How do we get kids to start eating alone?
The ability to control the movement of the cutlery and its arrival in the mouth with food requires a continuous learning habit, where the child understands based on an explanation of the adult with actions, making the child visually grasp what to do, to later learn and repeat.
The child should be taught to develop the coordination part, which is done by:
- Coordination of the eyes.
- Coordination of the mouth.
- Coordination of hands.
The coordination of taking the food, whatever the food is without it falling and going directly to the mouth, requires patience; It is an important skill that must be fostered.
Why is it important for children to eat and do things for themselves?
Autonomy is favored in children, and it is that autonomy allows the child to learn to solve on his own.
When the adult tries to do everything for the children, even at an age when children can already eat alone and are not allowed to, they are wrong, children are taught to:
- You can never do this by yourself.
It is a mistake, it must be taught to learn, to overcome, to work on the basis of autonomy that also complies with the rules.
What is the message we want to get to the children?
The message given to children when they are not allowed to do things for themselves while they can and according to their age is the opposite of what is correct.
We should encourage, for example:
- You can.
- You are doing very well.
- Try it.
It is difficult and we know it, everything costs at first, but practice is what makes us improve, and that is what it does in the child, practicing eating only helps in the acquisition of skills.
Allowing children to act for themselves is teaching them to acquire autonomy and showing them that it is an important part of their development.
What is learned from eye-hand-mouth coordination?
Necessary learning:
- Wield.
Where each time the child becomes more skillful, he is taught how to develop better.
- Make movements.
This is necessary for when you start reading-writing.
- Children make a good line, (writing strokes).
They learn to hold and have the strength to do it.
We must understand that reading and writing need a correct perspective and space, where the learning acquired in childhood is necessary to develop and adapt to new environments.
The child's learning as a result of learning to bring food to the mouth, learning to hold and make movements:
- Visual perception.
- Eye-hand coordination.
Skills that are fostered since the child is feeding and since he learns to eat by himself.
