AboutDr. Widad Ashurax Expertise I can answer questions pertaining to the following areas: Teaching methods, evaluation of teachers, teachers` moral, curriculum design and market research, students` attrition and completion rate, students` counseling and career planning in Post Secondary Education.
Experience I was a President of private two-year school of business for over ten years, Vice president for three years, and a director of education for two years for a two-year college. Additionally, I have over twenty years of teaching experience in high school and post secondary education combined.
Organizations retired
Education/Credentials Doctorate degree in Education from Nova University
Master degree in Early Childhood from Nova University
Awards and Honors School evaluator for the Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges & schools in Washington DC.
Question Hi Dr Widad,
Please, why it is important to encourage children to express their likes and dislikes? and why is it important to respond and discuss differences with children?
Thank you for your help Dr Widad, I will appreciate that
Regard Emma
Email:
Answer Dear Emma:
Acknowledging the importance of dedicating adequate time to our children and paying attention too closely to the little people’s world can be rewarding in the long run. By just addressing your above questions I could sense that you care to know how to deal with their preferences in different things in your kids’ life. Please understand that it is important to know that by giving your children your quality time and taking notice of their feelings could be just as good as answering their questions. Most adults, unfortunately, leave their children wonder and/or seek information from other people because they left their children questions unanswered. By ignoring our children we ,actually, ,indirectly, let them seek information elsewhere which might be dangerous, inadequate for their age, and/or incorrect. Consequently, their continuous wonder may change their behavior and attitude toward things around them.
We, as adults, must pay great attention to each question we hear from our kids and must answer it on a timely fashion to help them evaluate things satisfactorily. Communicating adequate information to your children will eventually increase their intelligence and their way of assessing things in their small world. Again, by answering their questions we are definitely adding to their life experience, making them handle things in a more mature way, and according to their age.
Therefore, if a child is expressing to you his/her likes and or dislikes try to respect his/her choices and compliment him /her on the preference(s) and the selections he/she made. If the choices are in the right direction and meet the common values we all share you then, should encourage your children and help them express their thoughts freely about things they see, hear, and feel. Further more, to better build their personality is to introduce them to good books to read on the subject of their liking and have an open dialog with them.
Do not, by all means, try to express your own opposed views to distract them or discourage them from following their own. If the choices and the preferences of the child are not in odds with the values, principles, and the morals that we, as parents and educators, share, then let the child have the ability to think freely. This type of nurture can create a valuable experience in your child’s early stages and help him/her grow intellectually, socially, and psychologically in a healthy way. This type of encouraged thinking will help most children become creative, outgoing, and may be become talented in the area of their choice.
If a child has the ability to differentiate between things that he/she likes and dislikes in his/her life we then can not impose our own agenda to redirect him/her towards the things that only please us. Allow the child to show and express his feelings about things in general so you be able to understand his/her train of thoughts. When we find out that his/her thoughts about things are not suitable to his/her age then, finding the correct tools to direct the child to the right direction when needed can be easily implemented. Let them feel free to come to you and avoid 'hushing' the kids when they need to ask sensitive questions. The effective discipline can be given when you know exactly how your child thinks. Teaching can only be effective when it is given timely and on the right issue.
The old philosophy that was practiced by so many in the past which stated that " Children can be seen not heard” can only create different generation that you may not like nor recognize even your own!.
When children are given the opportunity and time to hear their views about certain things that happen in their world, they become more able to understand things more clearly without confusion. Therefore difficult and critical issues can become more reasonable to discuss and especially sensitive issues like color of their skin, religion, size, speech, weight, and ability to read better or less than others and so on.
Communicating to the child the differences with other children is as important as teaching him/her# his/her #full name and home phone number. However, the most important thing in this situation is to avoid your own prejudice opinion about any of the sensitive issues that we all deal with in our society today.
