Category: Promotion of Healthy, Happy and Balanced Development of Children

Essay on Values Education (Empathy)

by Dr. Cheuk Wong Wing Sze Recently, with the unstable weather and frequent rain, I encountered a group of high school students waiting in line for the bus. To my surprise, one female student was without an umbrella, looking very disheveled. Quickly, I shared my umbrella with her. They were all in the same school uniform, possibly not well-acquainted with each other, yet seeing a fellow student in such a state, I wondered why no one else was willing to share their umbrella with her. This incident reminded me of the importance of fostering empathy from a young age. 1.Empathy as the Foundation American psychologist Daniel Goleman, in his book “Working with Emotional Intelligence,” points out that the ability to handle interpersonal relationships is based on empathy. By trying to perceive the needs of others and caring about their perspectives, one can understand their viewpoints, recognize their emotions, respond to their feelings, and enhance their own empathy. In essence, stronger empathy leads to better interpersonal relationships, and vice versa. 2.Recognizing Others’ Emotions Through perspective-taking, understanding others’ emotions and thoughts is essential for empathizing and problem-solving from their standpoint. It is crucial to educate children from a young age to first recognize their own emotions. In Asian communities, emotions are often more reserved, with a wide range beyond just happy or sad. Teaching children that emotions are neither good nor bad but have appropriate and inappropriate ways of handling them is vital. For instance, it’s okay to feel angry, and when

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Writing Skills Mini Training

Article by Mr. Cheng Wai-keung, Psychological Counselor at the Infant and Toddler Psychological Development Association.   During the writing training session, Mr. Cheng Wai-keung, a psychological counselor from the Infant and Toddler Psychological Development Association, mentioned the common struggles children face when learning to write in K2.   “He can never write within the lines, everything ends up ‘flying’!” “His letters always go beyond the boxes; usually, one letter ‘bullies’ two boxes!” “He often skips lines or boxes while writing.” “It seems like he lacks strength when writing, the writing is so light that it’s almost invisible!”   These are typical scenarios many children encounter when learning to write in K2. Writing requires a combination of various skills, with the most basic being the strength and flexibility of the small finger muscles (fine motor skills). Insufficient training in fine motor skills can lead to issues like weak or shaky handwriting. So, how can parents handle and train their children in this aspect? It’s simple—start by letting them play with clay, playdough, flour, and other similar materials from a young age. Furthermore, visual spatial awareness and eye control are also crucial for handwriting. Engaging in general ball activities is excellent for training these skills. Tracking the ball visually and making contact (or kicking) the ball is a natural and fun way to practice. Additionally, activities like spot the difference games (finding variances in two pictures) and maze games (first visually finding the way out, then connecting the lines with a pen)

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Childhood severe myopia: Parents should not neglect it. The more you strain to see, the more it impedes learning and growth.

It is very common for children in Hong Kong to need to wear glasses due to myopia. Since myopia can affect children’s lives and learning, parents need to understand how to deal with it and seek medical attention early to control the progression of myopia, preventing it from worsening. Doctors remind parents to pay attention to the details of their children’s vision in daily life to check for any abnormalities. If needed, myopia control eye drops or suitable glasses can be used to correct vision. For children with severe myopia, close monitoring is even more essential.   Dr. Chan Shun Kit, Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist at Glorious Hospital, stated, “High myopia” refers to myopia of over 600 degrees: “The longer the eyeball is stretched, the more severe the myopia becomes. The average length of a human eyeball is about 22 to 25 millimeters. For every millimeter of elongation, myopia may worsen by around 300 degrees. If myopia reaches 800 degrees or above, the risk of complications such as cataracts, glaucoma, and retinal detachment increases. For children with severe myopia, the primary goal for parents is to prevent the degree from continuously deepening, as the impacts on various aspects of growth can be long-lasting.” Observing Children for Signs of Myopia in Detail However, children often have myopia without realizing it themselves; they may only feel that things appear blurry without explicitly mentioning it. Dr. Chan advises parents to observe details of their children’s daily lives: “Check if your child frequently squints, sits

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Intelligent learning through exercise

Written by: Fung Ji Hei, Game Therapist   I just participated in a professional development exchange activity for teachers in Taiwan, and witnessed how Taiwan’s education system emphasizes using exercise to cultivate children’s growth. This has given me new inspiration, and I hope to share it with all parents. One of the schools we visited for the exchange could be called a “mini sports university” – “Tiger Forest Elementary School”. As soon as I stepped into the school, the students greeted us with the government-promoted fitness exercises. They followed the rhythm to raise their hands and move their bodies, doing all kinds of warm-up movements. It made me feel like they were as lively as little tigers, and I felt like I had entered a forest full of little tigers.   Exercise Can Strengthen Children’s Learning Ability   Principal Liu of Tiger Forest Elementary School said that the school is a key government school focused on the physical development of the students, and believes that exercise can strengthen their learning ability. They are based on the research of John J. Ratey, MD, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and advocate the “Anytime Exercise” program. This program encourages students to exercise at any time. During breaks, students run to any part of the playground to exercise, some play dodgeball, some climb on the jungle gym, and some play badminton. All the students enjoy every moment of exercise. The Benefits of Exercise – Strengthening Brain Function   It

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Children grow up to be fed instead? How can parents break it down?

Source: Psychotherapist, Lee Wai Tong The parents begin feeding the baby milk and gradually introduce paste from the time the baby is born. Then children can start to hold their own utensils and eat on their own, one bite at a time while watching them grow up. But when the children reach the age of 6 to 7, they will suddenly ask their parents to feed them. What is the reason for this? How can this be resolved? Whenever children grow up, their parents are happy, especially when their children eat. In the past, they had to be fed by their parents, but later they learned to use utensils and eat by themselves, which was originally a very happy thing. However, many parents do not understand that when children can eat on their own, they begin to ask their parents to feed them. This is because the intimacy of parental feeding feels good and may make children want to be fed. When children are young, it is fun for parents to feed them, but when children grow up, it is a headache for parents if they still want to be fed halfway through a meal. We don’t want to spoil the atmosphere of the meal because of the feeding problem, so we need to learn that when children ask to be fed in the middle of a meal, we can solve the problem in the following ways: Parents can say to their children, “If you take two more bites of

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