What is the gift for every child? When I was a child, people already saw how talented and “gifted” I am in my age. I can sing, dance, sociable and can solve Math problems that lead me to “best in Mathematics” award during kindergarten. As an adult, these skills are still there, even better than before (except being a Math wizard.) And I realized, this might how our parents and environment mold us. Isn’t it? From the way our parents taught us to do a certain skill to our environment (school, peers, and community) taught us to use our senses and feel emotions, these factors play a huge part to mold a child’s whole being.
As time goes by, the innovation of technology and environment around us don’t look the same way as the way I grow up. It makes the development of a child more crucial than before. So as a teacher and 2nd mother to my students, it’s my responsibility to take the extra miles to help the children reach their full potential.
Photo courtesy from Lally Gonzales.
That’s why for almost a decade, Promil, a formula milk from Wyeth, continues to create programs that equipped parents and educators towards proper child development. And last week, they invited us for a fun-filled day full of activities and learnings in an event called “Shaping the Gift to Build Tomorrow’s Greats.” They gathered us to participate in a series of workshops and activities in a bid to educate us on the importance of building a strong foundation for child’s learning abilities.
PROMIL Four’s Learning Workshops highlights three different activities that show the advantage of multi-dimensional development in nurturing a child’s gift to its full potential. And as adults, we had a role-play of acting like “5-year-olds” for one day. This aims to show what it feels like “wearing in their shoes” with all these activities and know the full meaning of these workshops in helping our child reach their full potential. These activities are based on three learning zones focused on the physical, mental, and socio-emotional development.
1. Art Workshop (Mental Development)
During this activity, we were taught by our art teacher to draw specific shapes using different colors. I learned how this activity teaches kids how to recognize encouragement to their peers and it helps them sharpen their memory for details. This activity focused on bringing the experience on how art can develop a child’s memory through storytelling and painting while inculcating repetitive practices and rhythms.
2. “Giant Block Game” (Socio-Emotional Development)
This activity is one of the fun activities we had next to the Art Workshop. During the game, we were asked to build a house using big blocks without talking to our team mates. This activity teaches me to be a focus on the need of being socially adept for better learning. It underlined how an imaginative game can promote strong leadership qualities in children through imagination, communication, and collaborations. Things I don’t learn much during my childhood. So more than making our kids get a hook to their video games, make them move more and let them engage in physical activities. Because healthy bodies can do more.
3. “Children Yoga” (Physical Activity)
I usually do yoga through morning stretching and body bending during work. I never thought that children need it too (apart from its Hindu background which I don’t promote.) This physical activity focused on the importance of growth and immunity to strengthen physical agility to kids. A little stretch and bend will help their blood circulation flow and breathe better and it will relax their muscles and mind from all the stress and impurities in life. Technically, yoga can stimulate body movement and sensory experiences for children. It also promotes multi-dimensional learning as it encourages balance and coordination, focus and concentration, mind and body connection and self-awareness and mindfulness.
One of the points I learned during the talk sessions is the “first 1000 days of a child” period as the most crucial part in nurturing the different set of skills. According to Dra. Leticia Ho, Clinical Psychologist/Neurotherapist and President of Philippine Center of Gifted Education, the future will be different for children and it will depend on how the mother conceive and grows in the first 1000 days.
“Proper Nutrition plays an essential role in child’s brain development. With the right nutrients, it can further support a child’s advanced learning activities,” Ma. Neva Luna Batayola, Medical Director said.
That’s what PROMIL is all about. It has been known for nurturing the young Filipino’s gift by promoting proper nutrition with its “NUTRIESSENTIALS” formula – the combination of the unique and important vitamins and minerals that help support mental and physical development to help nurture the gift. And with balanced diet, healthy lifestyle and proper parental guidance, nurturing a gift is indeed possible.
Thank you Promil for taking us to a different level of learning how to nurture a gift to build tomorrow’s greats. And it could be your child or my students. Visit www.wyeth.com.ph to know more about their “Nurture the Gift” advocacy and Promil.
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