Seven Games to Play with Your Young Children to Help Them Develop a Stronger Concentration

Games that helps aid the development of your young children’s cognitive processes, so, play with them more, and come up with other sorts of games that can stimulate your children’s brains, from the experts, off of the Front Page Sections, translated…

With more and more, emphasis, placed on child development, birth to age three is the key development period, what ways, do we have, of helping the children develop their sense of, concentration?  The child occupational therapist, Yu suggested seven games at home, to play with your children to help them develop stronger concentration.

First, the musical singing song game, Yu said, playing the music that your young children liked, like Baby Shark, Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes, etc., etc., and do the simple movements with your children, it’s good for their concentration.  Beading, stacking up the blocks, then, aiming at the blocks, knocking them down are also great games.

games like this…

photo from online

Wait until the child understand the simple commands, have the child role-play as the “delivery person”, to bring the items to the parents, Yu said, place the obstacles like toys that obstruct their paths, have your children step over them, and tell them not to knock the items in their ways over, to not “tip over the foods”; wait unit your children are older yet, have them find specific items out of a stack, deliver it you.

Hide-and-Go-Seek is also a game that trains the child in concentration.  Yu stated, that the parents can first, hide the dolls underneath the quilts, and showing only the legs of the dolls for the child to find, and in a more advanced version of the game, have the child find the socks, “where’s the red sock?”, or “Where’s the sock with the car on it?”

Yu most recommended that the parents and children read along together, she said, find the books with the pictures primarily, let the kids see what shapes are in the books, for instance, in a book of illustrated animals, turn to a page, have the child tell what animals are on the page, where’s the rabbit, find the dog, have your child point it out to you.

or this…

photo from online

The clinical psychologist, Lee said, before age three, the diagnoses of attention-deficit, or hyperactivity are hard to diagnose, the researches showed, that the high-tech devices with the loud volumes of sounds and the bright lights are, harmful to the development of your children, that there should be a limit of half an hour a day of use per day.

And so, due to the prevalence of the diagnoses of ADD, ADHD these days, we must, be careful, WHAT we’re, exposing our young children to, after all, children DO, model after the adults, and, the games of stacking up the blocks, classification of the various kinds of toys, these games trains your young children in their, cognitive development processes.

When the Child Cuts Her Play-Doh into, Tiny Little Pieces, with a Plastic Knife

When a child cuts her Play-Doh into, tiny little pieces, with a plastic knife, you gotta give it to her, for having, such trained, fine motor movement, but wait…

When the child cuts her Play-Doh into, tiny little pieces, then she, SMACK all them, tiny little pieces hard, what, does that mean, huh?  Is there, a TRAINED child shrink in the house right now?  (paging the child psychiatric experts…………), oh wait, nobody’s, “home”!

how a hurt child might play…or you may just see it as, “boys will be, boys!”

photo from online

When the child cuts her Play-Doh into, tiny little pieces, with a plastic knife, she just, wanted, to inflict “pain” on something that she has, control over, something that won’t feel a thing, that’s, her way, of telling her STUPID adult counterparts, that something HAD, happened to her, and yet, her parents, took her to the shrink, because she’d started, wetting her bed (and she should be, potty trained, oh, ‘bout???  Two years back!).

When the child cuts her Play-Doh into, tiny little, pieces, don’t take it for an ordinary child’s play, ‘cuz it isn’t, unless, she shows that talent, for cooking from a very early age.

When the child cuts her Play-Doh into, tiny, little pieces, this Teddy, Dolly, Doggy, and after you, walked out of that room, she’d, started, SHOVING those Play-Doh “food pieces” violent, DOWN her Teddy, Doll, Doggy’s, THROATS!

And that, is how WE, children (yeah so, I’m still one here, ‘k???) P-L-A-Y…

Temporarily Escaping from the Volcanoes the Neighbors Became a Key Helper to Prevention of Domestic Violence

The ABSOLUTE necessary SAFETY net that needs to get set up that’s for sure!  Off of the Front Page Sections, translated…

The associate professor of Minchuan University’s Crime Prevention Major, Dai pointed out, that the American scholars conducted a survey of up to a thousand individuals who bore witness to child abuse, found that a-third of males are inclined to model after their fathers and become abusers themselves, two-thirds of females modeled after their mothers, became victim/enablers.  There’s a lacking of this sort of research data here in Taiwan, what’s worrisome is, that even though there’s more focus on women’s rights, the Taiwanese women still couldn’t break away from the traditions, and, the young children who bore witness to abuse still continued to hide behind their helpless mothers, trapped in fear.

Dai said, the American child neurologist, Perry discovered, that children as young as two years and nine months can feel the conflicts in the atmospheres, and this will affect their frontal lobes, which is in charge of focus and cognition the most, as well as the hippocampus, responsible for interpersonal relations and intimacy.

Dai found that for children who bore witness to violence develop that sense of shame, and as adolescents, they wanted to escape from home, and would act out by becoming truant.  The more the children bore witness to violence, once they get lost, it’s easy, that these children will join gangs.

photo from UDN.com

the way the neighbors can help keep a child safe…

Two yeas ago the case that shocked the entire society in Chien-Zhen District, Kaohsiung, with the bodies on ice, the ignition point was the man, Ting’s long-term abuse on his wife and children, his wife got so furious, told their son, “you need to make him (her husband) disappear from our lives for good”, and in the end, the mother and son murdered the man together.  Dai stated, that in recent years, the cases of murder by children are mostly caused by domestic violence, the children saw their mother get abused by their father, and, accumulated the anger or in a moment of anger, crimes were, committed.

The Kaohsiung Teachers’ College associate professor, Wei told, that when parents used violence to control everything, the children will learn, that violence is the only way to resolve things, and some of children raised in such an environment become abusers.  The social workers needed to give counsel to those who bore witness to these acts of violence, but currently, there’s only, limited resources the government puts into this.

Dai suggested that the schools, the communities, the medical facilities can all work together, to have a stronger effect, to set up an attachment relationship of trust.  The teachers should NEVER carry the attitude of “once you’re out of school you’re not my responsibility!”, they are the keys to keep the children’s minds and bodies safe.

A lot of people would turn a blind eye to the neighbors’ business, but the protection of children exposed to abuse, the neighbors can step in at the right time, when the parents start fighting, the children can temporarily head over to the neighbors to work on the homework, and the neighbors would do a great job in protecting these children.

And so, because of the prevalence of these domestic violence cases, and children being raised under such an environment, it’s not healthy for the children, this is why the neighbors need to be a sort of a safety net, because if you don’t look out for someone who’s in need, when you’re in need, nobody’s going to care about you either, and it still, goes, both ways!

Traumatized, Between a Parent & a Child

The adults’ careless words that impacted a child into the adulthood years, this showed the extent of your words, and their effects in your children’s lives, translated…

When I was five, I’d always, slept, with upside down on my parents’, bed, they couldn’t understand why I’d needed to sleep with them, and, they couldn’t, get me to stop climbing in next to them in the middle of the nights, but, because I’d, adjusted my sleeping postures soon enough, they’d, allowed me to sleep with them, and they’d, forgotten this, tiny interlude of my, childhood years.

But I still remember something that upset me during this period of time. 

Late one night, I suddenly woke, heard my parents in conversation, I’d not moved an inch, I’d not wanted to listen in on their conversations, just wanted to, fall back to sleep again, but, a sentence that’s stayed with me came into my ear canals, ‘if my daughter was so-and-so that would be wonderful!”

The person my parents were referring to was my older female cousin, very well-behaved, did excellent academically too, it’s only natural, that the adults, loved her so, but, am I, really, that awful?  I’d started, to cry in the darkness, until my parents finished their conversations, fell asleep, I’d, still, stayed, wide awake, shocked, at this “secret” I’d heard.

“So, mom and dad don’t love me”, this thought started, rooting itself down inside of my young mind, and after this long, even though, the vines that entangled me in were, already, cut off almost, completely, but, I couldn’t, uproot this thought one bit.

The adults may think, that children can’t understand, or that they forget easily, and sometimes, their, careless words, blurted out, had caused the traumas in your young’s mind forever.

And this is precisely W-H-Y, you FUCKING (don’t pardon me here!!!) adults need to WATCH what you say in front of your kids, because even IF you think they’re not listening, their eyes are still, watching G-O-D, with their ears, tuned IN to your words, so, DO take this into consideration, the next time you want to blurt something out, even IF you don’t mean it so seriously, your young will, take it to heart, ‘cuz that’s, what we, children, ALL do!!!

The Air, My Friend

The column by Jimmi Liao, on the calming words of reassurance, offered to a young child, translated by me…

The Cloud Rocked Me in its Arms,

Hummed that Lullaby,

Don’t Worry Little Baby, Fret Not Little Baby

The Clouds are Light, the Wind Gentle, Everything Will be, All Right………

the artwork of Jimmi Liao, off of UDN.com

We are all in need, of this sort of a reassurance right now, especially with this whole world currently going crazy, and, the safest place we can find is here, inside our minds, for in our own minds, we are, able to, live on freely, without any worries or fears!

The Railroad that Extended, Through Our, Childhood Years…

The railroad that extended, through our, childhood years, it’d, sped off, west (or was it, east) bound, and, it’d, not slowed down one bit, just kept going, going, going, ‘til it was, completely, G-O-N-E…

The railroad that extended, through our, childhood years, they’d, taken us very far, helped our imaginations soar, didn’t it?  And yet, reality, eventually, dragged us all back down to the ground, and we get, trampled on!

what that, looked, like…with no end in sight…photo from online

The railroad that extended, through our, childhood years, do you, remember it?  How it runs, on, and on, and on, and on, and on?  How we thought we couldn’t, get to the terminal stations?  Well, we’re, here, the end of the line, where childhood is, completely, gone, and we can’t, EVER, get it back again.

The railroad that extended, through our, childhood years, oh how I wish, it could, keep on going, until eternity comes, but it can’t, it’d, ended already, as I got my, innocence, STOLEN from, under me, back as a young child from before.

And no, it still, was, NEVER my fault!!!

A Different Life

With the assistance given to these families by the foundation, these families can finally, have some sense of, normalcy in their, functioning, translated…

In the meetings that day, the senior early childhood intervention educator, Mrs. Shih told everybody, there was a student’s mother whom she’d lost contact with that’s gotten reconnected with her on FB, told her that her twins who were, helped by the center from before, who’d, received the early intervention helps are, in the universities now.

Mrs. Shih said, as the mother told her how her children were doing, it’d, deeply impacted her, because as the twins were sent to the early intervention center, they had troubles, feeding themselves, and yet, Mrs. Shih wasn’t as experienced as she is now, she’d, become, too nervous when looking after the twins, worried, that she may, injure the twin if she weren’t, careful enough; but, over a decade later, the twins had the abilities to take the entrance exams for college, and, they’d, both gotten into the public universities too.

I’d once heard other coworkers, sharing the tales of success.  The person in the story was, Shen, he’d lost his parents, and lacked that secure attachment, he’d, needed to hug everybody he saw, and in the end, he was called, the “sexual predator”; but, as he’d been sent to the foundation for placement, he’d, learned to express his insecurity in an alternative method, and because of the company he had from his teachers, his peers, he’d, changed his manners from being timid as he’d come to the center, to now, being able to, laugh out loud.

There was, also, the younger brother of a guy, that he’d, felt like an older brother to his own older brother, because his older brother needed to get taken care of more.  Thankfully, after the older brother received job trainings, he’d, started working, not only was he making his own way, he’d no longer needed to, be watched over staying at home, and he finally had the time, to do what he wanted to do, and felt the burdens, lifted from his shoulders now.

If the early interventions didn’t happen, then, the twins may still need someone else to help them at meal time, let alone how they’d, taken the college entrance exams; had the teachers not helped Shen adjust his behavior problems, he would now still be, misunderstood, as a “sex predator”; if the older brother didn’t get the job training he needed, the younger brother would still be, carrying that burden of taking care of him, and NOT had a life of his own, the life that he’d, wanted; and, those families that were, torn apart, because of the children’s conditions, after the children were, placed in the early intervention programs, the atmospheres at home became much better; and, the aging parents, who could, no longer look after their own young, and after they’d asked the First Welfare Foundation for assistance, they’d now, found time to breathe, for themselves…………

Every time I’d heard these stories, it’d, moved me very much, the teachers at the First Welfare Foundation, had originally, just wanted to, help the needed to have a better, a more comfortable life, but, their work had, touched the families as well, helped these families, changed for the better, giving a higher quality of life, of the family members.

Reason why I’d started this column, is because, I want the world to know, how extraordinary these teachers are, how they’re, using their, professionalism, their passions, persistence, and love, to help turn the families they’d helped, around, giving the families, new hope, so they can, keep on, hoping for, a better, a brighter future for themselves.

And so, this, is considered the fishing pole program, because this foundation had helped those who are, mentally decapacitated to have a skill set, to train them to take care of themselves, so, their families no longer need to worry about them all the time, and, this is an amazing program, and we should have more of these, social welfare foundations that are, doing this sort of work in the world.

The Air, My Friend

The column by Jimi Liao, translated by me…

The child to the sloth, or, the sloth, to the child…

Let’s take it slow now…………

No matter how quickly the world changes………

Let’s just, take it slow……………

No matter, how worked up others are around us………

We will, continue to, take it slow together………

One day…

Someone will, finally, get us………

Understanding, that slower is faster……

We’re in no rush……………

Slowly, slowly, slower, slower………………

And this, would be how hard you’re all, PUSHING your children, to catch up to your tempos or paces, and by doing that, you’d, deprived your young, of taking their times, to grow UP slow, at their own paces, and, at the same time, you’d, SLAUGHTERED your young children like P-I-G-S, depriving them, of a happy, AND carefree childhood!

The Air, My Friend

The column by Jimi Liao, translated…

I Heard His Cries

I Felt His Despair

I’d Touched His Sorrows

I’d, Closed the Book

He’d, Vanished So Suddenly

Then, Immediately, Came to Me Again

And so, this showed, how the pen IS, mightier than the SWORD, the words touched people, even AFTER they’re done, getting spoken out there, and the influences of words will keep on carrying over…

What? I’m Korean!

Finding out why, and, letting go of that feeling of being betrayed, realizing, that what the adults in your life did, was what they thought was, best for you, translated…

Ever since I could recall, I’d lived alone, with my mother in Korea, we’d never spent, a day apart. Later, I’d come to Taiwan to study, to marry, to have children, and settled down in Taipei, with my mother there, by my side. But, shortly after she passed, my former classmates from Korea sent me a weird news: there were, a couple of Koreans who were, desperately, searching for me, and claimed that they were, my relatives.

How’s that possible? Am I, zoomed in, by the international scam artists?

From before when there was only a small circle of Asians we’d associated ourselves with, there’s, that invisible sense of pride from being Chinese, that was, that sense of superiority of being Chinese, not wanting to be with the Koreans, we were, living, on someone else’s land, but felt, that they were, second class citizens. This weird belief, showed the most when someone is arguing with an Asian person, when we only needed to blurt out, “You looked like a Korean!”, it was, the biggest sort of insult to the individual, and, the person you’re arguing with will totally get outraged when you’d called them that.

like this family???  Photo from online…

Growing up in this sort of an atmosphere, I’d only begged to pass the Korean language exams, and, every other course in high school, I’d made straight A’s, only Korean, I’d scored toward the bottom; and, my communication abilities was just enough, for me to use when I go shopping in the marketplaces.

When the Korean who’d come met me to show me he was related to me, he’d provided the adoption papers, and photos of me as a young child, mailed everything to me, and, all of those, “evidences” proved, that I was, a Korean, heads down!

Isn’t it outrageous, thinking that I was, Chinese all along, and then, I turned out to be, Korean? This was, the biggest kind of irony. I refused to admit that I was, Korean, I hated that classmate who’d, exposed me for who I was, and I’d, hated my birthmother, for giving me up for adoption.

After six months’ worth of struggles, my second eldest sister kept making those international calls to care for me, and, repeatedly, sent the presents to my husband and my two children, and my heart finally, started, to disarm itself, and finally agreed to, meet with them.

In the city of Suwon, I’d finally, met my five sisters and my younger brother. All these middle-aged uncles and aunts, as they’d, described of the hardship and trials they’d weathered through in life, I’d not heard a single word of complaint, their persistence, optimism, passion, comparing to my own prejudices, my aloofness, my dissatisfactions, made me so ashamed I wanted to find a hole to hide in.

What right had I, to hold my prejudices against Koreans? And, why can’t I understand, the pains and hardships my mother who’d carried me for ten whole months, and know how trying it must’ve been, for her, to give me up for adoption? Had it been not my birthfather’s death when he was way too young, had it not been my mother being too young, and needed to remarry, had it not been for my second eldest sister crying for one whole weeks at my adopted mother’s home, and got “returned”, and I got sent up for adoption, my fate would’ve been, so totally, different, how could I have gotten to live as an only child, cherished, sent to Taiwan for my college years, to become a teacher, to meet a good man, and marry and have children.

or this???  Photo from online…

And now, both my mothers had passed, but the love they had for me, was enough, to last me, my whole life. Toward my birthmother, other than being grateful, there’s, that extra understanding; for my adoptive mother, other than, being grateful, there’s that sense of, missing her forever!

And so, it’s all due to fate, that this had, happened, and, back when you were a child, you may not understand WHY it was, that you were, given up for adoption, and perhaps, you’d carried the resentments toward your birthparents, for giving you up, and your adoptive parents, to keeping the truth from you, but, as you got older, and started your own family, you’d, realized, that given the situations of your past, all those adults did what they thought was, best for you, and, you’d become, grateful, for having everything that you have in life…