vvaneesa
Posts: 170
Karma: 1
Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.
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« on: August 19, 2017, 03:09:19 AM » |
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Contrary to popular saying, parenting is the oldest profession. And while parents have always been proud of their children, sometimes you can't help but feel like there some kind of competition going on between parents. It's almost as if the triumphant parent wins a gold medal by proving they are the better parent. And how do you prove you're the better parent? You have a smarter child of course! And so the arms race begins to one up the Joneses (or at least keep up with them!).
There is a myth about certain milestones that children reach at different points in their lives. The game plan: if your child reaches the finish line milestone first, you win.
Almost as if you were imputing commands into a computer, you program in "Teach my child: Read." But then they realize just reading isn't enough, it grows to "Teach My Child: Read and Vocabulary." Then they expand it to "Teach My Child: Read and Vocabulary, Quote Shakespeare." And then "Teach My Child: Read and Vocabulary, Quote Shakespeare, 2nd Language." And it just keeps snowballing away...
The ones caught in the cross-fire? Your children! Newsflash: there is no set alarm clock that says that your child must be this or that by whatever age. Every time a child learns to talk or walk or clap, it's a miracle!
Now, there are certain things that you can do to provide these opportunities for growth. And there is nothing wrong with learning early! In fact research shows that reading early has nothing to do with IQ and everything to do with the home environment. Before you allow the voice in your head to say, "Aha!" consider the following.
The home environment doesn't mean going out and getting the most expensive DVD's or the latest learning toy. It's talking about the environment you create as a parent.
You will always be you child's favorite toy. Why? Because he knows that you are his first teacher. How much do you really believe in your child, with nothing in it for you? As his first teacher, your focus should be on their benefit, on their enjoyment, on building their self-esteem. Be the one parent that earns his gold medal from his child instead of the spectators. That will be worth more than anything the rest of the world can offer. 👨👶🏽👩
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