要﹙包括有精神病患的學生及有自閉症的學生等﹚提供針對性支援，幫助學生重拾正常的學習和社交生活。

 提升一般學生的適應力方面，家長可參考「協助子女適應全日面授課堂」小貼士，儘早與子女建立常規，以及妥善分配作息時間等。此外，由臨床心理學家主講的「壓力處理我有計」家長教育短片已上載及連接至專頁，方便家長觀看。

 及早識別有精神健康風險的學生方面，家長可於「認識及支援有自我傷害行為的學生」專頁下載「如何幫助有自我傷害行為的學生」家長小冊子，及早留意警號，協助子女處理其困擾。

 教育局亦針對學生的不同需要﹙例如有精神病患的學生及有自閉症的學生等﹚提供建議及資源，幫助學生處理壓力及焦慮。對於有精神病患的子女，家長可參考「關愛孩子好精神」家長教育系列，以了解不同種類的精神病患的徵狀、處理方法及家校支援策略，系列內的八個小冊子均備有中文、英文及八種少數族裔語文版本。對於有自閉症的子女，家長可參考「全日上學去 – 協助有自閉症的學生適應全日面授課堂」家長錦囊，透過具體的建議行動清單，與子女一起迎接校園生活。

 我們期望學校和家長共同努力支援學生，強化他們的抗逆能力，並提升他們的適應能力。如察覺學生面對壓力，學校和家長應多向他們表達關心，並幫助他們運用有效的方法照顧自己的精神健康。

Source：家長智NET (https://www.parent.edu.hk/en/article/resumeschooling)

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Education Bureau Information

How to Help Children Overcome Procrastination

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Source：家長智NET (https://www.parent.edu.hk/en/article/helpingchild)
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Education Bureau Information

(Video) Parental care and love help children grow up with confidence

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The Education Bureau has produced a new Television Announcements in Public Interest (TV API) on positive parent education, along with a newly released theme song of the Positive Parent Campaign, “Accompany Your Child to Grow Up with Love” sung by Singer Ms. Cindy Au, with an aim to promote to the parents and the public the proper ways and attitudes on nurturing children. The TV API is titled “Parental care and love help children grow up with confidence”. In the video, members of the Light Family, who are the ambassadors of the Positive Parents Campaign, pass the light bulbs symbolizing positive parenting to parents one by one, hoping that parents would always adopt a positive attitude towards parenting, among which includes boosting children’s self-confidence, encouraging them to enjoy the learning process, supporting their healthy growth, and unleashing their potential.

Source：家長智NET (https://www.parent.edu.hk/en/article/api2022)
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School Articles

Wear face mask for long time during Epidemic. How to make children learn to “look at people’s eyebrows and eyes”?

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Written by: Hong Kong Speech and Swallowing Therapy Centre
Senior Speech Therapist Eunice Siu

In our daily interactions with others, we not only observe others’ behaviors, but also “explain” and “predict” others’ behaviors. Theory of mind is the ability to infer or substitute other people’s mental states, such as their thoughts, beliefs, desires, and intentions, etc., and to use this ability to explain other people’s thoughts, perceptions, and predict their behaviors. Theory of mind can be subdivided into “emotion recognition”, “beliefs” and “pretend play”.

The developmental period for children’s theory of mind is from approximately 3 to 7 years of age. However, before the age of 3, children need to master the following skills to effectively develop theory of mind skills.

1. noticing and imitating the behavior of people around them
2. recognizing the emotions of others and using words to express them (e.g., happy, sad, angry, surprised)
3. participates in pretend play
4. understands that different people have different desires and preferences
5. understands that people will act to get what they want (e.g. reach for candy)
6. understands the causes and consequences of unsympathetic emotions (e.g. if I hit my brother, my mom will be mad and then she will scold me)

Ways to improve theory of mind are:

1. Use more psychologically relevant words when talking to your child

Using psychologically related words to communicate with children can help children understand their own and others’ psychological conditions more specifically. Examples of psychologically related words are “think,” “pretend,” “know,” “believe,” “feel,” and words related to emotions. Pay attention to what your child is trying to say and then respond. For example, “Ah! You want cake”, “Don’t be afraid! You think I’m gone, but I’m still here,” and “Mommy’s mad at you for hitting your brother. Parents can also explain to their children the psychological situation of others, e.g., “Mei-mei is smiling so much when she receives a birthday present, she should be very excited.

2. Participate in role-playing games with your child

Role-playing games encourage children to put themselves in different situations and characters’ perspectives to draw inferences about their behavior. To begin, children can pretend to be common everyday characters, such as mothers, doctors, teachers, and drivers. Parents should pay attention to the fact that both the words and behaviors in the game should be substituted for the role played. This activity helps children experience a variety of emotions, thoughts and interactions in different social situations, and learn to observe, imitate, anticipate, review and adjust their thoughts and behaviors.

I hope parents can make good use of the opportunity to share and communicate more with their children in daily life, so that they can learn to “look at people’s eyebrows and eyes” (meaning read people’s faces) and become a “mind-reading detective”!

Source：
Hollin, P., Baron-Cohen, S.,& Hadwin,J.(1999). Teaching children with autism tomind-read. West Sussex, England: Wiely Press

Lowry, L.(2015).” Tuning in” to others: How young children develop theory of mind. The Hanen Centre.

Spastics Association of Hong Kong (2005). Connecting: Developing social skills in children with autism. Spastics Association of Hong Kong.

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School Articles

To love children, first to love themselves, 3 moves to teach you to maintain the best mental state

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Written by :Family Dynamics Child Play Therapist
                   Marriage and Family Therapist, Ms. Lee Wai Zi

In today’s society, it is indeed not easy for parents to maintain a good state of mind and body. I have met with many parents and found that the difficulty most parents face is not that they do not understand their children’s feelings and needs, or that they do not know how their behavior affects their children, but that it is difficult to maintain a trusting and optimistic attitude towards their children when they are in a situation. Often, parents become increasingly anxious as they worry that their child’s problems will continue and worsen, and repeat ineffective ways of dealing with their child’s problems.

So, how can parents maintain the best mental state to face the stress and challenges of disciplining their children? Here are some tips for parents to consider:

1. Be more sensitive to your own stress levels
Parents are human beings, so there will be times when they are depressed or physically and emotionally exhausted. The purpose of parents being sensitive to their own mental state is to remind themselves that they need to take care of their own needs first. It is difficult for parents to be sensitive and responsive to the needs of their children when they are in a highly stressed state. Conversely, inappropriate responses may harm the child and damage the parent-child relationship.

2. Use resources effectively to relieve stress
When parents feel stressed, they should try to explore and make good use of their own internal and external resources to regulate their negative emotions. For example, find family members or friends to talk to, do things that can relax you, and find positive thoughts and beliefs to encourage you. The purpose is to give yourself a proper rest and temporary relief from stress.

3. Turn your mind around and reflect
If a parent’s stress continues and increases, professional help is needed. Sometimes, these pressures come from more than just external influences. Parents’ self-worth, worldview, and perceptions of things can affect how we parent. For example, some parents worry that they are not doing enough to fulfill their parental responsibilities and end up pushing their children to study or participate in activities, or even that they are not flexible enough to respond to their children’s needs when they are stressed and negative. If

parents are aware of and take care of their own feelings and needs, they can prevent their negative emotions from affecting the next generation.

Therefore, parents who love their children must first love themselves. Only when parents are healthy and happy can their children grow up healthy and happy.