When arriving at the schoolable age, children become members of a miniature society which is outside their family. At this time, parents should positively cooperate with schools and teachers to help children to become “mini citizens” who are civilized and independent!
The first thing parents should teach children when they are at school is how to take care of themselves, keep themselves and the surrounding environment hygienic, such as:
- Change their clothes independently before going to school.
- Line up when they are having meals in the canteen and clean up their tray after finish.
- Urinate at the appropriate place and flush the toilet after using.
- Pick up litter and put it in the proper place.
- Clean up their belongings then place them in their locker.
Parents should give direction and let children freely choose the kind of books they like to read or the clubs they want to join in. Parents can attend with children in reality trips or events at school, but the parents’ position is to encourage and cheer children to explore by themselves and enjoy the fun with their teachers and friends.
At home, parents should let children decide when they need to spend their time on homework by themselves. It is quite difficult but parents need to allow children to make mistakes, they will learn the lesson this way. They could forget their homework and encounter a bad result at school, but this is a part of studying progress, it will help children remember to complete their work next time.
Also, parents should give advice and direction instead of doing everything for them when they are given work or project at school. Parents need to let them have a chance to manage their own project. Children will learn to take responsibility in their work by doing this.
Besides encouraging children to be independent and creating a good environment for them to practice, parents also have to be a good model and give them compliment whenever they have a positive performance. This is meaningful for them because it will encourage good behavior and become their habit and then it could also become children’s characteristic as well!
