Who Am I?: The Developing Sense of Self in Toddlers

Happy Chinese New Year!

Since baby bookworm is half Vietnamese - it's a Vietnamese New Year celebration for us, though!

Children's literature provides a great way to help children not only gain a sense of their own cultural identity, (which will develop throughout their life), but is also helpful in teaching children what makes them unique.  

To get in the spirit of things we read Lucky New Year by Mary Man-Kong and illustrated by Chi Chung.  This is actually the same book we read last year before our festivities at baby bookworm's grandparent's house.  But, rather than selecting a new book, I thought it would be nice to revisit a book that was already familiar to baby bookworm.
Lucky New Year is a story about two children and how they prepare for and celebrate Chinese New Year.  The language used is very appropriate for young children and the interactive aspects of the book like the flaps to lift and tabs to pull, keep even the littlest learner engaged.  The book even includes a scratch n' sniff sticker, a fun pop-up illustration on the last page, and a Chinese calendar with a wheel that you spin to reveal the animal year.

2012 is the year of the dragon.  As a craft this week we made a dragon which was modeled after this page in the book, and a Chinese lantern. 

Chinese Dragon Craft

The inspiration for our Chinese dragon craft

Our dragon! We used a little dot paint and some sequence to decorate

Lots of fun!

 Chinese Lantern Craft

To make the lantern - it's simple! All you need is construction
paper folded in half and then cut slits

Flip it over and decorate

Glue the sides together and add a handle

Children's Understanding of "The Self"

Do young children really have an understanding of their own individuality?  What about an understanding of others?  To ask this another way, have my lessons in diversity and "inner awesomeness" and cultural awareness been in vain?

An awareness of the self is closely related to a child's cognitive abilities.  Self-recognition, or consciously understanding that a mirror or photographic image is "me",  is a milestone in the development of a self-concept.  During the toddler period, when children start to display representational thought, self-recognition begins to emerge.  Research in this area has indicated that by about 20 months of age, children show self-recognition, although some children may show evidence of it as early as 15 months.

With an emerging self-concept also comes a new understanding of others.  In the second year children begin to "take turns" when playing with one another, and by 3 years of age generally understand that people are independent from one another and have different roles, goals, or intentions.  Children who are aware of others as separate agents may also show primitive signs of empathy.

Other evidence that your child is "self-aware":

• beginning to use "I" phrases such as "I kicked the ball" or "I didn't do that!"
• seeing a photo of himself and exclaiming "that's me!"
• displaying new emotions related to the self such as shame, pride, or embarrassment
• identifying and labeling their own feelings such as "I'm sad when daddy leaves for work"
• standing up for his/her own rights by exclaiming "it's my turn now"

What books do you read to help your child answer the question "Who Am I?"

This aired on the premier of the 41st season of Sesame Street.  It's not only a fabulous song but has a great message! What I Am by Will.i.am.  Trust me, your kid is gonna love this one if you haven't already seen it.

The 25 Books of Christmas: A Holiday Tradition

This holiday (and hopefully years to follow, too) I've decided to partake in a new tradition: The 25 Books of Christmas.

I didn't make it up.  I read about it in a book called The Book of New Family Traditions: How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays & Everydays(which I highly recommend), and since then have actually seen the idea floating around on some other blogs as well.  Here's the tradition in a nutshell:

1). Select 25 holiday (or Christmas) themed books
2). Wrap them
3). Beginning on Dec. 1st, give one book to your child every day until Christmas
4). After Christmas, you put the books away until year

Easy. 

We have a bunch of holiday-themed books already.  But, not 25.  And when I told my husband that I wanted to start this tradition, he gave me a "what? we're buying 25 more books?" look.  Well, he might have actually said that. We're not BUYING 25 books, I explained.  Merely wrapping some we already have, and wrapping some library books as well.  (Although I couldn't promise that I wouldn't purchase one or two new books here or there - I mean, how can I pass up some of those deals in TJ Maxx?)

I also decided that I wanted to make the tradition not only educational, but fun as well. 

So we have some classics:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
The Night Before Christmas

I've also thrown in some coloring books (they are fun AND cheap), some religious books like:
My Very First Christmas

Some character books like:
Merry Christmas, Splat (Splat the Cat)
Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas

We even have a First Look and Find: Merry Christmas!book.

I'm very excited to see how it turns out!  And I'm excited to see what books we can find at the library.  I will be presenting baby bookworm with The Night Before Christmas Recordable Story (Hallmark)that I recorded the day before I delivered her (her birthday is in December).  I think that's kinda cool, and I'm hoping she'll appreciate it one day!  I gave it to her on her very first Christmas Eve.  We have a video of her "reading" it at 3 weeks old with her aunt and daddy (only they didn't realize it was my voice on the recording until about 1/2 way through the book, which makes me chuckle).

I plan on keeping the books we own "special" by packing them away until the next holiday season.  I am also going to buy a journal so we can keep track of what books we read each year, and on what days.  I'm not sure how I feel about the "wrapping" part of this tradition, as I just wrapped a bunch of birthday presents last night for baby bookworm, and might have had my fill.  I'm thinking a "special" holiday bag reused 25 days in a row, might work just as well!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or nothing at all - I do hope this post inspires you to begin a special tradition of your own!   It is through these traditions, both formal and informal, that children gain an important sense of self and identity.

Memories of Me: Strengthening Memory Skills Through Photo Books

One of baby bookworm’s favorite books isn’t one that we borrowed from the library or bought at a book store, or any store for that matter.  It’s one that I spent many, many hours making this past December as a Christmas gift for her.  The book is titled “The First Year” and contains pictures from her life in chronological order from birth through her first birthday (you’re saying, “duh” right about now I know).  I created a story that goes along with the pictures so that we can actually read it like a book, and this of course provides me with documentation of those first months of life (wow, baby bookworm said “dada” at 5 ½ months?) that I am sure to forget when I’m 50…..or 35…….or maybe even tomorrow. I know that thanks to infantile amnesia baby bookworm won’t remember going to the pumpkin patch, her first trip to the zoo, or her first birthday – so this book provides important autobiographical memories for her too.

If you don’t have a book similar to this one for your own baby bookworm, I definitely encourage you to make one.  I mean, you might as well put those millions of pictures you have of your baby to good and educational use (it truly is amazing how you can have SO MANY pictures of the same little face).  I created mine as a photo book through Kodak Gallery, but you could just as easily paste some photos on to construction paper, write a few captions or a more detailed story, and then staple the pages together.  And if you’re really crafty or artistic and have older children, I’m sure they would find it really fun to be a part of this art project. 

Aside from this being a fun book to read, it truly is very educational!  And probably more than you realize.  Discussing memories or events that have real meaning to your child will help him or her develop autobiographical memory, build and maintain their own memories of the past, and develop a sense of “self”.  Be sure to discuss what you see in the pictures with your baby bookworm, and really try to relive the experiences - be a “storyteller” so to speak (which also conveniently helps baby learn important language skills about how to structure their own narratives, and also expands vocabulary).

Here’s just a few other ideas about how to enhance your baby bookworm’s memory skills:    

1. Remember those millions of videos that you’ve taken, in addition to those millions of pictures; well, pull them out & watch them!  These also provide valuable memory tools, help baby develop a sense of self by hearing and seeing him or herself in action, and help to sharpen language skills.
2. You know those recordable books sold in Hallmark? Turns out they not only make a great gift but encourage all of the same skills mentioned in #1.  Not a bad use of $20 after all.
3. Create flash cards with photos of important people in your child’s life.
4. We all have photos displayed throughout our homes, but remember your baby is small!  Try to find a hidden wall space where you can display a few photos at baby’s eye level.  We have a photo collage in baby bookworm’s room.  I used clear contact paper to adhere the photos to the wall.  It seriously is one of baby bookworm’s favorite spots in the room.