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Showing posts with label hobbies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hobbies. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Importance and benefits of hobbies for children

Hobbies are very important for personal growth and progression for all age people. Hobbies are extremely important for children as well. Children who grow with productive hobbies can perform well in their life, both personal and professional. Hobbies can have a number of multiple effects that have a series of cascading results. Hobbies can help children to develop social, academic and moral skills.


It is always better to introduce good hobbies in our children right from the time, when they develop their brain. It also pays us, if we have children who can show or display some talents in form of some good hobbies.


Hobbies can also provide an opportunity to accomplish something other than academics.


Hobbies can help your children -------
  • develop self esteem, self image, will power and strength. If your children realize that they have been able to achieve something, they will also develop very high levels of confidence.
  • Help your children develop reading habits: Hobbies form the main gateway to learning and understanding.
  • Reading and writing hobbies can help bring children, who spend too much time watching TV or play games, to engage themselves in reading good books. Reading is good hobby that assists your children develop the noble qualities of patience and tolerance.
  • Learn goal setting: With good hobbies, your children can learn how to set goals and achieve them. Goal setting is very important life skills that can anyone to realize his or her dreams .
  • Develop immense levels of confidence: Hobbies can provide something productive to do when your children are idle.
It is up to you to find out what your children are interested in and encourage them in developing those hobbies. As a parent or teacher it is your part to motivate them to learn and develop those hobbies.


Useful links:
* Importance of Hobbies and Leisure Activities for Kids
*Importance Of Hobbies For Kids
* The role of hobbies in our lives

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Hobbies, Interests and Activities helping children with ADD

It is a common feeling of parents and teachers who have ADD/ADHD children, that keeping them busy is a good solution for them. But it is also difficult to let them focus on some activities for long time, so it is our duty as a parent or teacher to look for activities or interests, which can help develop their skills.

Nearly all principals (99 percent) and teachers (97 percent) surveyed feel that it is important for ALL students to participate in some extracurricular activities or clubs.

Extracurricular activities including hobbies and interests are beneficial for children with ADD. The sports they play, the hobbies they develop, the camps they attend all help to round out children, to make them more than merely persons who have difficulty paying attention in school.

Although the term extracurricular suggests something that is beyond school, these activities are an integral part of the learning process. Frequently such activities can be employed to enhance attention and to reinforce desired behavior.

Hobbies and Special Talents/Interests for Children with ADD

One of the wonderful things about hobbies is that children and adolescents can become "experts." This is particularly beneficial for students with ADD. Often the feedback they receive from parents, teachers, and classmates is negative. Coupled with their difficulty in establishing meaningful social relationships, this negative feedback can lower their self-esteem. By developing a hobby they can acquire knowledge and skills for which they are perceived as competent, as an "expert" in one particular area of interest.

Hobbies don't just emerge, they must be fostered. Parents must expose their children to a wide variety of experiences and reinforce their interests. In addition to trips to the zoo, museums, aquariums, historical sites, and the like, parents can foster hobbies by enrolling children in courses related to their interests or providing them with unusual experiences. Many communities have arts and crafts classes, music classes, gymnastics, and so forth. Museums and philharmonic orchestras frequently have programs specifically geared towards youngsters. Many of these are appropriate for children with ADD because they are relatively short and are only scheduled on a weekly basis, hence the novelty of the activity tends to capture their attention. As with sports and clubs, you need to assess the expectation of the teachers of these classes and the number of students who participate.

Beyond these hobbies there are many more to be discovered if you have the time and inclination to explore. Children have developed interests in such activities as illustrating, Morse code, and miniature furniture. Collections in stamps, coins, baseball cards, and rocks capture the imagination of many children. The list is endless. All that is necessary is enthusiasm and time. It may take a while before you find a hobby that truly interests your child, so don't give up. It is exciting to see a child develop a hobby to a point where others solicit their advice. We recall the look of pride on one youngster's face when an adult asked him about the value of a particular baseball card. He seemed amazed and proud that he knew more about this topic than even his teacher. A hobby can develop a unique competence that is often hard to find in school or extracurricular activities.

If you find it impossible to come up with a hobby that is of interest to your child you may want to ask her teacher. There are many different activities that children engage in during a school day. Perhaps the teacher has noticed your child's particular interest in one of them, one in which she has demonstrated some competence. Also check with the special subject teachers, that is, art, music, physical education, and computers. Their expertise in a particular field may enable them to identify some activity that could lead to further exploration. Although it is not critical that your child have a hobby, it can do wonders for her self-esteem.

Perhaps even more important than encouraging these types of activities is the nurturing of a special talent a child may possess. Because of the behavioral problems associated with ADD, it may be difficult for parents to identify a special talent. You might solicit the input of teachers or, if your child has been enrolled in classes such as art, gymnastics, or the like, you might inquire about exploring higher level or enrichment courses in an area in which your child demonstrates particular talent. For example, we know of a child who has been diagnosed as having ADD and has considerable difficulty staying on task in school. He happened to be enrolled in a weekend class that dealt with the environment, during which the instructor noticed a particular talent in science. The instructor informed the parents and the child has been enrolled in a number of classes outside of the school that reinforce this particular ability. Additionally, his parents make frequent trips to the local science museum, read books related to science to him, and have hired a science teacher to work with him one hour per week to expand upon his interest and talents. Over the years, this special talent has manifested itself in many ways and he has become extremely competent, some would say "gifted," in this important area of the curriculum. It is with a tremendous sense of pride that he answers the questions of adults, knowing that they seek him out for his special talent. There are other examples in the arts, music, technology, and sports that children and adolescents with ADD have demonstrated special talents.

The common thread through these examples is the commitment of the parents. It takes an extraordinary amount of time and energy to travel to special places, to seek special events, to balance the special talent with other activities, but it is necessary if the talents are to emerge. We know a youngster who is an exceptionally good gymnast. She has far exceeded the skills level of her local gymnastic class so her parents drive her (three times per week) to a special gymnastic academy in order for her to further develop this talent. It would be easier to ignore such a talent, especially since her behavioral disorders related to ADD continue to cause concerns at school. However, the parents' willingness and ability to continue having this extra training has enabled this youngster to excel, and others have come to view her as extremely talented in this area and treat her with awe. This attention can go a long way when she is reprimanded for being fidgety in school.

Not all children with ADD have special talents. In reality, not many of us have such gifts. However, if talents are present they should be encouraged and enhanced. A child should never be pressured or forced to excel. Typically, if you expose your child to a wide variety of activities at an early age she will have many opportunities for hobbies to develop. If in your opinion and that of professionals involved in the activity your child is deemed to have a special talent, then we encourage you to pursue it.

Article is experts from:
"From Keys to Parenting a Child with Attention Deficit Disorders" by Barry E. McNamara, Ed.D. & Francine J. McNamara, M.S.W., C.S.W.

Source link: family education

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Benefits Of Recreational Activities For Children

Hobbies, leisure or recreation activities are not only beneficial for adults, but they are very important for children. Participation in recreation activities leads to well-balanced, healthy and physically-active children.

Recreation activies provides fun learning environments for children. I take Nursery year classes and more I am learning about the importance of play and recreation activities, more convinced I am, that recreation and fun activities play a positive role in development of a child.

The early years are critical. Considerable evidence exists that circumstances in the first years of a child’s life have lifelong impacts on their health, learning, and coping skills.

Participation in recreation programs and activities benefits children in many ways:

* Promotes good physical and emotional development in children; develops motor skills and stimulates intellectual, emotional and social growth

* Develops social skills; i.e. relating to others, learning social roles and reinforcing behavioral norms

* Builds positive self esteem and self worth; children gain a sense of achievement from mastering skills which leads to higher achievement and better results in school

* Develops life and leaderships skills by participating in team and sport activities, being group leaders, making decisions and solving problems

* Facilitates long term health benefits; i.e. physical activity

* Reduces the risk of disease such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis

* Stimulates children’s minds and creative thinking through play, games and creative
programs

* Fosters an awareness of the larger community and cross cultural understanding

* Enables children with disorders to achieve the same level of social, physical and
academic competencies as their peers

* Develops positive attitudes towards the importance of recreation and leisure in
contributing to healthy, active lifestyles

Other benefits to children and families include:

* Recreation provides positive role models for children

* Recreation is a strong mitigating factor in reducing child and family poverty

* Recreation contributes to a healthier, stable family life when parents participate in their children’s recreation activities

Providing recreation for children is associated with good outcomes for mothers
Subsidizing recreation for children who cannot afford to pay, pays for itself through reduced use of social and health services.

Read the full report from Canadian site 'toronto': Pdf version

- The Campus of University of Cincinnati provides some recreational program which can be adopted by schools: Recreation Enriches Children

- According to NSW Child Health Survey 2001 at Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Department of Health, 'Favourite activity among children aged 4-12 years', as reported by parents or carers, NSW, 2001 (per cent of parents or carers):

The question "What is [child]’s favourite activity when not at school or in day care?” was asked of parents or carers.

Just over 70% of parents or carers said their child’s favourite activity was
either:

- playing sport
- watching television, videos, movies and using a computer
- riding a bike, scooter, skateboarding or rollerblading


Related posts:

- Recreation, hobbies and leisures providing refreshment to life

- Benefits of hobbies and leisures

- The role of hobbies in our lives
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