Crazy parenting ideas

jake123 wrote:

Praising them for their talents and abilities.

Then, they will take their whole life to get rid of that feeling, when they understand that they are not that talented...

Can be nice but can be a curse..

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dadpad wrote:

Quote:
Spending time with my children and teaching them about the stuff I know.

Wont take long then. :wink:

Yeah, I pretty much finished that one up...T.G.I.F.: Toes Go In First

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Francis wrote:

jake123 wrote:
Praising them for their talents and abilities.

Then, they will take their whole life to get rid of that feeling, when they understand that they are not that talented...

Can be nice but can be a curse..

"Ya want fries with that?" Embarrassed

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Francis wrote:

Then, they will take their whole life to get rid of that feeling, when they understand that they are not that talented...

Can be nice but can be a curse..

I for one could not agree more.

I see parents making big issues over small easy things kids do, and I have to wonder what happens when that child works really hard at something..
Do they get the same praise then?

I love to tell Jillian that she is smart. That she can handle anything, and I remind her she is beautiful every day. But I do not over do the praise to the point where it is lost on everyday things.

When she works hard at something, the praise flows .
When she just.. eh.. accidentally makes something work, I will tell her that she did a good job at it, but I dont follow with the 'your so talented' stuff..

There is a time and place for that too.

( and here I thought i was crazy for thinking this way.

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shewolfnm wrote:

Francis wrote:

Then, they will take their whole life to get rid of that feeling, when they understand that they are not that talented...

Can be nice but can be a curse..

I for one could not agree more.

I see parents making big issues over small easy things kids do, and I have to wonder what happens when that child works really hard at something..
Do they get the same praise then?

I love to tell Jillian that she is smart. That she can handle anything, and I remind her she is beautiful every day. But I do not over do the praise to the point where it is lost on everyday things.

When she works hard at something, the praise flows .
When she just.. eh.. accidentally makes something work, I will tell her that she did a good job at it, but I dont follow with the 'your so talented' stuff..

There is a time and place for that too.

( and here I thought i was crazy for thinking this way.

Aparently my post shifted the conversation away from the spirit of Freeduck's original post about "Crazy parenting ideas."

I was making a tounge-in-cheek commentary about the fact that there are so many absentee fathers around (or not around) that actually being involved in my kids' lives seems like a radical concept.

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Francis wrote:

jake123 wrote:
Praising them for their talents and abilities.

Then, they will take their whole life to get rid of that feeling, when they understand that they are not that talented...

Can be nice but can be a curse..

Perhaps I should have phrased it: Encouraging their efforts and praising their accomplishments.

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Being broke as we are, we could not take a year off work, as great as it would be. But, we have annual passes to the zoo, Discovery World in Milwaukee and Old World Wisconsin. With four kids, it costs the same, if not more, to take everyone these places for a day as it does to get the annual memberships. This way we have a year's worth of places to go and explore and learn together. Plus, the zoo pass can be used at other zoos in the country should we have an opportunity to travel.

I think, correct me if I'm wrong Freeduck, this is about providing kids with a wider world-view than they would get from conventional schooling.

About providing enrichment and adventure for everyone in the family... to gain education and closeness of family and unique memories of childhood that many people don't have.

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Yeah, that's pretty much it. It's about the education (which includes way more than school of course) that you really want for your children. For many of us it's out of reach and/or unrealistic -- that's why I call it crazy. It's also about building strong relationships with your kids and making sure to take the time to give them what they need to grow up into successful, not necessarily financially, adults. And recognizing that there's only so much time before it's too late. My kids are at milestone ages, I guess, and that's why I'm thinking so much about it. Come to think of it, I always get like this at this time of year, which is when they both have birthdays.

We do annual memberships too. We used to have memberships at the Children's Museum (great for rainy days) but we don't go often enough anymore so we let that lapse, but we still have memberships at the zoo and at Stone Mountain park (great for hiking, pays for itself in two visits, also has camping). Totally worth it. The nice thing about them is that once you have them you incentive to go more often and for shorter trips, since it's already paid for. You wouldn't pay a full days admission for a couple of hours, but if you had a membership you could make more frequent, shorter visits.

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The homeschooling is a major issue with me right now, I decided when we moved here to homeschool both of my children.

To say that I wasn't scared to death over this decision is putting it lightly.

Was I cabable of teaching my children? Were they going to learn anything? What did I have to offer them?

I sweated over it. I think the thing I worried about the most, was them continuing to have social interactions with children their own age, what effects it would have it they didn't get enough? The last thing I want is 15 years down the road, to have my children blast me on stage of the Jerry Springer show because of this trial of mishaps, and them be scarred for life because of it.

But I did it, and I'm continuing to do it. I won't lie, we have our days when I could beat my head against a brick wall and wished someone would just put me out of my misery because of thier stubborn persistence of going against what I'm trying to teach them. But my stubborn persistence is paying off, they are learning and grasping the ideas I'm teaching them, and the big one...they are retaining it.

Now, like Freeduck...if you could put me in a motorhome and have the opportunity to travel across the country while doing so...I'd take it in a heartbeat. It would make the experience even better!

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An adventure does not necessarily equal taking time off work (or other financial trouble). CJane's idea got overlooked - immersion! Not just taking a year off doing nothing, but making a living in the place of the adventure.

I've had this crazy idea, too, - to move for a year and live/work in a foreign country, specifically, my birth country. I'd like my kids to immerse at the age when they can pick up a language without noticing it - say, before they are 10.

I am not planning North-America-schooling them at home that year - so, they are going to be a year older than their classmates when they return.

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makemeshiver - I don't know how you get over that stubborn refusal to listen to you - that is my biggest reason why I don't homeschool. They listen so much better to teachers (or is it a peer pressure?)

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That sounds exciting, redpickle. We've talked about doing something like that, too, in my husband's home country. Unfortunately, our financial situation won't support another move until we sell the house from our last move, and it's questionable whether I could find work there -- I'd be immersing myself at the same time. But it does sound like a grand adventure! Good luck!

MMS, you have my respect for having the nerve to homeschool your kids. I wish I had the nerve and the self-discipline to do it.

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