How to nurture a confident and outgoing baby girl

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Hi all, I am a mother of a 6mo baby girl. I wish to send her to top IS when she's in K and I would like to do the best right now. I will send her to playgroups but I'm afraid they only occupy a limited period of time and they are not enough to develop her social skills and her self-confidence. So I would like to ask you guys what else can I do to nurture her social skills and self-confidence at home? Or what extra activities I should arrange? Thanks a lot in advance!

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回覆 jujuwong73 的帖子

Hi Jujuwong73, my first priority is CIS, though I know it's very difficult for parents without any siblings in the school...

Goodluck2022

回覆 964000 的帖子

Very helpful advice !!!!
Playgroup at the age of at least 1.

jujuwong73

回覆 registerzh 的帖子

Different Top IS has different requirements on their pupils. Perhaps you can be more specific. Which IS are you targeting?

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964000 發表於 23-6-8 08:03
You are asking the right question! If you have a smart and introverted child and target top IS, you ...

Thank you 964000. Thanks to your post and the above posts, I am no longer as overwhelmingly panic as before. I think I will arrange playdates and bring her out to gatherings as it seems to be an effective way to develop her social skills in early age. At least there's something I can do.

Thank you also for inspiring me to compare the pros and cons between IS and LS from this perspective. For introverts it's more difficult to get into IS. But once she gets in, she can benefit from the IS padegogy and have a higher chance of overcoming the shortage in her introvert personality. Thank you for the inspiring post!  

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964000 發表於 23-6-8 08:03
You are asking the right question! If you have a smart and introverted child and target top IS, you ...

Sorry repeated post. Del.

964000

registerzh 發表於 23-6-5 12:48
Hi all, I am a mother of a 6mo baby girl. I wish to send her to top IS when she's in K and I would l ...

You are asking the right question! If you have a smart and introverted child and target top IS, you have to work on the emotional, social and confidence aspects early on. Once these are sort out, they will go really far. Many parents especially  those target local schools tend to focus too much in academic in early years, which could miss out a lot in development. Very often we see kids with good academics who still lack confidence and they only become more reserved with time. There is nothing wrong to be quiet but if they have learned to be more comfortable to open up at appropriate time early in life, life will become easier and opportunities won’t be slipped so readily.
Early interventions by parents should help. Choosing IS from start is already the big first step, therefore I don’t recommend “LS first IS later approach”. Local style teaching that emphasise too much in obedience, no talking, no running, right or wrong at early age could be counterproductive in opening up an introverted child.

Back to your question, at 6m, there are really not much “activities” to arrange , many good advice from above posts have been given already. Earliest at around 12 M, you can start to join playgroups, and try to arrange more playdates with friends later on as free plays with friends are always more effective than structured classes in developing social skills. This is totally not replaceable by just playing with siblings alone.

bigheadshrimp

poonseelai 發表於 23-6-7 16:06
Full name of the book - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.I have alr ...

Hehe… I find it easier to read bigger fonts lately also. This is where ebook readers come in handy. Love to actually hold a book in my hands, but the fonts can be hard on my aging eyes. Lol

poonseelai

Atamihanabi 發表於 23-6-7 15:05
I'm surprised that you're surprised lol. Why would you think IS only like extrovert kids? Shouldn't  ...

Full name of the book - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.I have already bought this but find the font size too small for me .  Anyway this is on my "to read list".

Atamihanabi

registerzh 發表於 23-6-7 14:31
回覆 Atamihanabi 的帖子

Thank you so much Atamihanabi for sharing your experience in such a detaile ...

I'm surprised that you're surprised lol. Why would you think IS only like extrovert kids? Shouldn't good teachers and good schools be experienced enough to look at other aspects of a kid instead of simply focusing on whether he or she is a sociable one? I already shared my experience to show you this is not the case.
I didn't prepare my kids for the interviews. It would have been crazy to prepare a 3 or 4 YO for an interview. I'm a committed mum but i'm not a helicopter parent. Observe your kid and respect her as a person, not shoehorning her into any school.

BTW Susan Cain's Quiet is a good book. But i'm not sure if you read.. Reading is a good habit that you can help your kid develop. It would be even better if you also like reading.   

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回覆 Erminator 的帖子

Hi Erminator. Thank you for your sharing. Haha I guess I know what you mean. Yes I will take that into consideration. Thank you for the reminder!

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回覆 Atamihanabi 的帖子

Thank you so much Atamihanabi for sharing your experience in such a detailed manner. I am surprised that an introvert talented boy is also welcomed by IS in their interviews. Is it comfortable for you to share some more details about how you prepare him for the interview and what you think is the exact right thing he has done to pass the interview? Doesn't matter if you don't want to share. I sincerely appreciate it.

Atamihanabi

registerzh 發表於 23-6-5 12:48
Hi all, I am a mother of a 6mo baby girl. I wish to send her to top IS when she's in K and I would l ...

Suggest you read a book called "Quiet" by Susan Cain if you're worried about your kid being introvert and not sociable. And after all, she is still too little to tell.
My son was reserved and quiet when he was little although he was said to be a smart boy by all the teachers that taught him. He was that kind of boys who knew the answer but would never raise his hand first, if you know what i mean. His K1 teacher was even worried whether he would be able to show his talent during the 15 mins interview for primary. But we were lucky that he got in a very good IS where he has absolutely thrived over the past 7 years thanks to all the teachers' encouragement. Personality can change, in particular for a small kid. One thing I have found very important for their personality/character development is they need to have something that they are proud of, e.g. music, sports, breadth of knowledge, maths etc. That sense of achievement in particular through some hard work will definitely boost a quiet kid's confidence level.

Hope my experience can give you some confidence on your baby girl too :)

Erminator

simonchan1986 發表於 23-6-5 20:57
If your only intention is to send her to top IS, then I would recommend you to get a FP (if you don' ...

Yes, you are correct! Many ITT kids are ended up in CIS.  In between, they go to  BH Int stream.  But you have to bear in mind that the whole ITT/BH game is all about reverse engineering, parent background is the key.

Goodluck2022

回覆 registerzh 的帖子

What are you aiming ?
What will you do in the next 6 months ?

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回覆 bigheadshrimp 的帖子

You are right and I'd better sign up now. Never should I tell myself not to try haha. It does no harm to try anyway. Thank you for pointing that out!

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回覆 bigheadshrimp 的帖子

Haha thank you for the encouraging words and I will keep up. I will adjust my time and do more readings and play with my baby girl. Hopefully she builds up her vocabulary unconsiously and she's able to express herself freely in her life. And hope that she develop her love into readings.
And I bear in mind that she will feel what I feel and learn from me everyday. That means I should keep up a positive attitude to no matter what and I should take up challeges so that she learns how to withstand difficulties in the future.
Kids learn from us and immitate their carers. I guess that's the most difficult part of motherhood. Whatever I want her to be, I'd better be her role model.


Now I have a clearer picture of what I shall do with her daily. I feel so lucky to have your advice so I know the right way for the next 6 months or so.

Thank you so much for giving so much valuable advice. Thank you with all my heart!

bigheadshrimp

registerzh 發表於 23-6-5 23:21
回覆 simonchan1986 的帖子

Thank you Simonchan1986 for sharing the information! I will dig into that ...

My experience with ITT was very positive. The curriculum is very well balanced, and the teachers are all very caring and experienced. Yes, many parents sign up for ITT as a way to get an interview with Braemar Hill, but some simply go there for the program. Most parents are very hands on and go to the classes with their kids. I truly enjoyed my time there and value the opportunity to take part in my kids’ classes. Once they move onto kindy, you won’t get to see all that is happening in the classroom. Given the choice between ITT and a PN class, I’d agree she may learn more academically and develop independence more from a PN class though. Although ITT says you may not get a place till she’s 18 months, it doesn’t hurt to just submit an application now because someone may end up dropping out unexpectedly.

One thing you can do for kindy preparation specifically is to find out more about the schools you are interested in. Some will take applications from birth, so you can help improve her chances by applying early.

bigheadshrimp

registerzh 發表於 23-6-5 22:05
Hi Bigheadshrimp, thank you so much for the advice! You give me quite a few directions to explore.  ...

Keep up the good work you are doing mommy! (emoji) Being a mom is the toughest job there is. I know it’s hard to relax when there is so much pressure from all sides, but babies can pick up on our moods. When you are stressing she will sense it also, particularly if you are still breastfeeding.

Kids have a very short attention span at this age, so don’t worry if she doesn’t seem too interested in books right now. It’s ok even if she only uses books as chew toys right now. I used to read to my babies while breastfeeding. Honestly, part of it is for my own entertainment, but listening to your voice helps with their verbal development. The other benefit is they see reading as a normal thing that everyone does. If your goal is to send your baby to a top IS, developing a love for reading is an absolute must.

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回覆 simonchan1986 的帖子

Thank you Simonchan1986 for sharing the information! I will dig into that.

Your information about ITT is also very useful to me. I wish I knew it earlier. I called up ITT 2 weeks ago and they said it would be most likely that my baby can get a seat after she's 18mo. At that time I guess I should rather put my girl to a PN class than playgroup. I guess the content of PN classes will be more advanced than playgroup so it can better prepare my daughter for K1 interviews. What do you think? Please help to correct me if I'm wrong. Thank you in advance!