Parental Observation Skills are Superpowers
Parents, did you realize that you can have superpowers and one of them is learning how to use parental observational skills for good ?
Are you a busy parent who struggles with what activities to do with your child when you spend time with them?
In this post, you’ll discover how your observational skills can help you to do activities with your baby that really matter.
You Get Busy and Forget About Parental Observational Skills
Most busy parents are desperate to just get through their day. Closely observing what their child is learning and doing sometimes falls to the bottom of the “To-Do” list.
Do you have the same problem with knowing how to observe your child as you do activities together, too? It can be overwhelming!
So, I’ll share some simple ways to observe your baby. Then, you won’t have to struggle with how to spend time with them.
However, it can be difficult to change your routine or your mindset about how to do things. It can be especially tricky, though.
Observing your child and really seeing what they’re doing and learning requires a little extra time on your part. But, the ways I’m going to give you will help you and make it easier.
“Your Musical Baby” Class Activities
So, there are a couple of things to keep in mind to use parental observation skills.
I would like to introduce you to “Your Musical Baby” Class activities. It is a three year program modeled on the educational philosophy of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki.
These activities are so useful for parents and their babies. They will give you an organized list of things to do with your child to help you both learn and grow.
Parental observation skills are a powerful part of “Your Musical Baby” Class. You can become a keen observer of your child and fully engaged with them.
In turn, your baby is going to gain observational skills of their own. They will see you model the activities and behaviors for them.
What Does “Observe” Mean?
The Oxford dictionary defines the word “observe” as “to notice or perceive something and register it as being significant”.
Furthermore, it defines “observation” as “the action or process of observing something or someone carefully in order to gain information.
That is what you’re doing when you observe your child. You are gaining information about what they’re doing and learning.
Begin Learning How to Use Your Parental Observational Skills
- Be truly curious and interested in what your child is doing and the skills that they are learning. Show them that you are open to learning from everyone and everything around you. Be aware that there are life lessons to be observed and learned in every situation. In this way, you will learn much about your child and yourself.
- Be intentional about the learning opportunities for your baby. Slow down. Look outward. Try new things. “Your Musical Baby” Class is one of those new possibilities to help you and your child learn observation skills and life skills through musical activities.
Focus Is the Key to Observational Skills
It’s easy to be distracted and just go from task to task through our days. We see people and things, but do they really register in our brains?
Your observational skills can be so much more powerful if you’re focused.
The Italian educator, Maria Montessori said, “We cannot create observers by saying ‘observe’, but by giving children the power and the means for this observation and these means are procured through education of the senses.”
Four Ways to Improve Parental Observation Skills
Here are four suggestions for improving your own observational skills first.
- Daily pay attention to your surroundings. Really pay attention to the people and the things that you encounter.
- Educate your senses to notice what people are doing and saying. How do they act in situations with you and others?
- Challenge yourself to a mental workout. Use your eyes, ears, and heart to find deeper meaning of the opportunities and experiences that you have.
- Finally, try this. Play a memory game with yourself. Get a photo, look at it, and look away. Then, try to describe as many details in the photo as you can remember. Here is another memory game to try. Think of a room in your home. Then make a list of everything in that room that you can remember WITHOUT looking!
There is one more incredibly important factor to improving your observational skills. We need to learn to “just be still”. Now, there isn’t much about the 21st century that is quiet or still.
The TV is going, the news is alway on, and stores are open 24/7 If all that doesn’t distract you, then online activity keeps everything else in high gear.
If we’re honest, many of us, at any given time, have our faces in our phones. (I’m guilty is charged on more than one occasion.)
If we become focused on screens and many other things, they can distract us. Then, we become prisoners in our own heads.
That is when we miss those opportunities to see what our children are doing.
“We cannot create observers by saying ‘observe’, but by giving children the power and the means for this observation and these means are procured through education of the senses.”
Dr. Maria Montessori, Italian educator
Stop, Listen, and Look to Truly Observe
So, to tap into the true power of observation, you need to make yourself stop, listen, and look. Give yourself fully to the experiences that you and your child encounter every day.
Do you remember that definition of “observe”?
Well, your baby deserves no less than for you to truly notice or perceive something and register it as being significant about them.
Your observations will help them to learn about life and all that they are capable of doing.
As I mentioned earlier “Your Musical Baby” Class is like having an organized list of things to do with your child.
With those activities, you can use your parental observation skills superpowers for good!
Use Your Parental Observation Skill in “Your Musical Baby” Class
Here is more information about “Your Musical Baby” Class. I know you are a busy parent!
But, right now, you can get an even better idea of how observational skills work for parents in the class.
I would like to give you and your baby an opportunity to observe a “Your Musical Baby” Class for FREE on any Saturday morning.
All you have to do is use the link in the button below to get all the details via an email.
I hope you will sign up to get those details because I’d like to see you and your baby in the next Saturday class.
On the “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey” with you,
Susan
