Preschool and Kindergarten
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Skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding within one hour after birth helps
babies achieve better growth and development and establishes contact with
their mother.
Touch, hearing, smell, sight and taste are learning tools the child uses to
explore the surrounding world.
Children's minds develop rapidly when they are talked to, touched and
cuddled, and when they see familiar faces, hear familiar voices and handle
different objects. They learn quickly when they feel loved and secure from
birth and when they frequently play and interact with family members.
Children who feel secure usually do better in school and cope more easily
with the difficulties of life.
Exclusive breastfeeding on demand for the first six months, timely
introduction of safe and nutritious complementary foods at the age of six
months, and continued breastfeeding for two years or beyond provide the
child with nutrition and health benefits as well as affection and contact with
the caregiver.
The most important way children develop and learn is through interaction
with others. The more often parents and caregivers talk and respond to the
child, the quicker he or she learns. Parents or caregivers should talk, read or
sing to infants and young children. Even if children are not yet able to
understand the words, these early 'conversations' develop their language
and learning capacities.
Caregivers can help children learn and grow by giving them new and
interesting things to look at, listen to, hold and play with.
Babies and small children should not be left alone for long periods of time.
This delays their physical and mental development.
Girls need the same amount of food, attention, affection and care as do boys.
All children need to be encouraged and praised when they learn to do and
say new things.
When the child is not growing well, physically or mentally, parents need to
seek advice from a health care worker.
Teaching children in their mother tongue first helps them develop their
ability to think and express themselves. Children learn language quickly and
easily through songs, family stories, rhymes and games.
A child who has completed immunization on time and has been given proper
nutrition has an increased chance of survival and is more apt to interact, play
and learn. This will reduce the family's expenditure on health care, the child's
absence from school due to illness, and the parents' loss of income when
they have to care for a sick child.