11 Nov: Tips and Advice for Parents Seminar Series (In Chinese)

Tips and Advice for Parents Seminar Series, hosted by Dr. Maria Lee Lai-wan the President of Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association – “PECERA” (Hong Kong) as well as Prof Mary Waye the President of Hong Kong Association for Specific Learning Disabilities, has ended with great success.

During the seminar, Dr. Wong Hiu Lei Lilian from the Hong Kong Paediatric Foundation talked about what children’s health is, how to facilitate children’s growth and development, the challenges children with special education needs (SEN) are facing, how to create balanced and active life for SEN children, tips for parents and existing resources in the community. Dr Wong emphasized the importance of sleep and role modeling from parents, and she also suggested some possible ways parents can do with their children to enhance parental time such as story telling and going outdoor for some physical activities.

Mr Calvin Cheung from Centre of Health Education and Health Promotion, CUHK shared that there has been a decline of vegetables intake among the HK population over the past 10 years. He indicated the importance of some nutrients on the growth and development of children. Mr Cheung also offered some practical tips on reading food label, and introduced some healthy recipes which parents can prepare at home to help enhance learning of their children.

After the seminar, active responses from parents were received as indicated by quite a number of questions raised by the participants. One of the questions was about how parents can raise the self-confidence of children and Dr Wong responded by suggesting that parents can design age-appropriate family games and invite their children to play together so self-confidence can be gradually built through parental time with continuous encouragement. Another question asked about suitable food replacement if children refused to consume milk and cheese, and Mr Cheung suggested that soybean products such as fortified soymilk, tofu, etc are good substitutes, and choosing products high in calcium and low in fat as they are generally more nutritious.