Parents and Children
We all have issues, most of which come from the first dozen or so years of our lives. If we wanted to raise children in the best possible way, what would that entail? The essays in this section are written to give you ideas to help with this. They are written for parents and children though the concepts can be beneficial to anyone. They cover the first couple of decades from both perspectives where possible.
Nurturing The Future Part 2: Becoming
When we talk about how to help children develop as best we can we have to think what we need to know in order to do so. For instance, we have to know what capabilities children have, what they perceive and how their minds and conscious awareness develop. Helping children develop in the area of language and motor skills and so on and are being studied by experts, I will defer to them in this area. It is these skills that ground us into out bodies and enable us to interact fully with the physical world around us That said, no matter how good any of these techniques are, one must be mindful of them so as to avoid using those that negatively affect other areas. As important as these skills are, the foundations of a child's whole self should take precedence. This means, put simply, we must pay attention to their mental, emotional and spiritual development.
Nurturing the Future Part 1: Baby Steps
The world is a big place and as you explore it you can find it fascinating, wondrous, and even magical. The newness of everything, the exhilaration or thrill of the adventure can boost us to new heights of enjoyment. We can even become lost in the exploration of the enormous world in which we live. At the same time it can also be intimidating, confusing and scary. Which it is depends mostly on one’s nature, what is going on at the time and what they have learned so far.
What delights one person can scare another and while there is a reason it is not always know what it is or to change it, if that is needed. When I was a child I dealt with both, though I often dealt poorly with the negative stuff, whether it be at home, when out with my friends or at school. It can be overwhelming to deal with such things and can paralyze us with fear or have us reacting in other ways.
The Guiding Hand
Over the course of my writings the focus has been on adults, certainly those in their late teen years or higher. While a great deal of it is applicable to those under eighteen, it is not always readily apparent to them or necessarily easy to grasp, and certainly not the younger you are. At the same time, it is arguably this group that can benefit the most from it as they can avoid many of life’s issues and challenges if they get off on the right footing.
We all know there is a big gap in what learning our society provides at home, through school, peers, team activities and through church or other organization. The issues and challenges we adults face are rooted in our childhood. This is obvious, for our world would be in better shape if we had been teaching children in a more holistic fashion. The idea of writing for a younger audience has scurried around the edges of my conscious mind for a while now. It has come to the fore recently as a number of people have, in one manner or another, suggested I consider writing some material for this group. The benefits can be immense if I can manage to do justice to such an important topic. Given that helping is my intent and I love a challenge, I am going to try to do just that. But before I do I want to address the top half of this equation, namely how adults should deal with children.