New methods of bringing up children

Topic V. New  methods  of  bringing up  children    

Active  vocabulary that  must be used:

desire to  get knowledge

to feel a  strong necessity   to transfer knowledge  to smb

requirements of  society                                  

focus attention  on  the  child’s personality

good  school  must  fit a child, not a child  fit the school

to have  an opportunity not  only to  study but to  develop

to be concerned about  smth    

to inherent the  life

to  hold  dear some values

expectations  for  the  future

to become  a market force 

to be  bombarded by  smth      

advertisements on  television 

right  to be  entertained  every waking  moment 

to be  bored by  the lessons

to be irrelevant  to life

to perceive smth 

to be highly competitive

to be pushed by smb  to  achieve everything at all  costs

to  right all wrongs 

hollow hippy  phrases

to look at  smb regardless of  smth

to seek the  help of  psychiatrists 

to blame  smth/smb for smth

teenage  suicide 

to be  born a  reasonable  friendly  human  being

to  have obsessive  ambitions 

to  dedicate one’s  life to  smth

to intimidate smb

mature people

to multiply  smth 

individual genetic  potential

to  grow in  direct  proportion to  smth

proper stimulation 

to  write smth on flashcards

simultaneously  reciting the  words written  on the card

to treat  child’s  mind as a  sponge

to read  everything in  sight 

to perform  staggering  mathematical  stunts 

to  distinguish and  analyze works of  classical  composers

docile  uncreative children 

to fit the  civilization whose standard of success is  money

to  give smb  freedom to be  oneself

to live the  life  according to the  purpose of  educator

to produce the  generation of  robots

to  force  children to  learn 

purpose of educator

to be capable to do  smth / to  be  capable of   doing  smth

Approximate  /  average  topic:                    

New  methods of  bringing  up  children

          Schools have always  been  the life and sole of any educated and  cultured  society.  The desire to  get knowledge was  inherent even to  ancient  people. We can say  that at that very  historical  moment when  our ancient  ancestor  began  to  feel himself a part of a large world and  began to  investigate  this  immense  world  he  might have  felt a  strong necessity   to transfer his  knowledge to   future  generations.  As  the  centuries were  changing  one  another  schools  were  also  changing  due  to  the requirements of this or that society.  

        In our days schools   all over the  world focus their  attention  on  the  child’s personality. As  the  director of one  school said “a good  school  must  fit a child, not a child  fit the school”. During school years  children  must have  an opportunity not  only to  study but to  develop.  As adults  we are  concerned about the  life that the  children   inherent, the  values they  held dear  and  their  expectations  for  the  future.  Childhood  actually lasts only  for  a few  years until children  become  a market force  to be  bombarded by the  advertisements on  television.  Children  demand to have  all they  see and regard it  as their right  to be  entertained  every waking  moment. Most children are  bored by  the lessons which they see  as irrelevant  to life as they perceive it.  They  suppose  that life is about to  having fun and having  fun now.  On the  other  hand school is  highly competitive and  pupils  are pushed by the parents to  achieve everything at all  costs.

           The 1980s  were the  years  when  youth  thought  they could  right all wrongs.   But later all these ideas were viewed as hollow  hippy  phrases. It was  undoubtedly  a more selfish era  with the  individual to look  after himself, regardless of  the  effect this  might be having  on others.  In our  days  the  new  gods are     money and  materialism  and  teenagers  want  right now  what  it took  their  parents   half a generation to  achieve. No wonder there  is  drug abuse  in our days  on a scale never seem  before.  No wonder too  many young people  now  seek the  help  of psychiatrists.  Dr Benjamin Spock thinks that the world has gone to hell. He blames  competitiveness for the extraordinary rise in teenage  suicide over the  last  twenty years. 

           Speaking  about some new and progressive methods  of ubringing  children it is  worth mentioning some ideas of B. Spock who wrote that  “Every  baby is born to be a reasonable  friendly  human  being”. Now  a lot of  parents  have obsessive ambitions for  creating  better children,  they dedicate their  life to it.  Why have a  merely  normal baby  when you  can  have an  improved  model?

         During the previous centuries and in the  first half  of the 20^th century parents felt that they  had to intimidate their  children the way  they  were  intimidated.  Freud and Dewey  changed that  point  of view.  According to their theory – ‘not  by disciplining or by  intimidating the children  you can  make  your children  love you, but by  loving them’. Children want to be  worthy of their parents,  they  want to grow up to be  mature people.  Love  between children and  parents  make  children mature  and responsible. Parents  must  learn to have  more trust in their  children. Glen  Doman  founded a  Better  Baby Institute, which organizes  lectures and seminars for parents - the  course was  entitled “How to multiply your baby’s  intelligence?”. After studying  children for over forty years  Doman  had developed  a brilliant, consistent and idiosyncratic brand of science that combined  psychology, neurology and  anthropology. He worked out 89 Cardinal facts for  making  any baby into a  superb human being. Some of these  cardinal  points  read for  example: “Baby‘s individual  genetic potential  is that of  Leonardo da Vinci,  Mozart,  Michelangelo, Edison and  Einstein”. Until the age of six  when brain  growth slows, a child’s  intellectual and  physical  abilities  grow in  direct proportion  to stimulation and in case of proper stimulation  we can get another  Mozart, Michelangelo, Einstein.  Dorman was   also  sure that any child  would  rather  learn than  eat, he would also  rather  learn  Greek than  baby talk - since higher  orders  of complexity offer  more stimulation.  Any  child  learns  better than an adult.  Parents  must  treat their  babies  not so much with respect  as awe.  The question about  teaching technique is really important. For example  you want to  teach  a  six  month old baby to read. You  must write some familiar words  in large clear letters on  flashcards. Then show  the cards to the  baby five or six  times a day, simultaneously  reciting the word written  on the  card. Mrs  DiBattista, for example, printed 9000 flashcards for her  five-year-old son.  And  another mother Mrs Pereira took her time and made French and Spanish  flashcards for the eleven-year-old son. Later  both children showed great  progress, they were  socially excellent. The baby who  has  extraordinary  retentive  powers  soon  will  be learning  hundreds  of  words and then  phrases.   So we  must  treat  child’s  mind as a  sponge.  Dorman’s theory guarantees that by the  age of three a child will be entertaining  himself and  amazing  his  parent’s  friends  by reading everything  in sight. In the same  way  he   can learn Math and  perform  staggering  mathematical  stunts or distinguish and analyze  the  works of   the Great  Masters or the classical  composers.

           So it is  very important not what  you  teach but the  way  you  do that.  The school that  makes active children  sit at  desks  studying  mostly useless subjects is a  bad  school.  It is  a  good  school only  for those  uncreative citizens who want  docile uncreative children who will fit into  a civilization   whose standard of  success is  money.   Children  must  be  given  freedom to  be themselves.  Teachers  must  believe in children as  good  not evil beings.   The function of a child  is to  live his own life – not the  life that  his  parents  want him to live, not the life according to  the purpose of educator who thinks  he  knows  what  is  best.  All the  interference and  guidance on the part of  adults can only  produce   a  generation of  robots.

          During the previous  centuries parents strongly believed that they  had to  intimidate, to scold their  children.  Freud and Dewey  changed that point of  view. Freud said that it was  not  by disciplining and  intimidating  but  by  loving children that children  love their parents, want to be worthy of them, want to  grow  up  becoming  mature and  responsible   people as their  parents are.   Dewey  said that  parents and  teachers  didn’t have to  force their children  to learn  because children   are  just  wild  to  learn.  Parents  must  thrust  themselves as parents on the one  hand and  trust  their  children on  the  other.

          So there  are so many  methods of  upbringing children  in our days (both  traditional and new ones) and I  strongly  believe that the  purpose of  any educator is to  try and  analyze  each new  and interesting  theory, taking all the  good it  provides to  parents and  teachers. It  will  help    to  bring  up  active and  smart  children  capable  of  thinking and  making  their  own  decisions.