Parents As First Teachers (Part 2)

Image: kumc.edu

It’s my pleasure to have you read the continuation of our hot topic, parents as first teachers. It addition to what we discoursed in Part 1, parents need to make their children feel secure so that they can be ready to take risks involved with their learning process and environment. People and environment influences their feelings. Love, commendation and acknowledgement are the key factors that boost their self-esteem. Show them love in action, commend them when they have done something right.

What and/or what they feel can either improve or hinder their learning. Love, commendation and acknowledgement are key factors that enhance their learning. So, it is the parents’ full responsibility to ensure a secured environment for adequate learning, flourished with love, commendation and acknowledgement. This will prepare them to be able to confront any hostile or unfriendly environment.

Therefore, parents should endeavour to show unconditional and equal love to all their children, Identify the uniqueness of all your children. They can never be the same. Appreciate how they see the world, ask of their opinion.

Do not segregate, that is, preferential treatment, do not always criticize or demean them because of their actions. This is your responsibility as the first parent.

Parents are the role models of their children; hence they learn almost all they know from you and whoever they live with. Children have an innate capacity to process and use languages (Strickland, 1990). That is why they can easily speak your language and any other language spoken in their environment. It will normally take a child 12years to be able to formalize a language. You the parent want to be a language model to your children to avoid bad/dirty or wrong usage of the language. Do not prematurely force your child to learn another language, once they have mastered one, they will easily learn another.

Make sure your children are around effective language speakers, discuss and read with them and you will be helping them master the language. Never criticize them for the way they use or converse using the language, correct them. When discussing with them, allow them express themselves also and lastly, don’t expect them to listen attentively to you all the time when you try to start a conversation.

Children are dynamic creatures, you don’t have to teach them before they get to know that they can also communicate in writing. They know that those things written on papers communicate ideas to other people. Before you know it, they will start scribbling on any paper or book they can find around. Please do not stop them or punish them for scribbling on your diaries, files or Bible. When they are in this stage, clear all your important papers and make available blank papers they can scribble on. It aids their better handwriting in the future. When they scribble their jargons, ask them what they are writing, and they will surely explain to you. Do more of reading and writing with them. They write and they draw, why not display one of their work on the wall, they feel so accomplished and encouraged. They will want to write more and get better.

Reading is one activity children can develop from a very tender age. These children who are exposed to written materials tends to be better readers and writers as they grow, they become the best when they eventually start school. They develop the hunger for information and knowledge. You as a parent can get books with few words for them to own. Talk to them about the beauty of reading. Read to them anything around them. Teach them the importance of understanding what is being read. Allow them pick topics to read. Make sure you have print items like books, magazines, newspapers etc at home all the time. Expose them to different literature styles at a very tender age. Do not condemn them because they don’t want to read or compare them other children who can read better. This is very damaging to their morale and learning process. Even you the parent don t want to read sometimes.

I will have to stop here and continue later in the final part. I never knew I will touch so many things as I have done. Let’s digest these and in the final part of this topic, I will touch children learning through different senses, setting a goal for yourself as to helping your children learn and how you can plan a better learning environment for your children.

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