Today I will talk to you about the children who eat with chopsticks.
Although it is known that children have individual differences and the use of chopsticks is not the same, it is certainly false to see other children of the same age who have used chopsticks very skillfully, and parents say that they are not in a hurry.
So when exactly is it better to teach children to use chopsticks? Should the child eat with a spoon or grasp it with his hand to stop eating?
The sooner a child uses chopsticks, the better
Eating with chopsticks is actually a technical task.
Using chopsticks to eat, you need the size of the fingers muscles and joints to cooperate, even if the adults abroad, the hands have matured, can do a lot of things, but to control the chopsticks is not an easy task.
It can be seen that the use of chopsticks requires high fine movements of the hands.
Considering these objective requirements for the use of chopsticks, children do not use chopsticks as early as possible. If you ask your child to use chopsticks too early, your child is easily frustrated, will resist using chopsticks, and may also affect your child's interest in eating.
So when is it better to start using chopsticks?
Children have large individual differences, and the answer to this question can only be an age range, which can be referred to the Ministry of Education's "Guidelines for the Development of Children Aged 3-6 Years".
The guide states that children aged 3-4 should be able to eat skillfully with a spoon, and children aged 4-5 should be able to use chopsticks to eat, while children 5-6 years old should be able to use chopsticks skillfully.
This guideline from the Ministry of Education is an overall requirement for hand flexibility for children in all Chinese families, with a wide range of requirements and suitable for the vast majority of children.
At the same time, most kindergarten classes let children eat with spoons, and some kindergarten classes begin to require children to eat with chopsticks, which is basically the same as the age requirements of the guide.
Before the age of 4 can be classified as the first stage, this stage of the child to be able to use the spoon skillfully, not necessarily the use of chopsticks; 4-6 years old for the second stage, if the child can not use chopsticks, parents can begin to train the child to use.
0-4 years old first stage: go with the flow
The best way to guide children to use chopsticks is to prepare a suitable environment for children, parents to demonstrate naturally, children to imitate naturally, and to learn and practice naturally.
Children come into the world with a lot of curiosity, full of curiosity about everything around them. When your child is young, he will start to grasp what he likes, and this process can exercise his finger muscles and joints.
During this period, you can prepare objects of different sizes and textures for children to practice grasping and exercise the flexibility of fingers.
Children can consciously grab a spoon and start eating around the age of 1. From the moment the child can sit and eat with a spoon, prepare an appropriate height for the child to eat at the table with the adult.
Children will be eager to try when they see adults eating with chopsticks. At this time, parents should seize the child's sensitive period and let the child learn to use chopsticks.
The chopsticks used by adults may be longer and heavier for children, and shorter chopsticks can be prepared for children.
At this stage, parents do not put pressure on the child, let the child use a spoon or chopsticks naturally, if the child eats with his hands, do not care too much, to ensure that the child's hands are clean.
4-6 years old stage 2: intentional training
Under the correct demonstration and guidance of parents, many children can learn to use chopsticks before the age of 3, and may be used as early as 1 year old.
If your child still likes to eat with a spoon or hand after the age of 4, you can intentionally guide and train your child to use chopsticks.
Intentional training begins with piquing your child's interest, rather than violently stopping your child from using a spoon and grabbing it with your hands.
Parents can prepare chopsticks for their children to see, and they can also use language to guide their children to say, "See if the mother can use chopsticks to clip beans, anything can be clipped, do you want to try it", or do some exaggerated actions to arouse children's interest, you can also combine picture books and children's songs to guide children to learn to use chopsticks.
After the child is interested in using chopsticks, if the child's hand fine motor development is not enough, it is difficult to control the chopsticks, you can try to give the child to use the child-specific practice chopsticks.
There are many types of chopsticks on the market, some with fixed standard finger positions, and some with only the tail of chopsticks fixed. The more chopsticks are restricted to the fingers, the less opportunities the child has to practice independently, and parents should be flexible according to the child's situation.
At this stage, parents need to use enough patience to give their children the correct guidance and training.
I have seen a saying, "The highest state of education is to have a heart and no trace."
Teaching children to learn to use chopsticks is what needs to be so, with the heart and no trace to guide the child, the less force to ask, the faster the child learns.