Promoting child development (3-6 years)

By now the young kids have probably started nursery / kindergarten. A lot of parents will start to get nervous about their kids learning, and hope they can learn everything. Indeed, it's not an easy task to achieve all-round development in a kid. While genetic predispositions are important in determining a child's potential, a nurturing family and school environment is also important for their development and learning. A better understanding of children's development not only enhance child care workers' knowledge on children's characteristics, it also helps them better support the parents. In the end, we all hope to let children grow up happily and bring out their potential.

Learn about children's developmental characteristics and possible developmental disorders

The links below provide information on the developmental characteristics of children at different stages. We hope these can help you to monitor the development of children together with parents.

For details, please refer to videos.

Every child is unique and has his own pace of development. If you notice the child exhibits certain developmental warning signs, both teachers and parents need to pay more attention and monitor the child closely. If you suspect a child to have developmental problems, a referral can be made by the Maternal and Child Health Centres or doctors working in the public or private sectors to Child Assessment Service(CAS)of Department of Health(DH) or Hospital Authority(HA) for further assessment.

CAS,DH provides useful information on some of the commonly asked questions related to child developmental problems for parents and child care workers. Come and check them out!

Home-School cooperation for the new generation

The school is a crucial place for kids to grow and learn. An important focus of early education at this stage lies in helping them to learn to live in a social environment, follow rules and open a wide world of knowledge through learning. Both teachers and parents should work hand-in-hand and communicate as partners to observe and monitor the children's progresses, and give encouragement and support to children. If children are noticed to have any problems, such as in learning, communication or behaviour, teachers can discuss with parents and use the Comprehensive Child Development Service (CCDS) for referring them to MCHCs for further assessment.

Besides, you may also refer to the booklet provided by Education Bureau on “Helping your children of kindergarten age” for other useful information.

Develop children's potential through pleasurable learning

In the era of information technology, products such as electronic learning and game software, mobile phones and tablet computers provide abundant information and novel ways of learning. However, exposing kids to these products too early may make them prone to indulgence, and decrease their chance of exploration by other means, thereby affecting their developments in social, sensory and motor aspects. Thus, it is advisable to take part in these activities with your child and set time limits when using these products.

To help the kids become active learners, they need to feel happy and satisfied during learning. An enjoyable learning experience helps children enhancing their self-esteem, sense of achievement, persistence and creativity. For more information, you may refer to the pamphlets below:

  • Happy Learning 1 2

Spotlight

Possessing good virtues and optimistic thinking is important for the child to growing up. So, how can we cultivate virtues in our next generation? Come and check out the answers!

Tips

The MCHCs of Family Health Service, DH provide “Pre-School Vision Screening” for preschool children at age 4 years or above by registered optometrist/orthoptist. This includes examinations for visual acuity and binocular function (including squint). Examinations for refractive errors and fundi will be done if necessary. Prompt referrals will be made for those with suspected visual problem.