NUACHTÁN KINDER | April 2022

Comprehensive language: what is it and tips to promote it in childhood?

By Spanish Academic Coordination

The comprehensive language is that faculty of communication that is put into practice when we try to identify a message received, either as words, images or gestures.

What is comprehensive language?

When we speak of comprehensive language or receptive language, we are referring to the ability of people to understand what others are saying. It is the process implied in receiving a message and understanding what is being said or indicated. Human beings can communicate in several ways; communication does not necessarily have to be verbal, as important information can also be transmitted in its non-verbal version. We transmit information through oral, written, visual or gestural language.

Comprehensive language is extremely important during child development, since the ability to understand speech, understanding what is meant by certain gestures, actions or sounds, is the first step in the acquisition of language. In fact, comprehension comes before expression. The youngest babies, who can barely babble, although they do not verbalize, are able to understand and follow certain directions.

As children improve their expressive skills, they also expand their vocabulary, which allows them to understand more and express themselves better. They are becoming more able to receive information from their environment, both in words they hear, and in images and gestures they see.

Comprehensive language development

For the development of comprehensive language to occur, it is necessary that children are immersed in an environment where they are exposed to and in direct contact with images, sounds and, especially, listen to the way in which the people around them express themselves. Simultaneously, it should be easy for them to observe other people gesturing, showing a rich and expressive body language so that the children associate it properly with the environment or the action that is being done.

Communication with gestures is an essential factor. As they observe others expressing their emotions, feelings and thoughts by accompanying them with gestures, little ones internalize them and incorporate them into their behavioral repertoire through imitation. This is enhanced by their tendency to learn constantly, always attentive to environmental stimuli and learning new things on a daily basis.

Therefore, in order to strengthen the comprehensive side of language, it is very important to bring children together with others. Young children learn and develop best when they are in contact with their peers of the same age, developing socialization and play skills. Communication implies interacting with other people, it is a social process and cannot be developed without establishing contact with other people.

Benefits of board games

By Student Activities Coordinator

Our children’s leisure time is something we should take care of thoroughly. Playing and having fun is a necessity that no child should be deprived of. Although sports are one of the main activities during leisure time, there are other ways to keep them entertained.

It is not necessary permanently banish the console or the tablet, but it would not be wrong to transmit to children the pleasure of traditional games, those board games with which they can spend entire afternoons.

We are always praising the benefits of physical exercise for children, and we will continue to do so, but we cannot neglect their mental development which we can continue to seek through board games. They help their psychological and emotional development, teach them to relate to others and they are a good way for the whole family to have a good time.

Board games are ideal for those rainy afternoons when it is not possible to play outdoors. They are very diverse games that stimulate different aspects of the child’s personality, such as patience, concentration, logic, deduction skills, frustration tolerance and acceptance of defeat in fair play.

Types of board games

There are many types of board games, there are games for all ages, to develop different abilities and to stimulate different interests. But they all have one thing in common and that is that they are extremely fun.

• Strategy games. Games like chess, checkers, Connect 4 or even the classic dominoes teach children to elaborate simple strategies, make decisions, thus they are perfect to stimulate autonomy.

• Educational games. Although the best-known educational board game is Trivial Classic, there are many others on the market that are great fun. Children learn vocabulary with Scrabble, geography with Tourist or show off their creativity with Pictionary.

• Concentration games. They are great for improving memory and concentration. Simon says’ is one of the most fun games in which they must pay close attention not to fail. Other games like ‘Who’s Who’ are great for practicing memory and deduction skills. In addition, there are the varied puzzles adapted to each age group.

• Games of chance. In board games where luck is the real protagonist, a certain amount of strategy is also needed, but in the end, what counts is to have an exciting time playing Parcheesi, Goose, Snakes and Ladders or Monopoly.

• Card games. Cards offer infinite possibilities of play, from memory games for the youngest to poker for the most restless. Cards can be played by the whole family in different modalities where laughter is guaranteed.

Benefits of board games for children

• Accepting rules. For many children, it is complicated to follow the rules. By playing they learn why it is so important to follow them, they understand that these rules are for everyone and that they allow equal opportunities, in short, that it is beneficial to comply with them. This will make it easier for them to accept the rules in their daily lives.

• Increase communication skills. In all games it is necessary to communicate; from explaining the move that is going to be done to negotiating with others. These skills are strengthened and then generalized to other environments, making children express themselves better.

• Learning to win and lose. In games, you never know what will happen. Perhaps a player makes a masterstroke that suddenly makes him a winner or, on the other hand, his luck changes and his strategy goes “awry” …. all of this triggers a series of emotions that escalate until the final moment. Tolerating the frustration of losing, not blaming others, accepting that another player did better and congratulating him, is something you learn through experience. The more times you play, the more flexible and understanding you will be towards the final result.

• Develop social skills. Most board games consist of taking turns, cooperating with other players to reach a common goal, resolving conflicts…. All these skills can be practiced through the game, and once learned, will be reflected in everyday life.

• Develop perseverance, patience and the ability to concentrate. For many children it is difficult to keep their attention on the same task for a long time. They get tired or give up when they see that there are no immediate results. In these cases, what better way to help them than through a game? Seeing that he is making progress and getting rewards for his perseverance will keep him motivated. Progressively he will become more patient and his concentration capacity will increase.

• Improve self-esteem. All games have a final reward as a result of doing well. That feeling will make the child feel proud and skilled in those areas he has put into practice. The more varied the games, the more skills he will develop and his self-esteem will grow in all these areas. All this makes the child, in everyday situations, feel capable of facing the challenges that arise, because he knows he can solve them by himself.

• Planning and decision making. Most board games require a strategy or decision making to achieve the objective. Children who have developed these skills through play, then perform much better in everyday environments, make better decisions because they have learned to take into account the conditions of each play and from them, to move towards what they want to achieve.

Playing together: benefits for all

Definitely, it has been proven that, both for parents and children, playing is a great way to improve relationships, self-esteem and general intelligence, but above all, emotional intelligence: being patient, managing emotions, solving problems with autonomy, respecting other players, etc.

https://edukame.com/beneficios-de-los-juegos-de-mesa-para-la-familia

The importance of board games for preschoolers.

https://blog.oxfamintermon.org›la-importancia-de-los-juegos

Laura Vélez. Redactora de Guiainfantil.com

Back to school and its impact after the pandemic

By Department of Psychopedagogy

The psychologist, Renzo Villanueva, reveals that school provides a positive sense of belonging, which counteracts the feeling of drudgery and monotony to which many are exposed.

It should be taken into account that human beings are social by nature, they need to see, interact, codify and create strategies that allow them to achieve their goals, and they need that emotional spread that no screen can provide.

Villanueva affirms that classroom learning will have a positive impact on children’s health, since the interaction among classmates, the sense of belonging to the school, the teacher-student roles and the social learning that come from direct interaction will contribute to create a positive impact.

Which learning should be retaken?

Virtual education has facilitated the development of important skills, especially those related to digital competence and information management, which have positive effects such as: greater autonomy in accessing science and culture. However, as children and young people are a population in formation, timely help is required to avoid addiction to digital games, the deterioration of openness to listen to others, the excessive search for immediacy, low critical reflection and even high dependence on technological equipment.

Therefore, the return to contact with others is an opportunity to strengthen social skills that allow interaction in different life situations.

The great advantage of the school is that, starting from an orderly environment, an organized system and clear coexistence criteria, people quickly infer how to behave and learn by observing.

It is also the teacher’s responsibility to propose properly measured activities that are demanding enough and, at the same time, to avoid barriers that hinder relationships and the desire to learn.

On the other hand, he stresses that starting from the premise that education is a matter of public interest and being aware of certain extremes that have become evident during the pandemic, there is reason to think about more substantial readjustments to the educational system in order to forge a society determined to grow in humanity. “The curriculum by itself is already defined as a flexible proposal and, in virtue of that trait, the pedagogical adjustments that this reality calls for can be justified.”

Emotional changes

Millions of students receive classes at a distance, what will be the changes in these students when they return to face-to-face classes? Psychologist Villanueva assures that, like any adaptation process, there will be a curve to understand the new format of classes and interaction.

It is likely that a large part of the school population will arrive with emotional alterations (high levels of anxiety, impulsivity, tension, etc.), due to isolation and permanent fear, so it will be important for teachers to take this into account and not immediately start teaching classes as if they were coming back from vacation.

“We have all gone through very sensitive experiences that need to be addressed in class. It is important for teachers to take into account the emotional world of their students.”

Teachers must transmit values such as empathy, respect, admiration for their resilience, the importance of mutual support and communication. Similarly, they must teach that emotions are not bad. In this case, they are the result of a very particular and intense experience and, for that very reason, they need to be expressed and channeled.

Younger students will have the challenges of detachment and incursion into a new space. On the other hand, the more mature ones will be concerned about the quality and ease of the relationship with others and, perhaps, about the reaction that others will have to the learning achieved with remote education. In this regard, the sincerity of learning will be a task to be interpreted calmly, says the teacher.

The psychologist in the school

Schools should provide and encourage spaces for conversation, since students have a lot to express. In this sense, today more than ever, the role of the psychologist in the educational institution is very important, says Villanueva.

In addition, he says, the number of psychologists in a school should be proportional to the number of students, otherwise the quality of the work is affected, as well as emotional stability. In many scenarios, there are only two or three psychologists in a school, so the professional quality is limited due to attrition.

Likewise, this measure should be accompanied by greater awareness in schools about the importance of actively seeking emotional stability and knowing how to express emotions.

https://www.udep.edu.pe/hoy/2021/11/cual-sera-su-impacto-en-educacion-y-emociones-de-escolares/