Integral Education: Strategic Challenges & Road-Map ahead (VI). Strategic Innovation in Education – Toddlers (Part B).
Good afternoon to all!
Today is the turn of Strategic Innovation in Education for toddlers. We will define Toddlers in two phases. Toddlers 1 (From 1 to 2 years), which we will see in detail today. And Toddlers 2 (From 2 to 3 years), will be developed during the next publication.
For Toddlers 1 phase, kids are in full brain development stage. These twelve months are decisive in their personality and brain development growth. Meanwhile, the conceptualization, language, vision, emotional control, habitual ways of responding started to develop during the last months of pregnancy and the infants’ phase; between the age of one to two years, the numbers, peer social skills and conceptualization are in full development stage. The toddler movement milestones range from walking alone, pulling toys, carrying a large number of things, running, climbing, and walking up-down stairs with some kind of support. About the hand and finger skills, toddlers scribble spontaneously, they start to build blocks and might use one hand more than the other one. About language milestones, the toddler starts to talk several words. This is the moment in which they start to talk. And, it is proven, the more a mom or dad talk to the toddler, the more words he will be able to say. At this stage toddlers start using simple phrases, sentences, follow simple instructions and repeat words overheard in adults conversations.
Cognitive milestones are of a different category, but the recognition that toddlers learn by playing is one of the most important things from today´s article. Toddlers need to be exposed socially with other toddlers. Not with smartphones. Not watching the TV. Toddlers need to interact with other toddlers. By playing with them, toddlers begin to recognize their own spaces, limits, and they start to understand the concept of cause-effect. The notion of make-believe through playing starts to be triggered in their brains.
In addition, the imitation is a key part of toddlers social interactions. Toddlers imitate the behavior of others, especially close adults and older siblings or other relatives, or other children. Moreover, your toddler will imitate how he perceives you in your interaction at home. How you handle conflicts. How you react at home. How he sees your routines. He will see your behavior in response to other adults, including your partner. If you are a supporting, cooperative and caring person, kids will imitate your behavior. Indeed, they will try to help you at home. Kids will eagerly participate in anything you are doing around the house. If you pray and teach him or her the existence of a higher God seen in nature, your toddler would understand about it since this stage. Toddlers will be ready to lend a hand in the future if they are taught at this age how to be helpful to others. Don´t discourage helpful impulses of your toddler, helping like sharing is a vital social skill, and the sooner he develops it, the more pleasant life will be for everyone.
It’s important for us to foster empathy skills in our children at this toddlers stage so that they can learn to care about other people’s viewpoints. The best way to teach your children empathy is for you, to model empathy towards them.
Connections with others are important for health and happiness. Helping our toddlers to develop strong social connections starts here.
In addition to the connections and empathy, this is the stage to teach our kids, the golden rule meaning: “How do I want to treat other people and how do I want to be treated?” By teaching them this concept at this stage of their life, we are igniting the seeds of respect towards others in them.
Ethical values are taught by example with toddlers. Their “imitation” initial phase starts here. And simple values such as integrity, sincerity, kindness, transparency, honesty, love and caring, acknowledge others good deeds, collaboration, cooperation, active response, etc.. have to be taught by role modeling to them. This stage is the beginning of active learning, and toddlers have to be engraved with positive active learning during these first two years of their life.
A pro-positive and happy behavior is relevant from mom and dad. This is the stage to be positive, not to punish your kids by words and actions. Select your words for each situation. You can alter the behavior of your children by the way you talk or say things to them. We can correct children wrong behavior by explaining them with kindness (keeping our authority figure). Be kind and lovely to your child. You have no idea how important it is to be kind for your children. Your son or daughter will be marked for life if you speak to them with kindness.
If you wish your baby to be an innovator at the age of 20, this is the period of his or her life in which he has to learn to be curious. If mom and dad are always speaking harsh words to kids, their curiosity will be killed at this stage. They will learn to be disciplined, but not innovators.
If you yell to your kids, they will learn to yell at this stage of their life. If you talk to your toddlers with vulgar vocabulary, they will learn to do it. If you are rude and rough or coarse at home, kids will learn it at this stage.
The Toddler phase (from 1 to 2 years) is the critical phase to stamp the innovation and kindness in your child. At this age, they have so little awareness of the feelings of others, and when they start exploring, showing affection or showing when they are upset, parents have to orient them to manage physical aggressiveness or mood swings among playmates with kindness, not rudeness.
On my next post, we will see the specifics of education for toddlers between 2 to 3 years. Stay tuned. 
Source References utilized for this article:
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/toddlers.html
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/Pages/default.aspx
Disclaimer: All the presentation slides shown on this blog are prepared by Eleonora Escalante MBA-MEng. Nevertheless, all the pictures or videos shown on this blog are not mine. I do not own any of the lovely photos or images posted unless otherwise stated.
Eleonora Escalante Strategy 