Monday, April 1, 2013


SELF-AWARENESS


Is there any parent alive who would not wish for their 3-5 year-old preschooler to be aware when they are getting frustrated so they could come for help verses acting out?  How about a child being conscious and aware of what he/she is looking like, sounding like or what behaviors he/she tends to engage in when unhappy or frustrated?   Mirroring is an activity used by parents to teach their children how to become aware or conscious.  The concept of mirroring and imitation is at work in much of your child’s learning.  Our children are highly aware of our actions and they imitate us in movement and speech and other physical activities (that’s scary to think about sometimes), but “mirroring” as we used it today in class is an intentional, conscious act by both the grown-up and child.  As you will read in your family activity guide, Carla Hannaford’s research shows that children gain self-awareness when they participate in movement activities such as the mirror games we played today in class and those you will be playing at home this week.

I’m excited by the home activities this week for our preschool families, because these games played regularly with your child will provide such great learning for your child as relates to the awareness of his/her emotions, movements, and expressions.   There’s only so much we can do in class, but the warm and bonding time you spend at home with these wonderful developmental activities will reap rewards that last a lifetime, as it is through self-awareness that children learn self-control and the ability to make positive choices regarding their emotional and physical state. 

Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist who works with couples, individual adults, and children. He has written and lectured extensively on parental stress and depletion, ways to nurture mothers and fathers, and how a couple can be both strong teammates and intimate friends while raising a family. A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA, Dr. Hanson did management consulting before earning his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute.  He lists additional information on ways to engage your child in self-awareness development on his website www.nurturemom.com (great for dads too – has a “FOR DADS” tab) and the following links are to articles specific to self-awareness development in both ourselves and our children:  Self-Awareness for Kids and Grown-ups - http://www.nurturemom.com/Web_store/News/0105coulmn.shtml and  Being Skillful with Your Inner World Too! - http://www.wisebrain.org/WhyInnerSkills.pdf.  For those of our families that love brain neuroscience articles, www.wisebrain.org/science has articles and Brain FAQ’s as well.  FUN FACTS to consider!

“Mirror, mirror…my reflection can move like this….”  P.12
  • Continue mirror dancing with each other and/or in front of a mirror.  Home Cd 2, Track 7 Barcarolle
  • Can you find all of the surfaces that reflect your mirror image in your home?   How do you look different from one surface to the next?
  • Explore “emotion faces” in your mirrors together at home.  
  • Can you describe your child’s “sad, happy or angry” face?
  • Can you imitate your child’s face while describing what you see (e.g. lip out and turned down, sparkling eyes, etc.)?
  • Do you have a full-length mirror for full body fun, or how about a hand-mirror for emotion play?
Follow this link to additional Self-Awareness activities for Children & Grownups.
http://www.nurturemom.com/Web_store/News/0105coulmn.shtml

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