Tip #149 from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents (McKinley, Trombly) - Dear Abby
Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.
#149
Move Over, Dear Abby
He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes,
will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today.
~Tyron Edwards
Many times your child has probably come to you with a problem or question in which he needs your opinion or advice. Today, try asking your child for his opinion on something. Depending on his age, choose a real situation in your life that you could ask his opinion about. It could be very simple or more complex such as, “I was really bothered by the way the repair man talked to me today in the shop. I’m thinking of calling his superior. What do you think?” Giving advice and having adults and peers listen to them seriously increases children’s self-esteem and confidence level.
Give your child an opportunity to practice giving advice by creating and writing his own advice column. It does not have to be a real column for the school newspaper (although that would be great!) but one that he can write in his own journal. He can consider a problem a character has in a book he’s reading and write a column suggesting an action to take to help solve the character’s problem. If he enjoys giving advice, he can also attempt to solve the problems of characters from movies or television shows that you deem appropriate. You could participate with him and begin by writing to him as the character. Here is an example:
“Dear Mr. Advice,
My name is Momma Bear. Lately, I think someone has been breaking into our house. The person is not causing any big trouble but is doing little things like eating our porridge. Once, the person broke my son’s chair. I think the intruder might be a little girl. Once, I caught a glimpse of her long, golden hair. What should I do? I would appreciate your advice.”
Have him look over the advice columns in newspapers or magazines (You may want to preview the selection first!) Suggest that he pay particular attention to the way the person giving advice “speaks” to the person asking for advice. Encourage him to treat the character from the book or movie with respect and take the problem seriously, just as he would want someone to listen to him and take his problems seriously. You and your child (or whole family) could even take turns writing problems and advice back and forth to each other. (Have a drop-off spot at your message center.)
Being aware of other people’s problems and assisting them in solving them can help your child understand and use empathy with his family and friends, thus making him a more compassionate, caring human being—of which the world can never have too much!
Cindy McKinley Alder Patti Trombly
For more posts about the authors and their books (this is not the only one), click HERE.
For excerpts from more books, click HERE.
For more excerpts from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents, click HERE.For more posts about books about parenting, click HERE.
To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount,
use code FF25 at MSI Press webstore.
Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to buy for it?
(1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it.
(2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES.
(recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date)Check out recent issues.
Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC?
Check out information on how to submit a proposal.
We help writers become award-winning published authors. One writer at a time. We are a family, not a factory. Do you have a future with us?
Turned away by other publishers because you are a first-time author and/or do not have a strong platform yet? If you have a strong manuscript, San Juan Books, our hybrid publishing division, may be able to help.
Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our author au pair services will mentor you through the process.
Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com.
Want an author-signed copy of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.
Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.
Comments
Post a Comment