One of the greatest challenges in life is to be a good parent. It is also one of the most important things we can do to assure that humanity will prosper; we must make it our fundamental job to raise our children to be better than ourselves. Unfortunately, this is a job we receive the least amount of training for. Why is that? Maybe the reason is because it is such a controversial topic and there is no accepted "universal truth" or "formula" for how to raise a child. We know that 1+1=2 and that water is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, but how many parts love plus how many parts discipline equals a well adjusted child? Travel around the world and talk to 100 people and you will get 100 different answers. Learning to share, however, is something that these 100 people would most likely all agree is one of the most important qualities you should teach your child. Maybe this could be one of the "universal truths" of raising a child. We place a great deal of importance on our child's formal education. It used to be that teachers were not allowed to "teach" children in kindergarten. If a teacher tried to teach a child to spell or add they were reprimanded. Kindergarten was for socialization and having fun and there were strict rules in place banning any type of formal education. Times have definitely changed! Now children are learning to add and sing their ABCs in preschool. Children that don't may find themselves behind the curve when starting kindergarten. It also used to be that a perfect high school GPA was 4.0. There no longer is a perfect GPA. Now it is all about who can take the most advanced placement courses. Whatever happened to study hard and play hard? Now it is study harder, study some more, and if you have time study even more. That is the competitive world we live in, but we have to be careful not to be consumed by it and lose sight of what is really important. Getting the perfect job when you graduate from college and having a successful career does not mean you will be successful in life. The answer to life's riddle is to be a good person. A parent cannot lose sight of that in the midst of the scholastic chaos of the modern world. Education is a surface feature, the person within is where your greatest efforts should fall. There are obviously many things we do over the course of 18 years to prepare our children for the real world. Teaching your child to share is one of the things you can do during the pre-school years that can have a profound effect on them later in life. Actions speak louder than words. That is what sharing is all about. Sharing is an action; it is not something you say like "thank you" and "I'm sorry". If a child learns to share it something that comes from within. Think about it for a moment - as an adult, are you willing to share? Of the people you know, there are some that are very giving and won't hesitate to share to help a friend in need. What does that say about the person? Sharing isn't just about possessions, it is also about sharing a person's time. The people you value most in life and have the highest regards for are the ones that will be there when you need them. These are the people who have learned to share. When your 3 year old daughter asks for a glass of milk, you tell her to say "please". When you give her the glass, you tell her to say "thank you". Do this about 500 times and she will learn. Patience is the number one rule of parenthood, patience and you shall prevail. This works with teaching good manners but not necessarily as well with sharing. Shaping the inner most characteristics of our children takes a little more creative approach, but it is not necessarily a more difficult task. One method to teach them is getting them to teach you. There is a new children's song called the Smarcks Song. It is an educational song about learning to add, count, spell, and share. Children love to learn through music such as the ABC song. This is another such song - it is fun, gets children singing along, and has a modern beat to get kids up and dancing. The song starts with a child asking her parent if they can play and learn and the chorus of the song emphasizes this by singing " ... you who and me too ..." The child is "you who" and the parent is "me too." The song is a mother singing to her child; she is telling her daughter that, "... Learning is fun, we need to share and take our turn, let's stack these blocks up to the sky, and play and learn together...". We have four children ages 9 months to 8 years old. You could say that when it comes to raising kids we are currently "in the trenches". Of all the things we have tried, nothing has had a greater impact on our children than this song with regard to teaching them to share. They are the ones coming up to us saying "Daddy, you have to share and take your turn"; they then smile and act excited to have taught us something! Each time it happens I stand there in awe. Clicking on Smarcks Song will take you to the disco dance party for this educational song. It takes a little while to load due to all the special effects but it is worth the wait. Watch it with your kids and see how they react. You will be pleasantly surprised. When you look at the turmoil in the world today you can't help but wonder what the future holds. It may seem almost impossible for one person to make a difference? Big changes, however, come from small actions. How we act with our children and the people they grow up to be will bring about the big changes in the future. Teaching our children to share is one seemingly small action that can make a surprisingly big difference. The Smarcks Song is one creative approach that you can use, and maybe you can teach your children to teach you. Raising children, of course, requires multiple approaches to every challenge. Hopefully, a disco dance party approach can make this challenge a little easier.
Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
