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I love modern technology!
One mouse click and your loved ones are in the living room with you.
The distance between people shortens in a second making the grandchild-grandparents relationship possible to develop even when they are far away from home.
The grandparent-grandchild bond is very important especially for a child's minority language development. The grandparents can help you in your task of multilingual education. Grandchildren can see and talk to the grandparents, share their special moments (for example, Birthdays, New Years, you name it!). Grandparents can always be near your the child from the infancy to the adulthood.
Since the children were born, my video calling usage increased dramatically. My parents help me a lot via Skype. They keep the kids happy and occupied with activities when I am busy preparing a meal or stepping out to get a mail. Both of my kids liked to be soothed to sleep by the grandma while sitting in the swing, it was giving something special to both of them and for me - some free time to do the house errands.I lost count of how many evenings the grandparents were watching after and reading a bed story to the older kid, while I was feeding and putting to sleep the little one.
My parents talk, read, sing, play musical instruments via Skype.
Do not underestimate what your parents or relatives can do for you from far away. Try to connect with them more often using video calling.
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9 Steps of Raising a Bilingual Child Successfully. How to Start So You Don't Feel Giving It Up Halfway Through.
Are you a multilingual family and looking for a playdate in your language? Click here to find it now!
This is all great, but what about the child exposure to computer? We also use Skype for the same reason a lot, however my dad is worried that it can be harmful...
ReplyDeleteKids almost never sit still and stare at the computer or TV screen ( we often connect computer to TV) while talking on Skype. They move around the room, play with their toys and communicate at the same time. I would be concerned only if a child stays firm at front of the computer / TV for hours and stares. The distance from the screen should be controlled as well. Otherwise I see only benefits from the time spent talking to the grandparents via Skype. It builds a better child-grandparent relationship. Grandparents do not become strangers to your kid just because they can not visit you very often. They also feel they can help you, be close to you and enjoy it. And your child benefits most by having grandparents a video call away and by developing his or her minority language.
DeleteWe do skype as well since my oldest was born, to be fair I used to skype even before because I have fairly young sibblibgs. It is great to help family bonding, this way my parents are not strangers when we go two or three times a year. My children jump in their arms right away! And it also helps with the mother tongue which would be only spoken by me otherwise.
ReplyDeleteSame here, the children really dont stand still in front of the computer but run around and dance while chatting with their grand-parents ir aunts and uncles.
With us being in Germany, my parents near Paris, one of my sisters in Brittany with my nieces and another of my sisters in Ireland, we really would lose touch without skype and whatsapp (the latest being great for sharing spontaneous pictures and voice messages)