Why Do Children Look Cute to Us?

We find every child a cute child. We enjoy looking at the children, love playing with them and share their happiness and innocence with joy. Why? Is it only because the child is a lovely child in looks? That is not true. We mainly enjoy being with children and love them because they are honest. We love children because of their innocence. We love children because we are sure that child will not judge us and that we can be totally free with the children without any fear.
Let us examine our relationship with grown ups. With most of our friends and acquaintances, we are guarded in our approach. We think before speaking. We try to hide most of our true feelings and try to act in a way that we believe will maintain a make believe relationship. How many times, have you thought of shouting at someone, but have refrained from doing so? How many times have you wished to laugh at someone's dressing sense but have stopped that laughter? How many times have you really wanted to tell someone a few things but stopped midway worried that it may spoil the relationship? Please think about the artificial way in which we relate with grown up people. We do all this because we are unsure of ourselves. We are unsure about the other person's reaction and intelligence and we are unsure about the relationship.
With a child nothing of this kind exists. We are free to express ourselves in as many ways as we wish, without any reservations. That is why we love children and call them cute. - Adapted from http://www.articlesbase.com

Halting Homework Hassles

Homework is a child’s responsibility, so we need to be careful how much we help. We want to be aware of what our children are doing and be involved in helpful ways, but not help too much. Avoid the word "we" - it implies that homework is our responsibility. Say, "When are you going to do your homework?" If they are having problems, figure out why.

If children have a time management problem, teach them how to schedule their time, instead of taking over and reminding them. Ask questions like, "How much time do you need for homework? Would you like to do homework right after school or right after dinner? How can you remember when it is time to do your homework?"

If children don’t understand homework, ask questions that help them figure out the answer. "What are you supposed to do here? Where in the book does it talk about this?" If children don’t understand the information, we can try explaining it. We do not have to understand what children are learning to be helpful. We just need to know the skills for helping our children find their own answers. If children need daily help, they may benefit from a tutor more than our taking responsibility for helping them. It’s a delicate balance to be helpful, without fostering dependency, rescuing, or helping too much.

If children forget a book, lunch, or homework, teach organizational skills and use problem solving to let children chose self-reminders. Avoid being their reminder or rescuer. Agree to deliver forgotten items no more than three times per year. After that, the child will need to experience the natural consequence of not having the item.

If children don’t see the value of homework, avoid lecturing. Ask questions like, "Why do you think the teacher wants you to do homework? How can doing homework help you? What will happen if you don’t do it?" Offer one brief value statement like, "Sometimes people ask us to do things they feel are important but we don’t. At work I have to do what my boss asks me to do. School is your job and teachers are your boss. You need to follow the schools rules, even if you don’t agree with them. As long as they aren’t asking you to do something hurtful or wrong, you need to do what they ask to do your job well."

When children don’t do homework on purpose, it could be one of four reasons:
• Children might "act stupid" so teachers (or parents) will pay attention and spend time helping them.
• Children might want to prove that they have power, by refusing to cooperate. "
• Children might not do homework to "punish" a disliked teacher.
• Children may not do their homework because they are so discouraged they have given up.

Children who have given up on school are experiencing a deeper problem. Listen closely to identify the real issue. This is what needs to be resolved. Have children brainstorm possible solutions. You may enlist professional guidance, if indicated. Adapted from http://ezinearticles.com/