It's International Book Week and I thought I'd write about a type of book that has affected my parenting the most. I've read many parenting books. While some of them were ok and others were great and I've been recommending them, the one type of book that helped me the most when I was a first time parent is about child development.
If you have a basic understanding of child development then you'll be prepared for what to expect and how you could nurture growth in each area of your child's development.This information has been invaluable to me.
If you have a basic understanding of child development then you'll be prepared for what to expect and how you could nurture growth in each area of your child's development.This information has been invaluable to me.
All the theories of child development are contained in these books.
Did you know that:
- Children's motor development goes from gross motor to fine motor and from the centre of the body to the tips? This means that torso movements are first then arms and legs and head and finally to the hands and foot then fingers and toes. So when we teach we need to make sure that children are actually ready to learn that skill. For example, it's no use teaching children to hold a pencil, which is a fine motor skill, before we teach them to hold a cup or a ball of playdough.
- Children's thinking develops from the concrete to the abstract. What this means is that in the early years, we need to give children a lot of hands on experiences before we can start to teach them about abstract ideas.
- How your children attach to you when they were young determines their relationship with you.
- Empathy in children appears around 2 years of age.
These are just a few things to know about child development. There is a whole lot more in a child development book.
My child development books are actually my university teaching textbooks. I have two: one for an early childhood subject and the other for a primary school age subject. Yes, the child development textbooks explains about development from birth to the end of adolescence. And they are very big and thick books, all with scientific research.
There are different areas of development that generally includes cognitive, language, motor and physical, emotional, self and social, and moral development. Each of these is a chapter in the books and they are actually course subjects that I had to take later on that goes into in-depth details. So they're really an overview of child development.
When I first read the books, it opened my eyes to how children grow and what I can do to help that growth. I realised that this information is very important and useful for all parents. I recommended everyone to read it. The problem was, child development books are thick textbooks and a bit off-putting for parents to read.
After many years, I've decided to remedy this by writing a friendly-to-read child development book. But instead of me writing everything, I got together with other teachers, a therapist, psychologist and nutritionist to each write a chapter in their area of expertise. We are currently in the process of writing and will inshaAllah finish soon.
What makes this book different is that we've included a lot of Islam in it. So there will be hadith and Quran to support each area where necessary. What's more, we're including lots of activities that parents could do to help nurture their child in each area. This book is for every parent, even when your child is a new born or a teenager.
I'm so excited. It will benefit a lot of parents insha Allah.
If you'd like to know when it will be released then please subscribe below and I will let you know. Also, by being on my mailing list, you'll get lots of parenting tips and downloads. Sign on below:
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