Little Lazar, attends a preschool in Bobovo – a village close by city Svilajnac, with no more than 1000 people. Most of the people have left to work abroad, so there are only a small number of children living in the village. Houses in this village are very far away from each other, so all the kids are usually playing by themselves in their house yards. They rarely spend time and talk to other children their age.

Since he didn’t have a chance to form a bond with children his age, he developed some communication difficulties early on.

His mother, Anita, started to worry that this could have a negative impact on the rest of his growing up. Fortunately, it all changed for the better when the Foundation and the local authorities opened a preschool in Bobovo.

City Svilajnac adapted and reconstructed the preschool, and thanks to donations for Novak’s birthday last year, the Foundation equipped it with all the necessary furniture, didactic, sports materials and consumables.  The preschool is currently attended by around all children from the village aged 3-6 years old, who have by now become best friends. When we visited them, they were busy working on their art project. They were painting their very own t-shirts! Lazar was painting a volcano on his t-shirt, while his friends and teacher helped him.

Lazar, who will soon turn 6, overcame all his communication difficulties. He proudly showed us his art project – a t-shirt with a volcano painted over it.

Lazar’s parents were overwhelmed with joy when they heard that the preschool will be opened. It comforted them to know that their child is learning and playing in a safe environment while they are at work.

“It is much easier now when all the children from the village are grouped at one place. We are so happy that Lazar now has a chance to play and talk to children his age.   With the help of the teacher and the school’s speech therapist, he overcame his communication difficulties very quickly! Now he communicates with his friends much better. Every day he comes home with a new song or a new story from the preschool”, says his mother Anita.

 

Lazar and his preschool friends from the village Bobovo.

Look! Look! –   Lazar yelled while proudly showing his t-shirt with a big volcano over it. It was so inspiring for us to see him fearlessly hugging and laughing with his little friends. He couldn’t stop smiling and sharing his joy.   We were happy to see that all those donations that came from selfless people from all over the world had made such a big change for this village.  We left children from Bobovo with a sweet feeling in our hearts, wondering what lays ahead for those creative, kind and bright young minds.

If you want to give more children like Lazar a chance to grow up, learn and play in safe environments, you can join Novak’s 32^nd birthday fundraising campaign right here. Help us a give children from Serbia a solid foundation for their bright future.

The post A boy who overcame his communication problems thanks to preschool education appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Parenting is all about communicating with your child in the right way. We, parents, are grown-ups, with a lot of life experience, whilst the kids are still young and often misunderstood by us. My children, for instance, often tell me “But, mom, you just don’t understand me”. I admit I sometimes have problems in communication with them. However, I’m doing my best to comprehend what they’re trying to say or do. On the other hand, there are those opposite situations when my children cannot understand me. Moreover, they can respond to my words with plenty of eye-rolling, sighing, head-shaking, and showing that they don’t care without any regret.

In order to get full attention of your child, next time when you talk about something important, be aware of the following:

• Find the right time to talk about important issues. You can talk to your child before bedtime, when he or she is in bed, not sleeping, but playing with a toy or reading a book. Sit next to him or tuck yourself beside him in bed. Then take some time to gain his full attention until you start talking about those important issues. Or, you can choose to talk to your child when you’re outside, walking in the park. Remember, the best way to communicate with your children is when they feel relaxed.
• If they do the eye-roll every time you give them some advice, explain them it’s not the right attitude, and ask them if they disagree with what you are saying.
• If you child looks away, ask him to pay attention and make sure your talking won’t take too long.
• Turn off the TV while talking about something important, since TV draws attention away. You’ve probably noticed that they just don’t listen to you when the TV is on (some interesting content for kids, such as cartoons).

Photo credit: amslerPIX / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

You should also be prepared for a conversation. Here are some tips to do so:

• If you want your child to be a good listener, make sure you’re a good role model. Take some time to listen to them and show them you pay attention to what they are saying. Thus, when they are talking about their problems or answer your questions, use phrases such as “I agree”, “Really?”, “Yes, it must be so.”…You can also nod or shake your head.
• Don’t let anything disturb conversation with your child, like a phone call or SMS. A rude thing to do is to interrupt a conversation by saying “Wait a minute, I have to take this call and then we continue!”. This will only show the child that your phone call is more important than the things you wanted to talk about. Therefore, choose the right time for conversation.
• Don’t give endless lectures. A conversation that seems never to end, in which you do all the talking, can be exhausting for a child. In addition, if he knows that you are prone to it, he will probably withdraw from the conversation, not willing to participate. You won’t even reach the point “go in one ear and out the other”.
• Avoid criticism. This is probably the most difficult task for you, especially if the conversation is about something your child has done wrong. Try to put yourself in his place and reduce your criticism in the best possible way, so he might not be aware of it.

Photo credit: shonna1968 / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Use some of these methods and tips, and you and your child will learn how to listen to each other. This will help you develop good communication with them, which is a fundamental part of a healthy relationship.

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