Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Children and Personal Development

As parents, what are some simple personal growth and development techniques that you can practice with your children?

Suite101: Personal Development for Kids: How to Encourage Self-Improvement in Children suggests the following:

Affirmations Creating and saying affirmations, or positive statements of intent, can easily be taught to children as young as two years old. Developing this healthy habit can be empowering as it helps kids create a purposeful day filled with love and confidence. You can work together with small and school-age children using morning affirmations in their daily routines. To help teenagers, you may suggest sticky notes on their mirrors or computer area as a reminder.

Organizational Skills From toddlerhood, children can learn day to day family routines and habits. By role modeling cleanliness, preparation, and organization in a fun and authoritative (not authoritarian) way, kids will develop a sense of comfort and trust. For example, instilling organization ability in a three year old can be done by designating a certain place for toys, clothes, and art supplies. As children enter higher grades in school, having organizational capabilities will be beneficial in order to balance class schedules, extracurricular activities, homework, social outings, and family obligations.

Self Responsibility Learning to take responsibility is a favored attribute in children and adults. As kids understand that mistakes happen, they can develop fears about admitting when they did something wrong, even if it was an accident. It is important for you as a caregiver to acknowledge your own errors in judgment. Looking up to you for guidance, they will realize it's wiser to admit when they're at fault and claim responsibility for their actions and consequences.

Relaxation Techniques Instructing children on practices such as deep breathing, meditation, and yoga brings to light the importance of self-care and stress relief. Kids of all ages experience stress, but it can manifest differently depending on the age group. Methods of relaxation that can be done throughout the day can teach a child to release built-up tension before it becomes a physical problem.

Even from a young age, children can begin a personal quest in growth and development. By involving kids in healthy habits for life, you can become a trustworthy guide, role model, and support system in their everyday journey towards self-improvement.

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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Parenting and Personal Development

Successful Parenting is a direct result of successful personal development. Understanding the relationship between mind, body, and emotions often results in creating responsible, critical thinking.

Research has shown over and over that good parenting involves only two basic components. Teaching your child to become competent and developing character.

A competent person knows how to self-manage. Developing good character consists of courage, effort and concern for others. How can you teach competence and good character if you haven’t developed these attributes for yourself?

Parents teach by demonstrating. Don’t underestimate the influence you have on your children. Continue to grow with personal development and the children in your life will benefit. You can’t touch it, but it affects how you feel. You can’t see it, but it’s there when you look in the mirror. You can’t hear it, but it’s there every time you talk about yourself. What is it? It’s self-esteem, competence and good character. Advocate personal development for yourself and those around you.