The Star Online: Lifestyle: Parenting
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Parenting |
| Wanted: Budding filmmakers for 'Kids Vs Film' Posted: CALLING kids who have always wanted to get behind the scenes to direct, produce, edit and even star in their very own Discovery Channel-style documentary. It's time to get off the couch for Kids Vs Film's casting sessions. Following the success of season one of Kids Vs Film – a Discovery Kids' original production that engages kids with documentary-making techniques and the fun of creating their own documentary from scratch – the channel is on the hunt for 48 kids aged between nine and 13, to participate in its second season. Casting calls will be held from 9am to noon, and 1pm to 4pm, on Sept 7 (Saturday) at Grand Ballroom, Marriott Hotel, Orchard Road in Singapore, and Sept 15 (Sunday) at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, Jalan Sultan Ismail in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia will not just be a stop for casting calls, as four out of the eight episodes from the upcoming season will be shot in various locations across the country. Kids Vs Film is an epic filmmaking adventure that gives kids the rare opportunity to play the part of production crew and documentary hosts, with one goal in mind – to create two-minute mini-documentaries for kids, by kids. As excitement builds up leading to the casting calls for the second season, young viewers and their families can catch the frustration, fun and mayhem kids face while shooting their mini-documentaries in the encore episodes as it airs every weekend (10am) on Discovery Channel (Astro Ch 551) as part of its Discovery Kids block. To find out how to make the cut, go to dkids.asia. |
| Posted: Jessica Prafulchandra says learning never ends when fun is involved, whether it is grocery shopping, or just playing games at home. I TRULY believe in the concept of "fun learning" because when learning is fun, it just never ends. Hence, I always find opportunities to combine learning with daily fun activities. This method works very well with my two kids aged three and five. During the weekends both of them look forward to grocery shopping. To keep them busy I get them to read the labels on packaging. Of course, for the three-year-old, I get her to search for alphabets. This way, they get to enhance their reading skills. Recently at a mall, my daughter started screaming "cat" and she ran to the information counter to show me the letter "c" in the word "counter". The other shoppers had a good laugh and some even clapped for her. At the carpark, I get them to find our car by looking at the numbers on the pillars. I also get them to look at the numbers as we go up and down the parking levels. One day, my daughter asked, "Mummy, why when we go up it is always 1, 2, 3, 4 and when we go down it is 4, 3, 2, 1?" We also learn while playing games like Snakes & Ladders and Snap. While playing Snakes & Ladders, I get them to learn addition by moving forward and then subtraction by moving backwards. We play Snap using UNO cards so that they get to practise their numbers and colours. Snap! when it is the same number or same colour and then name them. This will also sharpen their vision and focus. To enhance their creativity, we have storytelling sessions using items like puppets, pillows and even spoons. Once, we were taking turns to tell the story about a plastic spoon's life and suddenly my son started assigning characters to a bunch of plastic spoons. "This white spoon is the policeman and these nine other blue spoons are the thieves." I was so amazed at the way he could see things! Then, I quickly took the opportunity to teach him maths. "If the policeman catches five thieves, how many are left?" We had so much fun that night. I also like to ask silly questions to encourage creativity. Once, they were all excited and ready to go to the Lake Gardens and suddenly it rained. Both of them were very upset and to cheer them up, I told them the story about how rain happens. In the end I asked, "can you think of an idea to stop the rain?" My son said, "maybe we should go to the clouds and make them wear my diaper." That certainly brightened our rainy evening! Both my kids love helping to cook which is an activity full of learning opportunities. Food names, nutrients, colours, utensils, tastes, smells, touch, just so much can be learnt here. One night, when we ordered pizza, my son insisted on preparing his favourite drink. So I gave him a jug and asked him to fill half of it with water. As he was filling it up, he asked, "Mummy, half is until where?" So I happily explained the concept of half and when the pizza arrived I got him to cut it into half. He was so excited when he did it right and asked "what do I get when I cut the half into another half?" So you see, fun learning really never ever ends! Jessica Prafulchandra |
| Posted: Tried breastfeeding your newborn, but all ready to give up? Get help online. IT'S not unusual for newborn babies to wail. But if the crying is continuous, one of the reasons could be because the new mother is not producing enough milk to soothe the child's hunger pangs. "I had a hard time breastfeeding my daughter for the first three weeks. It was painful, and there was very little milk. During feeding time, she would cry and I would cry along with her," recalls Christina Anthony, 33. In desperation, the secondary special education schoolteacher from Kuching, Sarawak, resorted to feeding her baby with formula milk, a solution she wasn't entirely contented with. Most mothers can probably relate to Anthony's ordeal. But there are also those who claim to have breezed through breastfeeding and motherhood, while women like Anthony are met with disdain because they seemingly "lack" a certain something. Anthony had to deal with "skeptics" – family members and friends who were doubtful of her ability in breastfeeding. "They would say: 'You just don't have milk. Don't stress yourself.' Friends who had breastfed their children thought that I wasn't trying hard enough. I broke down in tears when one of them said that I was just making excuses," she reveals. However, thanks to a local online breastfeeding support group, new mothers can find support and advice for their woes. Get help The Breastfeeding Advocates Network (TBAN) is an online community of mothers on Facebook who help those in need of (literally) "motherly advice" when it comes to newborns and breastfeeding. What goes on is a real-time sharing of experiences; members can post SOS shout-outs on the group's wall and expect a reply within the hour. Comments are monitored around-the-clock by a group of voluntary administrative staff, to ensure the accuracy of the information shared. It has been over a year since Anthony first stumbled upon the group – suffice to say, her 19-month old daughter, Amanda Grace David, is now a healthy breastfed child. "I was on the verge of giving up when I discovered TBAN. I started connecting with the community and to my surprise, received many words of encouragement from the mothers. I picked up some techniques on how to solve my latching problem and increasing my milk supply, and within two months, I was breastfeeding my daughter 100%," she shares. Founded in 2009 by breastfeeding consultant and mother-of-four Gina Yong, TBAN believes that "breast is best" when it comes to raising healthy children. The group is open to anyone and everyone who supports breastfeeding. As of August, the group has over 21,000 members, some of whom have since gone on to become certified breastfeeding peer counsellors. "I bet you've heard this before: that out of five mothers, three would say they have no breast milk. Our society is programmed to think that feeding your baby with formula milk is the norm, and that breastfeeding is an option. But that's not true at all," says Ashley Ho, 34, a full-time mother-of-one who doubles as a TBAN administrative member and breastfeeding peer counsellor. Going natural Though breastfeeding is widely encouraged and proven to provide greater benefit to a child's brain development, many mothers don't do it due to various reasons. According to a report last year, only 23.7% of babies born in the country are breastfed exclusively for the first six months. In Ho's opinion, most women can successfully breastfeed with a little guidance. "Some mothers give up breastfeeding because they find it painful. Yes, it can get uncomfortable at first but if there's excessive pain, it's quite likely that you are doing something wrong," she explains. A common mistake in breastfeeding is when a baby latches onto the nipple, instead of the areola (the coloured circle around the nipple). Another misconception: mothers usually don't produce enough milk during the first three or four days after birth. Colostrum is produced in the early days of breastfeeding – a yellowish liquid that is low in volume but thick with nutrients. There is a demand-supply rhythm to breastfeeding, and a mother's supply of milk will gradually increase along with the feeding needs of a newborn. Patience is the key to successful breastfeeding, says homemaker Marliza Maharon, 30. The mother-of-one persevered even when she developed mastitis, a painful inflammation on one of her breasts, when she first began breastfeeding her daughter, Mahdiya Hasrul Aizan, a year ago. Blocked milk ducts, due to an obstruction of milk flow, can lead to breast engorgement and eventually mastitis. Like Anthony, Marliza's daughter struggled with latching onto the breast. "I was clueless about breastfeeding. I had no one around me to give me the proper advice, so I just did the best I could. I continued breastfeeding even though my breasts hurt every day," says Marliza. She recuperated well, and breastfeeding became easier by the day. The former wedding photographer has since attended a three-day training course to become a breastfeeding peer counsellor, and is currently an active TBAN member, helping ease new mothers along on their breastfeeding journey. "It is important to understand that breastfeeding requires effort, and that overcoming difficulties is all part and parcel of the whole experience. While technique and knowledge is important, mothers should also get to know their own bodies. "Nobody can produce the same amount of milk at the same time, and at the same capacity," says Ho, encouraging new mothers to seek help and support. |
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