Sometimes it is fun to allow kids to be our parents!!!
For instance on some days I insist on my son staying back with me on school days and he explains to me that he can't simply miss the school!!! He tells me everyone got to do some study and work and off he goes without any tantrums to school and on returning gives me a big hug saying,"did you miss me? I am so sorry"
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
Curious mind
My little son witnessed a bitter street fight and was shocked!!
He kept asking, "Why were they fighting?"
Next he saw television war images and asked the same question.
I had taught him what friendship is but never told him or used the word enemy...
Now I had a problem.
But then as I tried explaining that just like your friends fight over some pencils or toy big people too fight, he smiled and said,'Oh, so some are good friendly friends and some are fighting friends'.
So we define enemy as: Fighting friends!!!
He kept asking, "Why were they fighting?"
Next he saw television war images and asked the same question.
I had taught him what friendship is but never told him or used the word enemy...
Now I had a problem.
But then as I tried explaining that just like your friends fight over some pencils or toy big people too fight, he smiled and said,'Oh, so some are good friendly friends and some are fighting friends'.
So we define enemy as: Fighting friends!!!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Learning ladder
Kids have an interesting way of learning.
We tried teaching spellings to our kid in different ways but it just wouldn't work.
Finally we made a 'word game' between us. One would say 'apple' and the next one had to say something beginning with 'e' and so on and so forth went the game...
It worked and now we have managed to build a good vocabulary.
Learning is a subconscious process for some. Fear doesn't operate at that level.
Here winning the game was more important at conscious level and learning spellings came subconsciously.
We tried teaching spellings to our kid in different ways but it just wouldn't work.
Finally we made a 'word game' between us. One would say 'apple' and the next one had to say something beginning with 'e' and so on and so forth went the game...
It worked and now we have managed to build a good vocabulary.
Learning is a subconscious process for some. Fear doesn't operate at that level.
Here winning the game was more important at conscious level and learning spellings came subconsciously.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Talk to them and Make them think
Parenting is all about giving inputs to the young minds. Inputs are mainly food for both physical and mental growth. Most well-educated and well-informed parents concentrate on all fronts very consciously. Yet the outcomes are not often satisfactory…where are we going wrong?
First of all, all children are not similar. Each of them has strong individual character. They are good at doing something or the other. If we make them go against their natural flair they often become stressed and behave badly or turn out to be little rebels! Thus taming them becomes impossible. There is no short cut to come out of the situation. Sending them to best schools, good private tutors etc. or resorting to various types of punishments is of little help in grooming them.
The innocent minds have many confusions and queries about what they see and what they feel. They need to be told strongly about what is right and can be done and what is wrong and cannot be done.
How to tell them? By spending much time with them and talking to them. The small hands need strong hands to hold on to before they step into the real world. It is necessary to make them think and feel how their bad behaviour is not appreciated and that makes us sad. Children have much love and affection in them and they’ll go to any extent to bring smile on the faces of their dear ones. Good emotional bonding with children is extremely enriching for adults too.
A child is forever hungry for both kinds of food. We need to give food for physical growth and food for thought with equal importance. We can involve them in weaving stories; allow them to be imaginative. If we tell them the situation they’ll surely tell us the best ending. We may ask them to help in household works. Simple tasks like watering plants or counting number of eggs in the fridge will make them feel like a big responsible boy or girl. They need to be rewarded (by simple clapping may be) when they do their job well. They’ll automatically learn not to tear the leaves of the plants or break the eggs. Investing more time than money in the little souls thus makes us doubly rich!
First of all, all children are not similar. Each of them has strong individual character. They are good at doing something or the other. If we make them go against their natural flair they often become stressed and behave badly or turn out to be little rebels! Thus taming them becomes impossible. There is no short cut to come out of the situation. Sending them to best schools, good private tutors etc. or resorting to various types of punishments is of little help in grooming them.
The innocent minds have many confusions and queries about what they see and what they feel. They need to be told strongly about what is right and can be done and what is wrong and cannot be done.
How to tell them? By spending much time with them and talking to them. The small hands need strong hands to hold on to before they step into the real world. It is necessary to make them think and feel how their bad behaviour is not appreciated and that makes us sad. Children have much love and affection in them and they’ll go to any extent to bring smile on the faces of their dear ones. Good emotional bonding with children is extremely enriching for adults too.
A child is forever hungry for both kinds of food. We need to give food for physical growth and food for thought with equal importance. We can involve them in weaving stories; allow them to be imaginative. If we tell them the situation they’ll surely tell us the best ending. We may ask them to help in household works. Simple tasks like watering plants or counting number of eggs in the fridge will make them feel like a big responsible boy or girl. They need to be rewarded (by simple clapping may be) when they do their job well. They’ll automatically learn not to tear the leaves of the plants or break the eggs. Investing more time than money in the little souls thus makes us doubly rich!
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