In children from birth to the beginning of the fifth year, common problems include difficulties in feeding and sleeping, as well as clinging to the parents (separation anxiety), temper tantrums, oppositional behavior, and minor degrees of aggression.
1. Sleep Problem
The most frequent sleep difficulty is wakefulness at night, which is most frequent between the ages of 1 and 4 years. About a fifth of children of this age take at least an hour to get to sleep or are wakeful for long periods during the night. When wakefulness is an isolated problem and not very distressing to the family, it is enough to reassure parents that it is likely to improve.
2. Temper Tantrum
Occasional temper tantrums are normal in toddlers, and only persistent or very severe tantrums are abnormal. The immediate cause is often unwitting reinforcement by excessive attention and inconsistent discipline on the part of the parents. When this arises it is often because the parents have emotional problems of their own or because the relationship between them is unsatisfactory.
3. Pica
Pica is the eating of items generally regarded as inedible, for example soil, paint, and paper. It is often associated with other behavior problems. Cases should be investigated carefully because some are due to brain damage, or autism, or mental retardation. Some are associated with emotional distress, which should be reduced if possible.
4. Reactive attachment disorder of infancy and early childhood
This term denotes a syndrome starring before the age of 5 years and associated with grossly abnormal care-giving. There are two subtypes: inhibited and disinhibited. Children in the first subgroup may show a combination of behavioral inhibition, vigilance, and fearfulness, which is sometimes called frozen watchfulness. These children are miserable, difficult to console, and sometimes aggressive. Some fail to thrive. Such behavior is seen among children who have been abused. Children with the disinhibited subtype of the disorder relate indiscriminately to people, irrespective of their closeness, and are excessively familiar with strangers. Such behavior has been described most clearly in children raised in institutions. In DSM-IV, the diagnosis is made when the disturbance of relationships appears to be a direct result of abnormal care-giving. ICD-10 does not use this criterion but requires that the behavior is present in several situations.
5. Sibling Rivalry
Your preschool age child may have a hard time sharing your attention with other siblings, especially a new baby. Children at this age are normally self-centered and may not understand why they have to share your attention. They may feel neglected or jealous and may regress in many of their behaviors. See the Preparing siblings for the new babyguide for more info...
Older children may also feel jealously towards a preschool age child. It is important to respect your older children's need for privacy by setting certain areas and items off limits to your preschooler. And continue to spend special time alone with your older children.
6. Child Abuse
Child abuse is more than bruises and broken bones. While physical abuse might be the most visible sign, other types of abuse, such as emotional abuse or child neglect, also leave deep, long lasting scars. Some signs of child abuse are subtler than others. However, by learning common types of abuse and what you can do, you can make a huge difference in a child’s life. The earlier abused children get help, the greater chance they have to heal from their abuse and not perpetuate the cycle. Learn the signs and symptoms of child abuse and help break the cycle, finding out where to get help for the children and their caregivers.
There were types of Child Abuse these are the following:
- Emotional Child Abuse
- Child Neglect
- Physical Abuse
Spiritual/Theological Issues of Children and Childhood:
Children of poverty faced a spectrum of dangers ranging from hunger to abandonment, but disease and death cut across class lines. Indeed, the perils of childhood deeply impressed the early Christian writers, and with the end of persecution they turned their theological attention to children.
The plight of the Holy Innocents (i.e., Herod's slaughter of "all the male children in Bethlehem and in all the region who were two years old or under" [Matt. 2:16]) loomed large in the imagination of Christian men and women in late antiquity. Sermons considering Herod's cruel slaughter of the newly born (Matt. 2) proliferated in the late fourth and fifth centuries in the West. These infants had died without the rite of Christian baptism, and theologians speculated that they were baptized by the tears of their mothers and their own blood. They were the first Christian martyrs.
Nor were biblical children the only ones under scrutiny. Augustine, himself the father of one son, Adeodatus, observed children closely and put their world without language into words. In his autobiography he lamented the many beatings he received as a child at the hands of schoolmasters who were "behaving no better than I" (Confessions, 1:9, p. 12). With similar compassion Bishop of Antioch John Chrysostom (347–407) noted the simple trust of a child: no matter how badly its mother treated it, the child always longed for her. As bishops Chrysostom and Augustine spent a great deal of time caring for the physical and spiritual needs of children. Behind their observations one glimpses the hard life of children in the ancient world.
Eastern and Western views. As theologians from Eastern and Western Christianity reflected on the plight of children, however, a striking difference emerges. Western church fathers focused on a legacy of inherited sin; too often children died without the redeeming effect of baptism. Eastern church fathers worried about untimely infant death; too often children died before they could be educated or inducted into the life of faith that baptism inaugurated.
In the West Augustine focused debate on the legacy of Adam's sin, passed on by parents to their children. Original sin infected even the infant, and Augustine cited as evidence a newborn's jealous rage when, even after it had been fed, it saw another infant at the nurse's breast. Yet Augustine acknowledged stages in the life cycle, and these marked an increasing moral responsibility. An infant could neither speak nor reason; in addition, it was too weak to harm anyone. Infants were not innocent, but they were also not wholly sinful. Without speech and the capacity to reason, they were literally non-innocent, non-nocens.With the acquisition of speech, the child gained the capacity to understand commands and to obey or disobey them, and thus had a degree of moral accountability. With ADOLESCENCE the ability to reason and comprehend basic laws of human equity conferred greater accountability. Augustine illustrated this stage of the life cycle with an adolescent prank. As a youth he joined a group of young boys in stealing pears from a neighbor's tree. The boys were not hungry; they knew without being told that what they did was wrong. Their culpability as adolescents was therefore greater than if they had been infants or children. Augustine's theology featured a graduated accountability for sinning, beginning with infancy. For this reason Augustine urged infant baptism, as salvific redress of their inherited sin.
Eastern church fathers focused on the untimely death of infants, which cut short a life of ongoing formation in the Christian faith. In a treatise entitled "On Infants' Early Deaths," the great Cappadocian theologian Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–394) tried to reconcile divine justice with the suffering and death of infants. Infants had had the opportunity neither to err nor to do good: what could they expect from eternal life? Without wishing to grant these tiny souls the rewards of the good, who had struggled successfully against temptation, Gregory settled for an afterlife of increasing participation in God and knowledge of divine goodness. He found in infancy an innocence born of ignorance, not Augustine's "non-innocence" begotten in sin.
Eastern church fathers remedied this ignorance with education, and from their pens emerged a whole literature on child rearing. Chrysostom charged parents with the Christian nurture of their children. In the treatise "On Vainglory and the Right Way for Parents to Bring Up Their Children," he offered a taxonomy of biblical stories appropriate to the child's place in the life cycle. Parents ought to teach infants and young children biblical stories, being certain to abstract the appropriate teaching from each. Older children eight to ten years of age were ready for more fearsome stories of divine punishment: the flood, the destruction of Sodom, and so on. Chrysostom advised waiting until a child was fifteen before relating stories of hell and grace.
Contrasting Chrysostom's graduated program of religious education with Augustine's graduated accountability for sin, one glimpses the difference between the Eastern and Western church fathers' approach to childhood. A comprehensive assessment of the impact of Christianity on childhood remains incomplete because the voices of the children themselves remain silent. The evidence available comes solely from the hands of adults, who view childhood through the distortions of time and theological interest.
Emotional Problems:- Crankiness and irritability most of the time
- A lack of interest in other kids
- An inability to adapt to day care or nursery school
- Aggressive, undisciplined behavior
- Resistance to hugs, kisses and affection
- Avoidance of eye contact
- Dominance of unpleasant hazards like anger, jealousy and fear with a little amount of pleasant emotions. This imbalance distorts the outlook of the child on life with pessimism making the child feel the environment unpleasing. The child develops such unpleasant temperament resulting in gloomy facial expressions.
- Inability to establish an emotional tie up with significant persons, especially the mother and other family members due to some reason or other. Lack of attachment with mother and absence of cordial relationship with others depress the child without the related pleasure involved. Also lack of affection from others makes the child self bound and have no emotional exchange with others.
- Too much affection or over dependence on a single person, probably the mother, makes the child often unsecured and anxious which give the child detachment from peers.
- Failure to have attachments to animate or inanimate objects enhances unnecessary anxiety in new situations.
Mental Problems:
· Cognitive impairment
· Disorientation
· Acalculia
· Altered mental state
· Concentration difficulty
· Delusions
· Dementia
· Depersonalisation
· Hallucinations
· Impatience
· Inattention
· Phobic disorder
· Psychogenic pain
· Psychotic Behaviour
· Abnormal thinking
· Reduced judgement
· Brain disturbance
· Addiction symptoms
· Mental retardation
· Regression
· Altered mental status
· Changes in intellectual functioning
· Disorganization
· Mental changes
· Neurological problems
· Impaired thinking
· Intellectual impairment
· Drug abuse
· Alzheimer's disease
· Alzheimer's-like symptoms
· Auditory hallucinations
· Paranoia
· Hearing voices
· Mental dullness
· Impaired concentration
Social Problems:
- Alcohol use
- Social withdrawal
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Physical Problems:
· Learning disabilities
· Acalculia
· Delay in Talking
· Late start of menstruation
· Premature Breast Development
· Learning disability
· Writing symptoms
· School problems
· Language problems
· Reading symptoms
· Delayed bone age
· Delayed eruption of teeth
· Delayed puberty
· Delayed sexual development
· Delayed talking in children
· Delayed teeth eruption in children
· Delayed tooth eruption
· Failure to thrive
· Growth deficiency in children
· Growth failure in children
· Growth suppression
· Growth symptoms
· Developmental delay in children
· Mental retardation
· Motormental retardation in children
· Poor growth
· Poor growth in children
· Poor language development in children
· Psychomotor retardation
· Pubertal delay in children
· Short stature
· Slowed intellectual activity
· Tall stature in children
· Tallness
· Tooth eruption delayed
· Underdeveloped cerebellum
· Underdeveloped fallopian tubes
· Underdeveloped kidney
· Underdeveloped lungs
· Underdeveloped midface
· Underdeveloped or absent radius in children
· Underdeveloped ovaries
· Underdeveloped scrotum
· Underdeveloped thumb
· Underdeveloped uterus
· Undescended testicle
· Sudden onset of slowed intellectual activity
· Gradual onset of slowed intellectual activity
Students with visual impairments may need additional help with special equipment and modifications in the regular curriculum to emphasize listening skills, communication, orientation and mobility, vocation/career options, and daily living skills. Students with low vision or those who are legally blind may need help in using their remaining vision more efficiently and in working with special aids and materials. Students who have visual impairments combined with other types of disabilities have a greater need for an interdisciplinary approach and may require greater emphasis on self care and daily living skills.Being either over or under sensitive in one or several of these seven areas can affect a child's ability to perform physical tasks.
Here are some examples:
•
Touch - A child might be sensitive to the feel of objects against his skin. He might hate activities such as dress up, pretend play with makeup, or arts and craft activities that involve working with playdough or clay. A child who is overly sensitive to touch may overeact when touched even lightly on the shoulder by a teach or a friend. A child who is underly sensitive may have no reaction if he falls or hurts himself.
• Smell - A child might react strongly to unusual or strong smells or not seem to notice even unusual smells such as food burning or gas leaking.
• Taste - Some children are particularly sensitive to the taste of different foods.
• Sight - Strong lights or certain types of colors may bother a child.
• Hearing - A child may be disturbed by sudden or loud noises.
• Position in Space - Some children have difficulty evaluating how much space is needed to reach a certain item. This would include putting a pegboard down on the table without tipping it over, judging if there is room for a child to crawl underneath a jungle gym and sitting down on the center of the chair. A child who seems to eternally "miss the chair" when sitting down may be having difficulty in this area.
• Movement - an overly sensitive child may fear climbing on a jungle gym, and have difficulty with gross motor activities. An underly sensitive child may be fidgety, jump on the couch all afternoon, and have difficulty sitting down to do table activities such as a puzzle.
Uncontrolled Wetting or Soiling> Encopresis (soiling)
Encopresis refers to repetitive failure recognize the need for bowel elimination in a bathroom before soiling or leaking occurs. It is less common than enuresis, but is also more common in males. The factor often cited as casual is that these children seem to have weaker cues regarding the need to eliminate. The cues themselves may actually be less, or the children may simply be less willing to attend to cues. Procedures also exist to push these children toward regular bowel movements (e.g., using schedules and laxatives) which minimize the need to focus on the cues.
Common Preschool Problems
• Constipation:
a very common and frustrating problem in children. It is usually defined as the passage of hard and painful stools or going four or more days without a bowel movement. Constiption is most commonly caused by a diet that is low in fiber, but can also be caused by drinking too much milk (more than 16 to 24oz/d), not drinking enough water or waiting too long to go to the bathroom. Initial treatment is increasing the amount of fluids he drinks and increasing the amount of fiber and bran in his diet. It is usually also helpful to decrease the amount of constipating foods in his diet, including cow's milk, yogurt, cheese, cooked carrots, and bananas. Stool softeners may be necessary if these steps don't work.
• Upper Respiratory Infections:
these are very common and include symptoms of a clear or green runny nose and cough and are usually caused by cold viruses. The best treatment is to use salt water nasal drops and a bulb suctioner to keep their nose clear. Call your Pediatrician if your child has high fever, difficulty breathing or is not improving in 7-10 days
• Vomiting:
usually accompanies diarrhea as part of a viral infection. If your child starts vomiting, it is best to give them a break from eating and drinking for an hour or so and then start to give small amounts of Pedialyte (1 teaspoon) every five or ten minutes. Once your child is able to tolerate drinking these small amounts you can increase the Pedialyte to about a tablespoon every five or ten minutes and then larger amounts as tolerated and then change back to his regular formula. Avoid giving just Pedialyte for more than 12 hours. Call your Pediatrician if the vomit has blood in it, if it is dark green, or if your child is showing signs of dehydration (which includes not urinating in 6-8 hours, having a dry mouth and weight loss).
• Diarrhea:
a common problem and is often caused by a viral infection. Call your Pediatrician if the diarrhea has blood or pus in it, if it is not getting better in 1-2 weeks or if you see signs of dehydration (which includes not urinating in 6-8 hours, having a dry mouth and weight loss). You should continue with their regular diet, but may give 1-2 ounces of Pedialyte each time that he has large diarrhea stool to prevent dehydration.
Biting, Hitting, Hair Pulling, and Other Violent Acts
• Honor the emotion, look for the positive intent, and respond to her impulse. (“I see you are angry at Sophie.”)
• Educate and provide a verbal limit. Keep it brief and simple. (“We do not bite people. It hurts. We touch gently.”)
Social and Emotional Aggression
Continual physical aggression, high-school dropout rates, adolescent delinquency, and antisocial behavior have all been associated with early childhood conduct problems. The preschool years are a vulnerable period for learning to control development of aggression. Children who display high levels of physical aggression in elementary school are at the highest risk for taking part in violent behaviors as adolescents.
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is most common in children over six year of age. Symptoms usually begin with pain that is centered on the belly button. The pain then moves to the lower right side of the abdomen and becomes worse. Vomiting usually begins a few hours after the pain. This is an important way to tell the difference between a typical stomach virus, which usually causes vomiting and then pain. Other symptoms can include a low grade fever, loss of appetite, and abdominal pain that is worse after your child moves his leg or tries to walk.
AsthmaAsthma or reactive airway disease (RAD) is a common problem in infants and children. The most common symptoms include coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing. Inflammation and tightness in the breathing tubes of the lungs cause these symptoms.
Crossed EyesIt can be normal for your newborn's eyes to occasionally cross or not move in the same direction. However, by the time he is six to eight weeks old; his eyes should no longer cross and should move together.
Flat FeetMany toddlers appear to have flat feet (pes planus) when they are standing. If you are able to see an arch develop when you have him stand on his tip toes, then he has a condition called flexible flat feet. This is a very common and normal condition and does not require any treatment. Flexible flat feet are painless and will disappear by the time your child is six to seven years old. In older children you can try using soft arch supports for comfort. You will not need corrective shoes, bracing, or foot exercises.
Intoeing/OuttoeingIt is common for young children's toes to turn inward, and it usually corrects itself without treatment. One cause of intoeing that does require aggressive therapy is a club foot. In this condition, the foot is rigidly turned inward and can't be easily returned to a normal position. Your doctor will be able to easily tell if your child has a club foot, so that serial casting of the feet can begin to return them to a normal position.
Knock KneesChildren aged three to four sometimes walk with their knees held very close together, a condition called genu valgum. These children with knock knees are usually normal and their legs will straighten out by the time they are five to eight years old without any medical treatment.
Labial AdhesionsLabial adhesions occur when the labial skin around the vagina becomes irritated and sticks together. It is most common in young girls between the ages of 3 months and six years and is usually not a cause of concern. The adhesions may be mild, in which only part of the vaginal opening is closed, or they can cover the complete vaginal opening.
NosebleedsIt is common for children to have occasional nose bleeds. Some may even have as many as two or three each week and while they may be frightening, they very rarely cause serious problems. Nosebleeds usually occur when your child's nasal passages are dry or irritated from allergies or an upper respiratory tract infection. Rarely, a blood clotting disorder can cause frequent nosebleeds, but your child will usually have other bleeding problems or easy bruising and other family members will have similar problems.
Rashes
Atopic dermatitis (eczema):
the childhood form of eczema usually has its onset between 4-10 years with the development of itchy red areas on the wrists and ankles and on the flexural surfaces of the arms and legs (elbows and knees). The skin may be thickened, shiny and oozing and is usually very dry. Treatment is with daily use of moisturizers and topical steroid creams during breakouts. This is usually a chronic problem that will continue to improve and get worse for many years. See the Eczema Treatment Guide for more information.
Contact dermatitis:
many agents can cause rashes in infants from direct irritation of the skin. These can include harsh soaps and detergents, saliva from excessive drooling, and bubble baths. This type of rash usually has mild redness and itchiness and improves with the use of a moisturizer or lubricant to protect the skin. Many agents can also cause anallergic contact dermatitis with a more intense reaction in the skin 7-10 days after being exposed to it. Common things that can cause allergic skin reactions include poison ivy, cosmetics, and metals. The rash usually is very red, itchy, with oozing, crusting and swelling and will improve with a mild potency hydrocortisone cream.
Impetigo:
a skin infection caused by bacteria that begins as a tiny red bump and quickly turns into a honey colored crusted plaque. It is most commonly found around the nose, but can occur on any area of skin that has been damaged. Impetigo is treated with antibiotics. For minor infections a topical antibiotic cream can be used, but more extensive cases will require an oral antibiotic.
Infections:
rashes are commonly associated with many different types of viral infections, includingroseola (causes high fever for 3-5 days and then once the fever goes away, small red bumps appear on the trunk that spread all over the body), fifth disease (causes red cheeks and then a fine lace-like red or pink rash on the arms), and chickenpox(causes small red bumps that turn into vesicles that crust over). See the Guide to Common Infections for more information on infections that can cause skin rashes.
Keratosis pilaris:
causes small pinpoint size red bumps and rough and dry skin on the cheeks and the back of the upper arms and legs. It is a chronic condition that is difficult to treat, but may improve with lubricants or topical keratolytic creams, such as Eucerin Plus or LacHydrin.
Molluscum contagiosum:
this is a type of wart caused by a virus. The rash consists of small flesh colored, dome shaped bumps with a crater in the center. They can be grouped on any skin surface, but are usually located on the head, neck and diaper area. Treatment is not required and this type of wart will go away on its own over several months to years. Treatment for more extensive or persistent warts can be treated with cryotherapy. An antiviral cream called Aldara is currently being tested in children to help with this common problem.
Ringworm (tinea corporis): a fungal infection that causes circular or annular shaped, red scaly patches with clear centers. It is usually found on non-hairy areas of the face, trunk, arms and legs and is easily treated with an OTC antifungal cream applied twice a day for two to four weeks.
Scabies:
caused by a tiny mite that infects only humans. The mites burrow under the skin and lay their eggs, which hatch in 10-14 days. Scabies usually appear as itchy red bumps on the hands (especially in the finger webs), wrists, and elbows, in the genital and underarm area and on the trunk. You may also see small S-shaped burrows on the skin where the mites are traveling and crusted nodules. Scabies are very contagious and usually affect everyone in the household. This condition can be treated with a single application of a prescription cream for 8-12 hours, although your child may continue to itch for one to two weeks as the skin heals.
Seborrheic dermatitis:
causes yellow or salmon colored greasy scales and patchy redness on the scalp (cradle cap), face, behind the ears and in skin folds. Most children clear up without treatment in three to four weeks, but more severe or persistent forms can be treated with and anti-seborrheic shampoo with selenium sulfide or a low potency topical steroid cream.
Warts:
appear as irregular and rough bumps, most commonly on the arms and legs, but can occur on any skin surface. Warts are caused by an infection with the human papillomavirus, and usually do not cause any symptoms unless they are on the bottom of the feet or around the nails. Warts will go away on their own, but it may take one to two years for the process to be complete. Warts can be treated with cryotherapy, which uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the wart and surrounding skin to kill the virus, or by use of topical medicines that contain salicylic acid.
Stuffy Nose/SneezingHaving a stuffy nose or occasionally sneezing is very common in preschool children and is usually caused by irritation from dry air, smoke, or dust. Try to eliminate common irritants. You can also try using a humidifier.
StutteringMany preschool children stutter as they are learning to talk, but most of them will grow out of it. As children learn to talk, they may repeat certain sounds, stumble on or mispronounce words, hesitate between words; substitute sounds for each other, and is unable to say some sounds.
Toilet Training ResistanceWhile most children show signs of physical readiness to begin using the toilet as toddlers, usually between 18 months and 3 years of age, not all children have the intellectual and/or psychological readiness to be potty trained at this age.
Upper Respiratory InfectionsThe common cold is a type of upper respiratory tract infection that is probably the most frequent type of infection in children. It is caused by a few hundred different strains of different viruses, including strains of rhinovirus, parainfluenza virus, coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, adenovirus, and influenza virus. It is because there are so many different strains of these different viruses that you do not develop immunity to the common cold and why it is difficult to develop a vaccine against it. Most children have three to eight colds each year, and children in daycare can have even more, so it may seem like your child is always sick.
Feeding disorderfeeding disorder of early childhood is characterized by the failure child under six years of age to eat enough food to gain weight and grow normally over a period of one month or more. The disorder can also be characterized by the loss of a significant amount of weight over one month. Feeding disorder is similar to failure to thrive, except that no medical or physiological condition can explain the low food intake or lack of growth.
Mental RetardationMore than 2% of our children are considered to be mentally retarded. In order to understand retardation, we need to look a little at the concept of intelligence. We define intelligence as "general cognitive ability," meaning how well a person can solve problems, how easily they learn new things, and how quickly they can see relationships among things.
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is the score you get on an intelligence test. Originally, it was a quotient (a ratio): IQ= MA/CA x 100, where MA is mental age and CA is chronological age. So a child who is 10 and has the same level of intellectual ability as most 10 year olds has an IQ of 10/10 x 100 = 100. If that 10 year old has the same ability as a 15 year old, his IQ will be 15/10 x 100 = 150 (very smart indeed). If the 10 year old has the ability of a 5 year old, his IQ would be 5/10 x 100 = 50, which is considered mentally retarded.
Reading disorder- better known as dyslexia - is the most common learning disorder. Here, the child's reading scores are significantly below their IQ, their expected age level, or their general abilities. These kids seem to have trouble with the usual left to right scanning of words, which leads them to reverse letters and jumble the spelling. It could be compared to trying to read a newspaper in a language you have little familiarity with.
10 Common Classroom Problems
- Students become overly dependent on teacher. Many times, students will automatically look to the teacher for correct answers instead of trying themselves. If the teacher obliges them with the answer each time, it can become a detrimental problem. Instead, focus on giving positive encouragement to students. This will help to make students more comfortable and more willing to answer (even if incorrectly).
- Persistent use of first-language. When teaching English as a foreign language, this is possibly the most common problem. As an ESL teacher, it's important to encourage students to use English, and only English. If students begin conversing in their first language, move closer to the student. Ask them direct questions like "do you have a question?" Another idea is to establish a set of class rules and develop a penalty system for when they use their first-language. For example: if a student is caught using their first-language three times, have them recite a poem in front of the class (in English). For the 1-2 hours they are in English class, it must be English only.
- Student is defiant, rowdy, or distracting of others. This will happen, no matter what, in every classroom. If the entire class is acting up, it may be the fault of the teacher ie. boring material or poor classroom management. If it one particular student, you should react swiftly to show dominance. In order to resolve the issue, an ESL teacher must be strict and discipline the student if needed. If it continues to happen, further disciplinary action through the school's director could be pursued.
- Students "hijack lesson" - The lesson doesn't go where you want it to. When teaching English as a foreign language, you can always count on students hijacking a lesson. To some extent, this can be a good thing. It shows that students interest, and as long as they are participating and conversing in English, it is a productive experience. However, if the lesson strays too far off topic, in a direction you don't want it to go, it's important to correct the problem by diverting the conversation.
- Personalities between students clash. Not every student in an ESL classroom will become best of friends. If drama arises between certain students, the easiest solution is to seperate them away from one another. If the tension persists, switching a student to another classroom may be your only option.
- Students unclear what do to, or do the wrong thing.This happens far too often when teaching English as a foreign language. The fact is, it's often the fault of the teacher. If your instructions to an assignment yield looks of confusion and soft whispers among students, don't worry, there is a solution. In order to avoid this problem, it's important to make sure your instruction are clear. Use gestures, mime, and short concise sentences. Speak clear and strong. Most importantly, use models and examples of the activity. You can use pictures, miming, gestures etc. to model the entire activity exactly how you want the students to do it.
- Students are bored, inattentive, or unmotivated. Many times, it is the teachers fault that class is boring. Fortunately, with proper planning, this problem can be solved. Choose a juicy theme to the lesson; one that the students can relate to and one you know they will enjoy. This will automaticaly give them some motivation and interest. Get to know your students and identify their interests and needs, then design your course accordingly.
- Strong student dominance. As an ESL teacher, you will encounter students of different learning capabilities and language skills. While it is good to have some students who excel in the classroom, it is important that they don't take away from others. If certain students begin to constantly "steal the show," take warning. Focus on calling on weaker students in the class to answer questions. Encourage, but gently deflect some answers from the strong students and give production time to other not-so-strong members of the class.
- Students are unprepared. The last thing you want as an ESL teacher is for students to drop out simply because they felt lost and/or unprepared. Concentrate on a more shared learning experience. Make sure students are all on the same page before moving onto a new topic by concept checking multiple times, and encouraging individual participation.
- Tardiness. Even I have a hard time arriving places on time. But the truth is, tardiness is not only rude, it can be distracting and disruptive of other students. If tardiness becomes a problem for your students, make sure they are disciplined. Set rules about tardiness and penalties for breaking them.
OTHER COMMON PROBLEMS OF THE CHILD;
When selecting a preschool for their child, parents should be aware of certain problems or warning signs that might make them decide to look at a different preschool provider. These problems or warning signs may include:
• negative reactions from other parents
• inattention to established rules and regulations (Schools should have clearly established written guidelines for everything from operating hours to managing emergencies.)
• lack of a sick-child policy (The preschool should require both staff and children to have current immunizations and regular checkups.)
• indicating they are hiding something, schools that balk at parents dropping by unannounced
• schools that either have no structure whatsoever or a structure that is inflexible
• lack of age-appropriate activities and toys
• an underqualified staff
• large class sizes
• dirty, unsafe facilities
• an expired license
• schools that promise to put a child on an academic fast track (These highly structured, intensive preschool academic programs create inappropriate expectations from children
NUTRITION
- Malnutrition in Young Children from Low-Income Families
- Most common nutritional problems in early childhood are
- iron deficiency, anemia, resulting in chronic fatigue
- not eating adequate amounts of quality meats and dark green vegetables
- Low-income families are most likely to develop iron deficiency
Environmental Influences
For infants, toddler and preschoolers, the influences of their parents, extended family, child care staff, and others with whom they have regular contact profoundly impact their emotional, cognitive, and social development. Attentive care-givers learn to watch for the cues babies give to signal their physical needs. However, an infants’s emotional or mental the infant’s attempts to obtain attention, comfort and support. Reading the emotional cues of the child and responding in an attentive, caring manner is as important as meeting physical needs.
Genetic Influences
Human development is shaped by a continuous interaction between biology and experience. Every child is born with powerful inborn tendencies, and these tendencies can work both for and against a child. When a child is born with a genetically predisposed tendency toward mental health problems, the environment becomes critically important to support and guide the child in a positive, healthy direction. This adds stress to the already difficult job of parenting.
