Last month we were invited to attend a talk held at SN's nursery - Kinomi Hoikuen. As I've told in the entry Sistem pendidikan di nursery Jepun; the nursery will occasionally organize a talk for the parents regarding to some interesting topics dealing with parenthood. For this time, the topic was focusing on " What Parents Can Do For Their Children during 0 - 6 years old?". The keyword for the talk was : "The Importance of Basic Routine".
Basic Routine :-
(1) Wake-up time
• If the wake up time is 'crazy' (untimely), brain can not work properly/think well during the learning session at nursery/school
• According to the expert, 6:00 a.m is the most recommended time for children to wake up. As the learning session at the nursery took place at 9:00 a.m; brain has ample time to function at it's best if children wakes up at 6:00 a.m.
• Children behavior is directly related to the brain 'wake-up time'.
• Kalau otak tak sempat nak 'bangun' pada masa yang sepatutnya, children behavior will be bad. Itu yang start nak mengamuk lah, tunjuk perasaan lah, guling-guling tak nak pergi sekolah and etc..
(2) Breakfast
• Provide foods that offers a lot of biting *melibatkan proses mengunyah yang lebih kerap*.
• So instead of bread and cereal, we could prepare rice, glutinous rice or barley for breakfast.
• A lot of biting is good for brain as it makes brain grow.
(3) Daytime (early morning to afternoon)
• The best time for learning and stimulation because their brain is working actively during this time.
• Children is advised to move their body a lot during daytime and try to get some sun *tapi not to the extend sampai sun burn and tanned pulak budak tu*.
• Active movement will help to increase serotonin hormone in child's body.
• Lack of serotonin hormone in child's body will leads to depressions, unable to control emotions, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic, and even excess anger.
(4) Afternoon Nap
• Recommended time for afternoon nap (children 2-6 years old) is from 12 noon - 2 p.m. *kalau lambat afternoon nap, nanti malam-malam diorang susah pulak nak tidur awal*.
• Afternoon nap will usually took place after lunch. *perut dah kenyang, badan pun dah penat, senang hati lah diorang nak tidur*.
• Napping during the day also protect health and make you more productive. Napping also improves memory, cognitive function and mood.
(5) Evening
• After child woke up from afternoon nap, it is the best time for playing session. Let your child play with educational toys or let him explore the things/surroundings around him.
• It is not recommended to make learning session in the evening as the brain is already a bit drained and the body is already weary after the long day itself.
(6) Bed Time
• Sleeping patterns influenced intelligence growth in a child
• Good sleep made healthy mind and body, good body postures, increase muscles and improved injury recovery cells.
• Sleep is a time for body to repair damage caused by stress, ultraviolet rays and other harmful exposures.
• Recommended time for bedtime (children 2-6 years old) is at 8- 9 p.m. This is the best time for the development of Growing Up hormone and Melatonine hormone.
• IMPORTANT things to take note for/during bed time are :-
(a) environment during bed time: dark and quite peaceful ambiance
(b) no stimulation is made before bed time (e.g.: no TV, no iPhone, no laptop, no video game)
(c) reading bed time stories is OK, but after finish reading the book make sure that your child understand the fact that they have to go to sleep.
After that, the speaker shows us a graph related to the most efficient time of melatonin and growth up hormone production.
Melatonin hormone was produced in a dark condition. *sebab itu penting sangat-sangat bagi anak-anak tidur dalam gelap*. Melatonin hormone helps to prevent cancer, physically clean tocsin in the body and ensure the sexual development for children is following the right order *boleh lah mengurangkan masalah gatal menggedik tak padan dengan umur muda*.
After attending the talk, hubby and I have decided to revised on SN's daily routine and thus we come up with new bedtime and wake-up time for SN. After 2 weeks of 'probation period' on SN, I am proud to say that we achieved 80% from what we have learned through the talk.
• SN used to sleep at 11-12 midnight before this and now we managed to make him to go to bed by 9 - 10 p.m.
• He used to be crying and whining during wake up time before this which was at 8 a.m but now we managed to wake him up easily by 7 a.m and he don't need us to keep bugging him to get up.
• He'll eat Japanese rice for 3-4 days a week during breakfast and eats cereal only 1-2 days a week *sebelum ni, setiap hari makan cereal sahaja masa breakfast*.
I know that this entry is hideously long and it took a lot of your valuable time to read it. But, I also believe that it is worth your time to read and to ingest all the important notes that I shared in this entry for the sake of your children.
Selalunya ibu bapa sendiri akan cakap, "Saya nak yang terbaik untuk anak-anak". I believe that by applying those tips listed above ialah yang terbaik untuk anak I, how about you?. You fikirlah sendiri!.
Pssssstt: kalau ada yang nak request, I boleh berkongsi tips bagaimana nak tidurkan anak awal. Plus if anak tidur awal, parent ada banyak masa untuk diri sendiri dan jugak lebih masa untuk bersama pasangan *ehem ehem ehem*.