Let’s look at behavior. Every day a child learns up to a half a dozen new behaviors, habits, and ideas over a developmental span until adulthood. So monitoring and supervision are central to assure that a child becomes a polite, polished and studious citizen. Monitoring and supervision are important even if it means making do with less comfort and money.
Enlisting the family, the parish, the neighbors, and the school are central, but also making the child the center of family life is just as crucial. Providing a loving and caring atmosphere filled with happy and enjoyable experiences such as reading from literature and the bible give the youth a character and morality that allows the decision making and judgment so crucial in future success.
Choosing the best school within one’s means is also essential. Having had the best private elementary and secondary education along with going to an elite university allowed me the privilege to know more and socialize within the highest circles of society.
What happens when children are angry or won’t listen? Two proven empirical approaches are cognitive skills training and anger management. The former involves improving the simple academic exercises and thinking first. Phillip Kendall has a number of workbooks one can access by googling his name.
James Larson developed some anger management exercises that also are on the internet and involve teaching youth to consider the consequences, think before doing, and realize that a child can only control it’s own behavior.
Now to the learning issue that vexes all parents. Earlier is better. Languages learned before five stay with a person for a life time. Allowing the child to free range and learn in at the person’s own pace will result in quicker learning. Honey gets more bees than vinegar so praise and reinforcement are the way to go. By allowing children to earn their allowance with success assures improvement.
Computerized phonics such as Earobics for Parents, Step 1, 2, 1AA and Fast For Word achieve faster rates of language acquisition than any book or teacher because the computer stretches out sound to twice the length that is necessary to process, while making it fun with cartoon characters and other devices to make the process intriguing and interesting.
The same is so for computerized math programs found with google or yahoo search engines. Not overwhelming youth is basic.
Allowing time for children to play and explore and informal opportunities, social groups like the scouts or boys and girls clubs and park district activities provide important opportunities to socialize, work in teams and develop many important skills.
Part time volunteer or paying work shoveling snow, delivering newspapers, cutting lawns, washing cars, shining shoes, selling food or drink, and just learning punctuality and responsibility are basic.
Travel to museums, art institutes, music and theater events, cultural and seasonal celebrations internalizes the civilization within youth to provide a well rounded adult.
Robert Zagar
Robert John Zagar PhD MPH is an internationally renowned researcher whose recent peer reviewed “Predicting & Preventing Homicide” published in the 2009 February entire issue of Psychological Reports resulted in his participation in Mayor Daley’s Youth Violence Task Force. After training the mayor’s staff, the city of Chicago received a $60M Justice Department grant that lowered shootings 46% and fighting 77% in 6 high schools, now expanded to 38. President Clinton found his work “fascinating & persuasive.” After he suggested using Earobics and computerized math programs Mayor Daley received a $2M Education Department grant to start after school computerized tutoring in math and reading in 15 under performing schools 90 minutes daily. Robert and his wife Agata, a Polish triplet, founded Society of the Friends of Radgoszcz and were married in Poland. Robert has a practice in forensic neuropsychology, sort of a CSI of the mind. His ecommerce startup assisted by Kellogg and McCormick Schools at his alma mater, Northwestern will revolutionize business and government employees screening and retention of employees. Robert has worked with over thirty thousand youth in his career.