Child Development Articles

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Pchum Ben Day 2011

I share my view on the important of family reunion during Pchum Ben day and my sincere appreciation on my parents in maintaining family relation. I also write about the different view between old generation and young generation in giving meaning of reunion. These two views have gap which is difficult to converge in the modern society where young generation gives more meaning to friendship.

Pchum Ben is a day of family reunion and most of Buddhist followers observe this event as the most important for family reunion. Pchum Ben has a total of 15 days starting from the 1 roach (dark moon?) to the 15 roach which is call biggest day or Pchum Ben.  From the 1 roach or ben 1 to 13 roach or ben 13, children or individual family go to pagoda to pray and give offerings to their death ancestors; and on the 14 roach or ben 14, most families goes back to their hometown or the place of their parents' origin for family reunion. Then on the biggest day or ben 15, all families members go to pagoda altogether and visited resort or have picnic.
Tomorrow will be the biggest day or Pchum Ben. All of my brothers and sisters come to Kg Som where my parents are living for reunion. We often have happy time together. We make foods, eat and make fun of others. Every year, all of my siblings come to Kg Som for reunion. In Phnom Penh, we have different house and it is always difficult to stay and have chat together (i have 4 sibling living in Phnom Penh) as they are all busy. But, during Pchum Ben day, when we have family reunion, we always stay up late and everyone keep talking and talking.
My parents especially my mother, in her late 70s, is the happiest person during Pchum Ben day as she wants to maintain family relation and wants to see all of her children staying around. Though she is physically weak and affected by many disease (diabetes, blood pressure, stomachache, gallbladder tumor) she tries her best to walk around slowly in order to make sure everything runs properly and in order to welcome our arrival. My father, about 70 years old, goes to his farm to collect fruits especially coconut for us to drink.
This year, I plan to take my mother to Vietnam for checking up after the visit during Khmer New year this year, but she strongly refused to go. She argues that she missed the chance to welcome her children visit during Khmer New Year which is also the family reunion day, she would not go during Pchum Ben which is even more important than the Khmer New Year. She tries to eat in order to show that she has no problem and healthy though sometimes she could not bear the pain. I do feel pity on her for her devotion and tries her best to be the children shadow. She plays good model to us in maintaining family relation and giving love to all children no matter how old they are.
Since we arrived yesterday, it keeps raining and raining. My son and two of my nieces are sick. This year, it seems a bit quiet at least three of the small children get sick and cannot be playful. I wish they all recover soon so that they can make the reunion for meaningful and has full of fun.
By the way, it is easy to bring all small children along, they always follow the parents. But, when their are in their teenager-hood, they demand for their own freedom. It is not easy to bring them along anymore as they have their own destination and have different thought. For the parents, we think it is important for all children come to visit grandparents house and play with other cousins after being away from each other for almost a year; yet for adult children, age 16 and over, they have their own thought and demand to visit other places with their teenage friends and give less meaning to family reunion. It is hard to bring the two thought convergent. If we try to hard, they thought we did not understand about freedom; if we did not try, others thought we are too loose to educate our children. Being parents, it is difficult sometimes in particular to maintain family relationship. I very much appraise the big effort my parents have  done in order to bring all their children together. But, for us, we may not be able to follow this role model as the modern stage children are very difficult to deal with. I also cannot assure if Noren, in his teenager-hood, would follow me or not. Let's see what will happen in the future.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Playing with Foods

By September 18, 2011 Noren or commonly known as Shin-chan, a Japanese popular cartoon, turns to 18 months and 3 weeks. His height was 85 cm and weight was 12 kg while he was measured last month. Noren is big, he is actually comparable to other children in his age.

He starts to eat foods himself. He cries for eating foods himself. I was happy at the first time when I learned that my little son started to eat independently and I encouraged him to eat by himself. A few minutes later, he spread rice all over the place. In fact, he was striving to put the spoon into is little mouth. He was difficult to demand his little hands to touch the spoon and putting foods into his mouth. I was not upset but I laughed. I told myself that my little son is starting to learn. He will learn about how to use the spoon quickly.

Unfortunately, he failed to put the spoon into his mouth. One reason that I observed was not because of difficulty in demanding his hands to use the spoon, but it was his playfulness. He likes playing with foods which sometimes upsetting me. I wonder how to stop my child from playing with foods. If I took the foods from him immediately, he would cry out loud. One not-good attitude of Noren is that if we immediately stop him from doing something, he would be stubborn and keep doing things we do not want him to do. When he was with me, I tried to explain to him and insist him from stop playing with foods. I used only soft words with him. Noren understand a lot of the language though he could not speak. After he understood my soft insisting, he stopped playing it. But, it was for short time. So, what can I do next? Shout at him? force him to stop playing? or just simply taking him away from where he sat?

Fortunately, I came up with one interesting article about ‘How to stop your child from playing foods’. I read it with interest and I think it is worth sharing with all my friends who experienced or will experience similar issue. Please read the article below and if you are interested, you can register to be the member of the group via  http://www.babycenter.com

The article is written by Patricia Henderson Shimm, parent educator and author
http://www.babycenter.com 
It may be difficult to stop your child from fiddling with her food overnight, but how you respond when she does can gradually bring about change in her behavior. Although it may be tempting to scold her for playing at the table, try not to. Instead, when you sit down for a meal, enjoy your food and see whether she follows suit. When she starts building forts with her mashed potatoes or castles with her broccoli, calmly say, “Oh, I see you’re finished eating,” and take her plate away. You can also remind her that food is not for playing but for eating. The point is to avoid turning mealtime into a battleground or into a manners lesson in which you constantly have to monitor what she’s doing with her food. You concentrate on your food and assume she’s doing the same with hers. If you’re worried that she’ll starve, try not to show it, and take heart: Kids will eat when they’re hungry, especially active 2-year-olds who need an endless energy supply to fuel their growing minds and bodies.

If she seems uninterested in what you’ve prepared for her, avoid asking what she’d like to eat instead. Turning your kitchen into a restaurant where your child can order what she wants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner can be disastrous. If you operate on the assumption that everyone is eating what’s on the evening’s menu, she’ll soon learn to eat what you make.

Your child may also be playing with her food because she’s not hungry. To remedy this, don’t let her snack for at least an hour before meals so she will have the appetite to eat when it’s time. She may also be getting bored, so keep mealtimes to a realistic timetable. Your toddler really can’t be expected to sit still for more than 15 minutes at a time, even if you’ve served her absolute favorite dish. Include her in conversations by asking about her day and make the best of your time together as a family, then let her run and play while the rest of the family finishes their meal.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I Love You-Barney Song

I love you, you love me
we are happy family with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you,
won't you say you love me too.

I love you, you love me
we're best friends like friends should be with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you,
won't you say you love me too.

This is Noren's favorite song. He often smiles when he hears this song. Though he may not understand the meaning now, he will know it when he grows up.

I also like to listen to this song. It is about love within family and friends. If we love someone, we will be loved! Be nice to others, others be nice to you. I explained the meaning of this song to little Noren though I know that he may not get all the points. I expect one day he will understand.

To me, a good song is not a song for us to sing along, but it is a song with meaningful. It has to be both good lyrics and music. According to this song, it is important to show our love to others if we want to be loved.

This is the first sentiment lesson that I try to educate my little boy. I hope he will be loved and will have full of love in the whole life.


Kindhearted mummy

Monday, July 4, 2011

My short visit to the Pou Kroch village

As part of the pre-test for basic course round 21 part II, the course participants and ADI team are required to stay in the village overnight in order to conduct pre-test. In fact, conducting pre-test does not necessarily to stay in the village, but the indigenous villagers have different characteristic. During day time, almost all households go to do farming at their far away farm. If we visit the village at 10 am, we would meet none of them except young children.
The stay in village went so good last night. I stayed at village chief’s house. The village chief’s daughter is very socialize person, she sat with me while i was using internet and ask a lot of questions. Though she is originally bunong, she could speak Khmer language fairly well. She has two-year old daughter. She told me that she works on her 3 ha farm along while her husband works as district police rarely help her. Her husband works in Koh Nhek commune and visits the house once in two or three months. She, being alone, looks after her two-years old daughter and do farming for her own benefit. I wonder if this is common practice in indigenous villages whereby husband provide little support and help to the family. If this is the case, i would feel sympathy to those indigenous women who were born just as ‘housewife and farmer’ and gain little benefit from the husband.
The village locates along the road to Bou Sra waterfall. Villagers of the village gain benefit from the tourist to the waterfall through their small vending and wage labor. In the meanwhile, they also do farming which could support their family.
Over the last year, villagers faced problem related to drought. Villagers have poor system to save water and they do not have enough water to use for the whole year. Some villagers indicated that some months they do not have water to drink or for bathing. Though there is some rain fall during dry season, villagers still face such a problem. I observe that villagers did not have big water containers to save rainfall and they do not dig big pond too. The work on farm depends heavily on rainfall. If no rainfall, no foods.
I concluded that villagers do not have any adaptive capacity to climate change. They will face severe drought problem in the future if they were not trained about climate change adaptation. Indigenous villagers also have low capacity as entrepreneurship. Literacy level is also very low in this village.
[to be completed]

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Blogspot could be accessed through Metfone

ពិតជាចំលែកណាស់ដែលពេលថ្មីៗនេះ blogspot អាចបើកបានតាមរយ:​​ internet metfone​ ព្រោះថា អស់រយ:កាលជាច្រើនខែកន្លងមកហើយដែល​ metfone​ បានបិទការចូលទៅកាន់​blogspot។​
ពីដំបូងឡើយ​ ខ្ញុំបើកblogspot ដើម្បីចែករំលែកពត៌មានអំពីការចិញ្ចឹម​ និងថែរក្សាកូន​​។​​ ជាធម្មតាខ្ញុំប្រើប្រាស់ internet តាមរយ: metfone ព្រោះមានតំលៃសេវាសមរម្យ និងអាចភ្ជាប់បានគ្រប់ទីកន្លែង តែកាលពី​៤ ឬ៥ខែមុន blogspotត្រូវមានហាមឃាត់មិនឲ្យមានការ ប្រើប្រាស់​ជាពិសេសតាមរយ: metfone។​ នៅពេលបានដឹងពត៌មាននេះ ខ្ញុំស្រងាកចិត្តបន្តិច ព្រោះខ្ញុំត្រូវអវត្តមាននៅក្នុងការ​សរសេរអត្ថបទថ្មីៗដាក់លើ blogទៀត ហើយមិនដឹងជាពេលណា ដែលខ្ញុំអាចប្រើប្រាស់​blog នេះបានទៀតទេ​  ដូច្នេះ ខ្ញុំសំរេចចិត្តបើក​ blogថ្មីតាមរយ: wordpress​ ព្រោះថា​metfoneមិនបានបិទការចូលទៅកាន់​និងសរសេរលើblog នេះទេ។​ អាសយដ្ឋានថ្មីនោះគឺ http://channy4peaceoflife.wordpress.com។​

ស្រាប់តែសប្តាហ៍មុននេះ ខ្ញុំអាចចូលប្រើប្រាស់ blogspot តាមរយ: metfone​ បានជាធម្មតាវិញ។​ នេះពិជារឿងចំលែកណាស់ ព្រោះថានៅក្នុងស្ថាននៃការអនុវត្តទីផ្សារសេរី នរណាអាចធ្វើអ្វីក៏បានដែលឲ្យតែមានប្រយោជន៍ចូល ផ្ទុយទៅវិញ metfone ជ្រើសរើសយកវិធី​បិទ​ការចូលរទៅកាន់blogspot ដោយអនុវត្តតាមការស្នើសុំរបស់រដ្ឋាភិបាល។​ តែទោះជាយ៉ាងណាក្តីខ្ញុំសូមសារទរចំពោះការសំរេចចិត្តរបស់ metfoneនៅក្នុងការអនុញ្ញាតឲ្យមានការចូលទៅកាន់ blogspot សារជាថ្មីម្តងទៀត។ នេះក៏អាចជាសញ្ញាល្អមួយសំរាប់ការផ្តល់សេរីភាពក្នុងការបញ្ចេញមតិ។

សង្ឃឹមថាការបញ្ចេញមតិខាងលើរបស់ខ្ញុំអាចឲ្យអ្នកអានងាយយល់ ហើយខ្ញុំនឹងមិនទទួលរងការចោទប្រកាន់ពីភាគីពាក់ព័ន្ធ។​ :-)

Friday, June 3, 2011

Paradigm Shift

I attended two-day workshop hosted by ICCO for its partners and potential partners. ICCO presented its revise program and procedure of fund release. In its new strategic plan (2011-2015) ICCO will phase out its health program and shift it focus on Natural Resource Management (NRM) and Rule of Law (specifically on human right). these are new changes that will affect on its existing partners and how to make those changes beneficial to community or Cambodia as a whole.

The two-day workshop collect and share discussion

[to be continue...]

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Impact Monitoring and Evaluation

 The course is facilitated by VBNK for the EED partners in Cambodia. This course aims to improve capacity of the partners in monitor and evaluate impact of their program/project.

The design newly introduced by EED will be incorporated into new proposal for new phase. While VBNK team facilitates the process of training, they will also provide direct support to partners who need help after the course. In fact, the course conducted by VBNK for EED partners is to share general idea and concept of what is 'Impact Monitoring and Evaluation' rather than merely a practicum exercise of EED 'Result Chaim' or 'impact monitoring and evaluation'.

It is expected that the EED representative will provide orientation to all partners in November on how to apply the 'result chain' framework into their new proposal and project report. In November seems to be long as the Analyzing Development Issues Center (ADI C) will develop its proposal with an inclusion of 'impact monitoring and evaluation'  framework in June and to be submitted to EED in June 17.

Below are general feature of Impact Monitoring and Evaluation introduced by VBNK team on May 23, 2011.

Impact Chain (OECD/DAC)-particularly in M&E
- Impact: Positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects produced by a development intervention, directly or indirectly intended or unintended.
- Outcome: the likely or achieved short-term and medium-term effects of an intervention's outputs [as a result of their utilization]
-Used of outputs
- Outputs: the products, capital goods and services which result from a development intervention; may also include changes resulting from the intervention which are relevant to the achievement of outcomes.
- Activity: Actions taken or work performed through which inputs, such as funds, technical assistance and other types of resources are mobilized to produce specific outputs.
- Inputs: The financial, human, and material resources used for the development intervention.

Hierarchy of Objectives -in Planning (of a program/project)
- Overall Goal: Higher development objective to which the project is supposed to contribute.
- Project Objective: Description of a desired situation that is supposed to be achieved through a tangible project
- Output/result: Material and immaterial products, goods and services directly produced by a project
- Activities: Steps taken by the project bearer to achieve the planned outputs and objectives
- Inputs: Used resources to carry out the planned activities.

These are just introduction part of the Impact Monitoring and Evaluation course. The more advance skill will depend on sharing of experiences of participants to the course and facilitator. The actual learning will reflect on how participants use this skill and techniques to meaningfully use in their own program/project of their NGOs. The practice is the challenge that facilitators will have to take into serious consideration. Learning is not for the sake of learning or learning for granting; but learning for the benefit of implementing your knowledge from the learning and how you can transform the learning into actual practice.

[to be completed]

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Research as Generating New Knowledge or Business

I attended course on Research Project Development and Management organized by CDRI with support from Cambodia Development Research Forum (CDRF).

...

Friday, January 28, 2011

កំណាព្យដកស្រង់ពីរឿងទុំទាវ

៣០៥. មកយល់វាលវែងត្រែងដួលដុះ  ផ្កាសត្រសុសផ្លេកភ្លឺថ្លា
ដូចរូបសម្បុរពណ៌កនិដ្ឋា  ដូចផ្កាត្រែងត្រស់ស្រណោះពេក។
មៀងមើលទឹកជ្រៅស្មៅត្រកៀក  ចិត្តបងចង្អៀតរឹងវិវេគ
ត្រកួនដូចខ្លួនបងឈប់ដេក  ឈបដោយម្លប់មេឃត្របែកព្រៃ។​

កំណាព្យនេះពិតជាមានន័យមែន។​ ប៉ុន្តែខ្ញុំឆ្ងល់ថា​ ហេតុអ្វីបានជាព្រះភិក្ខុសោមអាចតែងរឿងទុំទាវជា កំណាព្យបានល្អយ៉ាងដូច្នេះ​ ជាពិសេសនៅត្រង់ឈុតដែលទុំមកសាសងស្នេហាជាមួយនាងទាវលើក ដំបូងបន្ទាប់ពីគាត់លាចាក សិក្ខាបទ។​ ថ្វីត្បិតថា ព្រះភិក្ខុសោម ជាព្រះសង្ឃ តែលោកបានតែងកំណាព្យសាសងស្នេហា និងរៀបរាប់សំរស់ព្រៃឈើតាមអារម្មណ៍របស់បុរសទើបមានស្នេហាលើកដំបូងបានយ៉ាងល្អឥតខ្ចោះ។