Toddler Practicing Martial Arts

Practicing the martial arts provides distinct advantages for older children and adults.  Did you know that toddler-age children could also greatly benefit from the martial arts as well?  Karate and Tae Kwan Do not only provide toddlers with exciting experiences with other children, but these arts also encourage motor skill coordination, concentration, and self-confidence.  Add these skills with a touch of ancient Eastern wisdom, and your toddler will be learning life lessons that will serve him well in the years to come.

I remember when I first saw the movie The Karate Kid back in the 1980’s. When the movie was done, I turned to my dad and said I was going to learn to do what Daniel-san had learned. The next day, I was headed out to the local dojo with my mom. We had come early and sat on a bench while the class started. I had come for the adult’s class (I was all of eighteen years old then), but the class in session was the junior class for kids twelve and under. The smallest members of the dojo, kids as young as four or five, worked just as hard, if not harder, to imitate their older dojo brothers and sisters. Martial arts for children can be a wonderful self-esteem booster and great exercise. It can also help with motor skills and coordination and improve social skills.

Between the ages of two and five, your toddler is growing in mind, body and spirit.   These ages are distinctly important, as they set the tone for your toddler’s life pattern of behavior.  Childhood development experts recommend that toddlers participate in physical and mental activities to encourage personality growth, physical maturity, and socialization with others.  The martial arts effectively provide these experiences in a variety of ways.

While your toddler is growing, his muscles and bones must develop strength and agility.  Physical development occurs only when a toddler receives adequate exercise that including stretching, bending and muscle-building movements.

Have you noticed how clumsy toddlers can be?  Although they have mastered the fine art of walking, they seem to trip over many things, including their own two feet!  The martial arts excel at teaching your toddler motor skill coordination, precision movements that increase hand-eye coordination and foot/leg movements that help him learn balance and move him past the toddler “wobbles.”

How long is your toddler’s attention span?  How about his ability to focus on tasks until they’re completed?  Is he able to memorize and retain information at a rate appropriate for his age?  The martial arts require toddlers to concentrate and pay close attention to the instructions of the sensei (teacher); to be successful in the martial arts and in their lives, toddlers must learn to listen and thoroughly absorb the lessons.  Your toddler will also learn to focus and follow through on tasks; dawdling and impulsivity aren’t allowed!  The sensei will re-direct your child’s focus to mastering the task at hand; movements that can only be learned by strict focus.  Your toddler will be required to memorize the order and types of movements, performing them flawlessly when prompted by the sensei.  Thus, when he begins school, your toddler will have a distinct edge in learning language and abstract arithmetic skills.

The best things in life are not free. Hard work and discipline get you what you want and help you reach your goals. Unfortunately, toddlers only know that they want everything now. There is no later; there is no waiting. Right away is all that matters. In the martial arts, toddlers get their first taste of reality and learn self-discipline. They learn that they have to take things step by step and master each step before moving on to the next. There are no shortcuts.

Your toddler will learn that unprovoked aggression is never appropriate.  The martial arts are defensive in nature; your toddler will learn that amicably getting along with others results from the self confidence of knowing that he isn’t going to be harmed by schoolyard bullies.  As he bows to his opponent, your toddler learns to show respect to others, increasing his own confidence. His mastery of the martial arts also teaches him that he can succeed in life tasks, thus building a confident, intrepid adult.

Your toddler’s sensei will expose him to the enduring wisdom of Eastern philosophy and the ancient world.  These are the concepts of avoiding foolish and self-destructive behavior, service to others, tolerance for differences, patience, loyalty and caution.

Most dojos these days offer many programs for all age levels. Childrens’ classes abound in nearly every city, suburb and community center. Take your time to find a school and style of martial arts that fits your child and your budget. Talk to the instructors and the parents of other students, sit in on the classes, and watch how instructors teach. If you find a good school, your child will gain invaluable skills that will last a lifetime.

Child Innocence or Wisdom?

These days it’s difficult to find true innocence in the world, but if you have ever watched a month-old puppy sleeping or gazed into the eyes of a toddler-aged child you can still see it.  At that age, everything is new and exciting, not routine and boring such as for the rest of us who have become jaded over the years.

Little kids, especially barely able to speak, watch and listen to everything.  All kinds of things fascinate them; the graceful motion of goldfish, the gentle waving of tall grasses, the color yellow, and the bouncing of a beach ball.  All the things adults take for granted, toddlers find endlessly amazing.  They believe everything we tell them; they have no concept of lying, or even fanciful jest.  Myths, childhood legends, make-believe, wonderful fantasies of all sorts and even bogeymen that lurk in their closets at night are all real to them. Kids believe it just because we say it.  Like the sleeping puppy, their total absence of guile seems to last such a short time!  This innocence seems to vanish within the first few years of their lives, never to be reclaimed.

What takes the place of childish innocence?  We can only hope that it is wisdom.  As children learn the ways of the world, this knowledge can sometimes be disappointing.  There’s no such thing as Santa Claus or Superman.  The tiny puppy grew into a big dog that bites if its ears are yanked.  Grandmother died – she isn’t “sleeping.”  And there are monsters, but they don’t live in the closet at night; they are teachers and babysitters and the nice man next door who has some strange pictures of naked kids.

Sometimes a child’s wisdom is born from simplification. They seem to reduce everything down to the bare minimum and accept that for what it is.  They know nothing of the politics behind a bombing nor do they understand the complex science behind the hurricane that took away a house. It is what it is and it happened ‘just because’. When Mommy and Daddy no longer live in the same house, do children understand that sometimes relationships simply run their course? Of course not.  All they know is that Daddy went away to live somewhere else or that Mummy said they had to leave the home for a different one and that everything will be fine.

Strange, isn’t it?  Even when they know the truth, little kids still have the wisdom to tell it like it is and cope with it, whatever “it” may be.  They don’t have ulcers, drink too much alcohol, or brood about ways to take revenge on someone who hurt them.  They trust that they’ll have food to eat and clothes to wear.  They don’t worry about paying the mortgage; they just put their toys away before bed like Mommy said.  As adults, it seems incredible that we too were once as innocent as our youngest children are now. Then life happened – so did divorce, addiction, unemployment, war and illness.

So many times, it is all too easy to sigh and say that this is how life has to be for our children too. But even when Pandora released evil upon the world, hope remained in the box. Maybe our children will inherit a better world; we can certainly do our best to hope for that. Not everyone surrenders the innocence of youth and some folks are lucky enough to maintain a small portion of it as they age.  If our toddlers can do this without becoming bitter or jaded by the worries of the world, then they have gained true wisdom.

Symptoms Of Your Toddler Being Bullied

There are always bullied in school that include pre-school too. In 2005, a national survey reported that an astonishing 63% of children ages four through ten say they are or have been bullied by other children of the same or similar age.  The same survey found that only 18% of these children’s parents or caretakers knew or suspected that their child was being bullied.

So mothers of toddler don’t be alarm when that happen to your child. It part of growing up. When you send your toddler off to pre-school, the last thing on your mind is that something might go wrong. While you are out running your daily errands or simply enjoying a little spare time on your own, there is a possibility that your toddler could be threatened with physical or emotional harm in your absence. Here are some pointers to take note that and it for you to know the signs that would indicate that all is not well?

Bullying is defined as one person using his/her age, size, and aggressive nature to hurt and control other, vulnerable children.  Bullies are people who have a very poor self-esteem and dominate others in a futile attempt to increase their sense of self-worth. Bullies can be any age, gender, or ethnic class.  Young bullies, if their behavior is unchecked, become older bullies.  In children, the psychiatric diagnosis of Conduct Disorder is just the beginning of the development of cruel, dominating behavior, refusal to follow social and family rules, substance abuse beginning at a young age, gang affiliation, school suspensions and learning disorders, and a lack of remorse for their actions.  As these children reach age 18, they are diagnosed with the Antisocial Personality Disorder; in most cases, this diagnosis results in criminal behavior.  An estimated 89% of prison inmates in this country are ASPD.  This personality disorders are not “curable;” it’s indicative of deeply-ingrained personality characteristics.

The following is a checklist of symptoms that your toddler may exhibit if he/she is being bullied:

- Depression; apathy, irritability, agitation, insomnia, low frustration tolerance, inability to concentrate, bed-wetting and lack of appetite.

- Fearfulness; reluctant to attend pre-school or play dates, crying, feigning illness.

- Questions about “What would happen if…” concern about what happens in jail, “What if I told you a secret,” and “If I don’t like John, do I have to play with him?”

- Physical signs that seem suspicious; unexplained cuts, scrapes and bruises.  When asked, the child makes up a story that isn’t consistent with the injury.

- Missing personal items; the child comes home without his/her lunch box, loss of small change, missing clothing, games, and toys.

- Regressed behavior; acting younger than his/her age, speaking “baby talk,” clinging to parents, urinating or defecating in clothes, and wanting to eat baby food.

The hardest thing your child will have to do is tell you that he is being bullied. It’s scary for children to speak out, and if you were to think back to when you were your child’s age, you might be able to share a story or two about similar circumstances. At some point in our lives, each of us has gone the long way home to avoid getting caught by the school bully. Make sure that your child understands that he is not in trouble and that you can help them.

Naturally, if your child is being bullied at pre-school or at play dates, you’ll want to know where were the supposedly supervising parents or teachers?  Once your child has divulged the secret, you have every right to ask the adults why they failed to supervise what was happening at their home or at pre-school.  Don’t send your child back to a home where adult supervision is so lacking that he/she is being hurt.  If your child is being harmed in a pre-school, speak to the owner or top-level manager about the lack of supervision by the teachers.  If you get no satisfactory answers, remove your child from the school and report the harm done to your child to Child Protection Services.

A toddler can be devastated by a bully. For the first few years of their lives, most children have known nothing but mama’s love and affection and to have someone shatter that wide-eyed trust can be a crushing experience. Bullying can have very lasting effects, causing the child to grow up feeling helpless and angry. Often, children who are being bullied will develop learning difficulties and behavioral problems. Don’t be afraid to intervene and stand up for your child. Sometimes a child might be strong enough to stand up for themselves, but this isn’t always the case and your kids need your support whether they ask for it or not.

Toddlers Indoor Outdoor Hazardous

Young children often cause parents to cringe in fear when their toddlers discover an object best left alone and try to taste it, poke at it, break it or take it apart.
Toddlers as you know do not know what is fear to them when it comes to exploring the world around them. Although some of this encounter is harmless but if not address properly to the issue can cause death to the Toddlers. Outdoors and indoors, toddlers need supervision to insure their safety. With their innocent sense, toddlers don’t know what’s safe and what will hurt them, so adults must stay vigilant at all time.

“Hot Hot. Pain Pain Don’t Touch That”. Sound familiar, sound baby language. This is the word I often say to my child to warn her this is not for you to play with.

Indoor Hazardous To Toddlers

Inside your home, everybody knows is you have to cover electric sockets, stoves, and keeping chemicals and medicines out of children’s reach. But your home is beset with dangers you probably haven’t thought about. Do you know how dogs like to drink out of toilets? So do toddlers! There must be something innately fascinating about toilet bowls that lures dogs and children. Try keeping the lid down and the bathroom door shut. Your dog may be unhappy, but your child will be germ-free and worse things can happen is get drown in the toilet bowl.

If you have pets around in the house, beware of this. Toddlers are also drawn to pet food. Fish food, bird seed, dried dog food. Toddlers, with their perfectly reasonable logic, think that if it’s alright for the pets to eat, it must be alright for them to eat! After all, pets eat human food, so why can’t we eat animal food? Try gently reminding your toddler that animal food is only okay for animals, not for people. Be prepared for that ever-popular question, “But WHY?”

What are about those dozens tiny choking hazards in your home. Marbles, ball bearing, rubber bands, paper clips, twisty-ties from bread wrappers, coins, even food items like chips and crackers can be hazardous. Keep those household items out of reach. An old story telling is that physician have ever removed a small ball bearing from the nose of a five-year-old! It is always good to teach your toddler that loose items and their orifices isn’t safe to play with.

Outdoor Hazardous To Toddlers

Outside your home, toddlers think nothing of touching or picking up things out of curiosity that would make an adult shriek! Bugs, worms, plants – nothing’s safe from a four-year-old explorer. Plant like Mistletoe grows abundantly on trees much like moss. Kids are drawn to this pretty parasite and have no idea that it’s deadly poison when eat it. Jimsonweed is a common, rather pretty, roadside herb that causes intense hallucinations and psychotic behavior if chewed. These are just two examples of common plant hazards; teach your child never to put anything in his/her mouth that you haven’t okayed. Bugs are generally harmless if eaten, but it’s not a good idea to take chances.

Teach your toddlers never to touch a snake, lizard, turtle, toad, or any other creature of the outdoor world unless an adult is present. While most of these critters are harmless, toddlers don’t know a garden snake from a copperhead! Alligator snapping turtles can whack off a toddler’s tiny finger in a split second. If you live in a rural area, it’s imperative that you teach your child to leave outdoor citizens alone! If you go to a beach for play, teach your toddler that sea urchins, crabs, and jellyfish can hurt them despite their harmless and fascinating appearances.

Endless curiosity is part of the charm of watching a child grow up. Through children, we get a second chance to see the world through new eyes. Toddlers, in turn, get to see the world through adult eyes as we teach children how to temper curiosity with caution and point out that sometimes, fun things can be harmful. Be patient, let children learn, and be there to keep them from getting into trouble with their explorations. You will always worry about your children, it in the blood, parent and child thing. No matter what age they might be, at all time you can do your best to show them the difference between safe and sorry.