A Formula for Parents

As a parent, you want to provide your child with the perfect experiences to help him grow, learn, and become confident and self-reliant.

How?

Read the Tiger Mom’s book. Afterward, you will want to hyper-structure your child’s life and activities. Then read David Elkind’s Over Scheduled Child. You’ll see that it is much better to preserve as much exploratory, free-play time as possible. Then pick up the Myth of the Over Scheduled Child. Best followed up with The Hurried Child.  Will you have any time for “Why French Parents Are Superior”?

No doubt, our culture is filled with conflicting parenting advice. Read everything and you will be stressed with a load of conflicting data and an attack of self-doubt.  How can a parent get clear instructions for good parenting?

Try Maria Montessori’s approach: follow the child. Successful teaching and parenting starts with knowledge of the child.  Every child has his or her own threshold for stimulation, frustration point and need for adult intervention.  There is no template that works for every child.  And no manual that can un-lock your son or daughter. Observation is the key.