Category: Child development

Personal, family and community growth.

In the arms of Morpheus

Halloween is coming up and so is the time to set back the clock. It is certainly a time to make the celebrations as normal, fun and COVID-proof as possible for the kids and the loved ones. Add something more 2020 related this week and invite people around you to reflect on sleep hygiene.

Round up the household in the evening for a meaningful discussion about bedtime “rituals” and habits. Share likes and dislikes about noise, screens, temperature, snacks, the beds, the pillows and bedtime itself. Do the same in the morning. this time to share if sleep was good, long enough and how wake up strategies work, or not. See if someone had dreams overnight and can remember them. See if everyone knows the difference between a bad dream and a nightmare. Have kids draw their dreams, good or bad. Don’t over analyze, simply appreciate how inspiring sleep is.

There is plenty of literature about sleep. An excellent source is the Sleep on it public health campaign and web site. It is led by four prominent Canadian health organizations. For more medical insights about Nightmares and Night Terrors in Children, see a short article on the American Association of Family Physicians‘ web site.

Me dreaming, by Valerie, c1982. Source: CDIC-CIDE.

Drawing siblings

Whether you are a parent or an educator, it is a good idea from time to time, to ask a child for a family drawing, and to pay attention to the depiction of siblings. The image may reveal aspects of the child’s emotional and social life that you would like to discuss with the child, or with another adult involved in the child’s education.

Siblings may have constant and intense interactions (think twins, but also school mates) or have only family time together with parents, like during meals, and only sporadic joint activities by themselves. Age difference, interests and affinities have of course an impact on sibling interactions, but circumstances, parenting, neighborhood, extended family and even interior design may impact on how siblings grow together.

The family drawing will be particularly useful while mommy is pregnant, when a sibling begins or changes school, or after major changes such as moving, separation or marriage. On the family drawing, look for specific activities siblings do, how they dress, size and place on the page, in relation to parents and self. For further reading on this subject, see the research article by Özge Metin and Elif Üstün of the Department of Early Education, Hacettepe University, Ankara. This analysis of seven drawings was published in 2010 in Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 2, Issue 2.

Figure 5, Reflection of sibling relationships into the kinetic family drawings during the preschool period. By Özge Metin and Elif Üstün. Source: Sciencedirect.com, 4 October 2020.

A good blog is good

We have much respect for child psychologists. We love them when they collect and share children drawings. That is exactly what Dr. Emily Edlynn, does on her must-follow blog, The Art and Science of Mom. So, we invite you to check it out, and to share your thoughts about mental health during the pandemic. A good blog is good, a good blog with children drawings, even better.

Logo, Emily Edlynn PhD. Source: emilyedlynnphd.com, 3 August 2020.

A scholar’s fan base

If a scholar can have a fan base, count us among his: Professor Jonathan D. Fineberg, Director of the Ph.D. in Creativity at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Why are we fans? When a scholar has such a polished website, and generously introduces the readers to his published research, how can one not be drawn into it?

Passionate about children’s creativity? Run to your favorite book provider and ask for When We Were Young: New Perspectives on the Art of the Child, first published by University of California Press, in 2006.

When We Were Young: New Perspectives on the Art of the Child, cover image, jonathanfineberg.com. 23 September, 2019.

If you didn’t do it yet, check out ROE

If you do not know the program Roots of Empathy yet, make sure to check it out and to follow them online. The program brings parent-baby bounding time into the classroom, where students learn about emotions and gain insights about themselves and the world we live in. From these encounters spring awesome drawings and quotes too. See for yourself on ROE’s YouTube channel. Let’s hope, for all of us, that the original drawings and quotes made over the years will be preserved.

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I felt proud when… A children’s Art Show. Roots of Empathy, YouTube, 31 August 2019.
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