Soulful Thoughts of Rachel

Expose your child to the world outside home and school. Try to regularly bring your child to new and exciting places that he can enjoy and explore. You can bring your child to places where he can learn many wonderful things like the zoo, museums, nature parks, concerts and plays. Broaden your child’s exposure to the world. Positively feed your child’s curiosity and encourage learning through discovery.

Recognize the small good things that your child does. A positive remark can help foster good behavior. Say “very good”, “great job”, “job well done” and other positive lines if your child …

• puts his toys away after playing
• finishes the food on his plate
• brushes his teeth after a meal
• shares his toys with others
• takes a nap in the afternoon
• finishes his homework
• bring home nice artwork or project from school
• and so on

Let us appreciate many other little things that our children do everyday. Positive recognition can inspire our children to continue doing good things.

Our children are the hope of our Motherland.

~ Dr. Jose Rizal (Philippine National Hero)

It is important that we raise our children to be good citizens because when they grow older, it will be their turn to run the country. As parents, we should set a good example to our children. Let us nurture positive thoughts, right conduct and good manners while they are young.

A child often becomes curious and motivate to explore and try to gradually do some things on his own between two to three years of age. Encourage your child to enjoy discovering new things around him with proper supervision. A child can learn a lot of things through experience. Try not to set a reasonable boundary in terms of self discovery. Although it is encouraging to see a child realize the exciting aspect of discovery, parents should always be on the look out. Child proof your house by removing potential dangers such as putting away medicines and harmful household cleaners, padding sharp furniture edges and covering electrical outlets.

 As your child grows older, help him or her understand the concepts of needs and wants. Help your child distinguish between the two. Set concrete examples and categorize them accordingly.

Need pertains to important things in life that are important for survival. Want refers to a desire to have something that is not necessarily important to every day living. For example …

I need food, water, air and shelter.

I want a new toy.