I sat to chat with the father of a 14 month old and
listened to him tell me about the wonderful linguistics program he was
enrolling his daughter in.
“Can you believe she
can learn up to 5 languages in no time if she goes to this program!”
I saw how excited he was and I wondered if he would welcome
my unsolicited advice. I offered it anyway.
She will only be little for a short while. Before you know
it she will be off to elementary school where learning facts will be the rule
of the day.
The best gift you can give her is your time. Leave work
sooner than later so you can enjoy family dinners. Read bed time stories, enjoy
milk and cookies, visit an animal shelter, go to the park, run in the grass,
dip your feet into a stream and look for frogs, plant trees and gardens and watch
them grow. All this will teacher her to respect the natural world. As
she gets older show her how to care for others by taking up a cause and visit
nursing homes.
Remember the world is her classroom.
You are raising a global citizen and this takes nurturing.
The kind that no text book can give and no course can instill. It must come
from an investment on your part to be PRESENT in her life.
Too many parents are rushing from one activity to another
hoping to raise the next great one yet all the while forgetting the most
important foundations must be nurtured by parents and teachers in the early
years.
All is lost if we do not raise our children to be good people!
Show her compassion and she will learn to empathy.
Demonstrate acts of kindness so she will pay it forward.
Teach her tolerance and acceptance so she will respect differences.
Value her so she will learn that she matters.
This can’t be done if you’re
rushing from one structured activity to another.
This is not to say that organized sports, dance and art
classes have nothing to offer. They do just at the right time and not all at
the same time!
So slow down just a little.
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