Mum knows best

I was talking to a mum the other day about her 5 year old who started school this year. Mum was called into the classroom by the teacher, who informed her that her child had a learning difficulty and would need to repeat Kindy next year. Mum was shocked as her child had completed all the developmental skills that we had given her, with ease. In fact Mum thought that her child was very bright.

The mother then had the child assessed. The OT found that the child had very flexible fingers and needed a special pencil. When all other assessments had been completed, she was told that the child presented in the superior range but was not being stimulated enough in class. Mum was also asked to have the child assessed for giftedness in three years time.

The school was amazed but funnily enough the Principal said that often very bright children fall through the cracks.

Have any of you had or heard of an experience like this?

Are some children born bad?

I saw with great concern a segment on TV's kerri-anne Show last week. It was about a recent study in the U.K. claiming that some children could be born to be bad. Other studies claim to have identified a possible "violance Gene"

I cannot agree with these findings. All children are born to be good.

Read about Developmental Skills Tensions in first18months.com.au/node/217

What do you think?

Are some children born bad?

Toilet Training (Potty Training)

One of the hardest things that parents continually tell me they have to do is toilet training. However it can be a lot easier if you know the simple steps. I will deal with the most important one now.

1) Children can be ready to be toilet trained from 18 months of age up.

2) Parents have to learn to read the "toilet training ready signs" and the main one is :- A child will become embarrassed and go and hide when it is time to "POO". They will go into another room or under the table anywhere where they think you can't see them. It is now time to start toilet training.

4) If you are a stay at home Mum, don't go out for 2 weeks. You take the nappy off and keep it off during the day. Do this and your child should be toilet trained in a few days. The remainder of the two weeks is reinforcement.

5) If you are a working Mum, try and take a 2 week holiday and stay home. Follow the steps above.

6) If it is not possible to stay away from work, co-ordinate with your child's carers to ensure that you are all on the same page. The worst thing that could happen to your child is that other carers have a different way of toilet training from you. This would totally confuse your child.

Best, Veronica