I’ve taught my children not to be sheep (followers), but to be individuals. I’ve also taught them spiritual insights from early on so that they can understand life and it’s lessons better. In their spiritual studies, my children and I have all been taught to meditate to get answers, meditate to relax, as well as visualise and create our own destinies. My children are quicker to create their lives, and as for me, I’m slower on the uptake but getter there!

Thanks for your willingness to do wonderful things for all our children!

I worked in the educational system for 16 years. It can be a very frustrating experience for an enlightened person. The self-fullfilling prophecy is alive and well in education and not in a good way. I’ve seen way to many children get labeled, formally or informally, as slow learners or learning disabled. Once that label gets attached, the child’s academic life can began a downward spiral.

Now for the good news! All it takes is someone to believe in the child and to teach them at their educational level and a whole new student emerges!

I could probably fill books on what I’ve seen that discourages learning as well as what truly motivates the so-called “slow learners”. The problem I always ran into was lack of time for teachers, due to having to meet criteria for the dreaded outcomes based (testing) education, and/or too many “slow learners” in one classroom.

The solution? Education can no longer be “one size fits all”. That is a factory-based educational method that does not address the needs of gifted or underachieving students. We must have individualized education for all! It can be done with the use of technology that is available at this time! We can no longer continue sending children on to higher grades when they have, in no way, mastered the lessons presented in their current grade. We need to address every student’s abilities at their current educational level. We cannot continue teaching students at their frustion level and expect them to “all of a sudden” gain the skills. It a company ran their business this way, it would be bankrupt in one month!

It is a very high percentage of convicted criminals, sitting in jail right now, that were labeled “learning disabled” or “slow learner”. (I believe the estimate is close to 80%). What opportunities does a student have when they turn 18 and they have no marketable skills or a general lack of knowledge of the game of life and how to play it? I firmly believe that once the educational system begins teaching students at their level, we will see many prisons close their doors 15 to 20 years later due to lack of need.

This is a “hot topic” for me. I saw way too many children get left by the wayside in our educational systems.

Now if only we had an enlightened leader in office that would see the absurdity of our current educational system and commission changes…hmmm

Thanks Burt!
Gotta go visualize!

My grand daughter also home schooled for similar reasons is back in public school and is a “National Honor Roll” student — 7th grader. She reads a few hundred books a year.

My interest in your “current passion”,is what is needed to improve (not what’s wrong with the school system)to help our kids; partcularly now as my youngest grandson has now also been taken out of public school (age 7)to be home schooled for same aforementined reason.

I will be encouraging my grandson to use his visual and intuitive abilities and suggesting to my daughter she get on your web site,
Take Care,
David

English as a second language here for 18 years. Eventhough I had dreamt of being a mother for a very long time, I somehow knew in my soul that I had to do alot of learning and healing before I was going to be given the chance to raise a child. I truly believe that if I would have had a child earlier in life, I wouldn’t have had the necessary tools for nurturing. It would have all been about ME and not about the child. I would’ve had my own baggage and anger from my past.

SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Over the course of 15 years while working and traveling, I took a variety of self-healing seminars and listened to self-help inspirational cds and dvds which helped me to grow as a person and to realize I do not have to keep re-living/repeating my past or carry the past around with me. Continued Self-development leads to a better life, and puts you in a better position to raise a child. Forgiveness seems to be one key to living free from carrying others around with you.

HAVE A PLAN

Having a financial plan before birth was the biggest life saviour ever. I recommend having a plan from the very beginning, a special account just for family planning started even before you meet the partner of your dreams. I did, and it has taken the pressure off the money situation.

Money can be the biggest pressure on families these days especially with rising gas prices, food prices, etc., and this pressure can lead to early divorce, if you are NOT living a Principled based life system, which adds fuel to the fire of the Genius Dip.

By the time I had Deston (French for Destiny), I was ready, willing and happy. I lived cheerfully from day one, listening to classical music and children songs while driving from lesson to lesson. Even to this day, I teach a variety of ages, so my own child in the womb was able to be there with me before and after birth.

Eventhough I am a working mother, I have chosen an occupation in which I have been able to bring my baby with me during work hours, not all but most. While I was teaching a lesson, my baby would sit quietly in his baby carry basket beside me. If he began to feel uncomfortable I would give him a cracker or bottle of warm milk which I always carried in my bag. He enjoyed being there and sharing my life all the way.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD and CARETAKER SITUATIONS

It was harder after having the second child but having a stay-at-home dad helped tremendously, we have been incredibly blessed to have had at least one parent at home on any given day (to tell the truth, I planned it that way.)

Many new parents do not have this luxury and have to leave their child with a caretaker or babysitter, for hours on end even; this cannot be good psychologically, or spiritually, and statitics have shown that children who spend hours and hours separated from their parents have significant lower IQ scores and attention disorders as well as disruptive behavior. This should tell us something. Children need More Parent Time — direct love, encouragement, and healthy input through active interaction during playtime and mealtime.

I have observed some caretaker situations as a teacher and have seen some scary tactics which can change a child forever. I have seen a cheerful child change over the course of a year because of being placed in the wrong hands. Glazed over eyes is a clear indicator, and incessant crying when being dropped off and the continuance of crying for hours after being left. Clinkiness is another indicator of an unhappy child.

If my child did this, I would.…well you can of course fill in the blanks here. Definitely choose another center or do it myself. I never leave my children without knowing the entire situation. The environment must have caring, attentive and creative individuals who love being with children. This is so important for the overall well-being of the child.

DIFFERENCES IN CULTURE

One difference I have noticed between Canadian child-raising and Japanese child-raising is the sleeping situation. In all the writing here, I have not seen anything written about this subject.

In Japan, the mother or the father goes to bed with the child or children. From babyhood all the way up to about age 7 or 8. The child is given his first bed when turning 6 or 7. When I babysat for families in Canada, the children were put in their own beds and the light turned out after the story was read.

We who live in Japan, go to bed at the same time, read a story or two, sing songs until the child is totally asleep. Once this happens, the parent is free to continue sleeping or get up to get some work done.

If the children are put in their own beds, they are free to come sleep with the parents during any part of the night without rejection. The children are much more connected with parents emotionally and it gives them the needed physical contact as well as that needed feeling of being safe.

I NEVER tell them there are monsters under the bed, a terrible practice if you ask me. Using fear to keep a child in bed is the worse case scenario and should be avoided. A child who sleeps peacefully is a happy child when it comes to bed time.

ANOTHER CULTURE DIFFERENCE (maybe shocking to some)

The Japanese society is very private about showing affection in public, touching or holding hands are rarely seen as well as hugging and kissing are definitely taboo in public areas such as supermarkets and shopping malls. I of course show affection whether I am at home or in public.

We also take baths together in the evening — a well kept secret of the Japanese people. I believe having this custom has reduced the number of sexual preditors for reasons unknown to me — but I feel bathing together is an overall pleasant experience helping to develop a healthy, comfortable attitude towards nudity. The physical connection between mother/father and child fosters a loving trust and acceptance of one another which lasts a life time.

CHILDREN ARE PEOPLE TOO

During the day, I continue to ask my children what they want or need and constantly explain the differences between need and want. I always give them a choice and they feel involved when they make their choices — this is so very important as it gives them a feeling of being in control of the outcome. The parent isn’t always being the controller.

I unwaveringly ask my children about their day at school and take time out of everyday to sit, play and laugh with each one — which includes drawing, painting, block building, reading, watching their favorite program, and of course having mealtime with them. They are humans in little form and I have great respect for the god who gave me a chance to learn from them.

ALL these things put together build a happy home for all concerned and help spur the development of a happy, healthy, well-rounded, soulful child. I am continuing to teach my children the abundance of the world.…they can create anything their hearts’ desire if they really want to.

Let’s raise the level of childraising to a new level and not hand over this task to the less than perfect educational system.

HEARTFUL THANKS

Love and peace to all those reading these heartful stories shared the world over, and Thanks to Burt for letting us share our stories here. I am looking forward to reading more so I may continue to bring out the Genius in my own offspring seeds who float upon the rapids Away and in Hopes eyes Back to me again.

Pursue Life, Knowledge and Wisdom with Eager Feet, Always!

Sincerely,
Theresa
a.k.a. The TLCgirl

http://amazon.com/Symphony-Words-Images-Creative-Together/dp/0805974237

I think one of things i do as a parent and grandparent is allow my children to be outspoken and to express themselves freely. They feel safe speaking their minds and being creative in many ways. My 8yr old daughter Sarah loves to redesign her clothes and shoes, alot of parents i know would not allow this, my grandson Andrew loves play with my pots and pans, skateboards and has a great love to be outdoors immitating birds and other animals. I think parents can help foster that creative genius in a child by letting children express and discover things without reacting to it.So they make lots of messes in the process but enjoy with them how much fun they are having, try and see the world through their eyes, it is most fasinating when you let go of reacting and just watch them soar. Its okay to color out of the lines, its okay to experiment in the kitchen. My daughter Sarah loves cooking and often comes up with her own recipes and concoctions, and she loves every minute of it. She invents her own cookies, some of them have actually been very tastey.Some of their ideas may seem off the wall but thats what helps their imaginations grow and blossom. I think it would be absolutely wonderful if we could get into the public and private schools a curriculum like math and reading a system of education that taught throughly the power of thought and imagination, to help teach children to allow their minds to soar, and to do so freely. This should be taught like math and all the subjects and should be regarded as an important part of education, featuring the works of all the great minds but in a simple way a child can grasp its true understanding.We live in a totally creative world, a mental thought world, and this should be taught to children early on, so they can let their beautiful minds can create.
When i was a child growing up, my younger brother and I would go on adventures everyday. Each new day was a new adventure, some days we were great artisits, other days we were inventors, we did alot of interesting off the wall things some people would regard as just that. We once tried to make parachutes with my mother’s sheets, jump ropes and back packs, one day we melted all of crayons down and made candles we sold at the park for a quarter a peice, another time we made kites out of my mothers old shower curtains. We just had a ball. My brother now is an animater and artist. Our childhood brought us the courage to dare to dream and to explore many things through our innovative ideas and imaginations. I say allow kids to be kids, so they make a mess, so what, let them make a mess, let them discover what they are capable of doing, dreaming and imagining!

kind Regards and further success in helping out kids