A human being is pretty much formed and programmed in his or her concepts about himself or herself and the surrounding world by the age of eight. Most of the work, which is done today by psychologists and psychiatrists, is to solve the problems and fill the gaps left by the experiences of those earlier years. Wouldn’t it be better to pay more attention to how we bring up our children so that they can be stronger, more able, happier, more in harmony with themselves and their environment? The future of the world depends on our children. The quality of our children and their ability to create a better world depends on us, but not in the way most may think. Let us consider here how we can help our children and ourselves to find harmony, health and happiness.
Continue reading “Our Childrens’ Needs no.1”

SECURITY

Children need to feel secure. Few feel secure when there are conflicts occurring around them. Few can relax inwardly when others around them are shouting, accusing, criticizing and hating each other. To a small child, tension between parents, or between parents and the child or other children, constitute a deep chasm of insecurity.
Continue reading “Our Childrens’ Needs no.2”

AFFIRMATION

Everyone likes a pat on the back, recognition, strokes, praise or affirmation of his or her ability, goodness and worthiness. Our children have not yet formed images of themselves and need these positive inputs even more than adults. Children are not sure if they are able or not. They are small in such a large world. They are learning and thus making many mistakes as they try to learn how to do things correctly.
Continue reading “Our Childrens’ Needs no.3”

DO NOT WORRY

Worry is a direct message to our children that we do not feel secure, that we do not feel able to face the tests and difficulties of life. It is a direct message that we believe (and therefore it is true) that life is dangerous, that human beings (and therefore our children) are weak and helpless and very vulnerable to these dangers of life.
Continue reading “Our Childrens’ Needs no.4”

STIMULUS TO GROW

Children want to learn. They need to learn. Their survival and growth depend on it. All children are full of curiosity and would remain that way all their lives if that natural desire to learn was not turned off and, in many cases, completely destroyed by our present educational system and general social attitudes towards children. What are some of these factors which discourage the natural inclination of the child toward learning?
Continue reading “Our Childrens’ Needs no.5”

WHAT CAN PARENTS DO?

What can parents do about this situation? How can we provide a home environment that will stimulate the process of holistic learning for our children?
Continue reading “Our Childrens’ Needs no.6”

OPEN COMMUNICATION

Communication is the process, which opens up a channel of love, understanding and union between people. When it is lacking, no amount of money, education or material goods can bridge the gap that is created.
Continue reading “Our Childrens’ Needs no.7”

SOME LAST THOUGHTS

We can remember how we felt when we were children. We can spend time remembering our various experiences feelings and needs which we had when we were children. But even that is not enough. The conditions and environment of our childhood years were very different than those, which our children experience today. Thus we must imagine that we are our children and try to understand how they feel. Then our words and actions will be in harmony with their needs.
Continue reading “Our Childrens’ Needs no.8”

Today we are experiencing an ever-growing communication gap between parents, teachers and the children whom they are responsible for. Only through honest and sincere communication can we help our children to become honest, healthy and happy individuals. Some of the basic concepts of communication expressed in earlier chapters are repeated here with emphasis on communication with children.
Continue reading “More Effective Communication with our Children no.1”

HOW WE COMMUNICATE NOW

Let us briefly mention how most people communicate now. There are two basic categories; those who suppress themselves and do not communicate; and those who suppress the others by raising their voices, blaming and criticizing the others, ordering them around in various ways.
Continue reading “More Effective Communication with our Children no.2”