In a child’s education an important factor is the parents’ expertise for the “job”. No one is born holding all the knowledge, but we can learn and understand things from books or take the advice of qualified persons.
Amongst the commandments a parent should strictly follow are the following:
1. Do not underestimate your child – he can understand more than you think he does and if you make him believe you think poorly of him this might affect his development.
2. Don’t use threats – a child loves a challenge and once threatened he might go on and do what he wasn’t suppose to just to see if he can escape the punishment.
3. Do not bribe your child – if you are trying to get him to learn for money, for example, he will fail to understand the importance of learning, all he will get from this is the importance of money.
4. Do not make a small child promise something – small children can’t hold promises so don’t force them to lie and then punish them because they did that.
5. Do not keep them under a short leash – to grow up normally children need some space, some freedom.
6. Do not use big words or too many words when you are talking to your child – keep your ideas simple and concise so he can understand every thing you have to say.
7. Do not expect an immediate and blind obedience – it is not recommended, the child has to learn to think for himself, not to follow orders.
8. Do not indulge him too much – he can develop compartmental disorders.
9. Do not compromise when it comes to the rules of a game – the trick for a game to be educational is to have its initial rules respected.
10. Don’t impose rules that don’t go with the age of your child.
11. Do not try to inflict guilt – guilt is not an appropriate feeling for children, especially if they are little.
12. Don’t give your child orders that you don’t take seriously – your child will try to please you and giving him an order is drastic. It becomes cruel if that order is a joke.
All these “commandments” are addressed first to the parent. But they need to be referred to by teachers and educators as well. Along with the parents, they will settle upon an attitude and strategy for the education and growth of the child, so that they can give him all the things he needs to properly develop emotionally and physically.
