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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