Parenting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Parenting - Essay Example This paper briefly analyses the importance of parenting. According to Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, "Most children need their parents' help and encouragement to discover the satisfaction of using their own imaginations" (Thoughts for Today). Psychological development of children is as important as the physical development. Many parents- even the educated parents- concentrate more on the physical development of the children and give less importance to the psychological or emotional development. Such parents believe that their duty remains only in giving proper food, clothing and shelter to the children till they become adults. In fact parents’ love, care and attention are more important to the children than the food or other physical things. Growing children do not know how to adapt with its surrounding. He will look suspiciously or anxiously at all new things which may catch his attention. The presence of parents and their advice will help the children in dealing with new situations more comfortably. â€Å"Some parents believe that if they've spent an hour of "quality" time with their children, they've done enough. This hour is usually focused on an enjoyable activity: watching TV going out to eat, going to the movies, etc† (Parenting Tips: Giving Your Children the Gift of Time). Many of the mothers are professionals and they get less time to spend with their children. Infants and children often forced to spend their majority time in the day care centers with nannies rather than mothers. The services of nannies can never be considered as the substitute of mother’s services to a child. In order to compensate for the less time spent with the children; some working mothers have the habit of spending an hour with the children when they come back their home. They are of the false belief that spending an hour as a friend with their children is enough for the proper development of their children. Children need the services of parents rather than friends . If parents give the services of peers, from where the children will get the services of parents? â€Å"Suffice it to say that guilty parenting overcompensates and causes children to view themselves as victims. This happens because children model our behavior and point their fingers at the parent who points the finger at himself† (Parenting Tips: Giving Your Children the Gift of Time). Parents who failed to spend adequate time with their children often try to give more love and care to their children when they get opportunities to spend time with their children. This overcompensation usually do harm to the children rather than goods. Over activities of parents will increase the children’s desire for the presence of their parents further and further. Failure to spend increased time with parents will develop the feeling of victimization among children. According to Frank A. Clark, â€Å"The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them† (Parenting Quotes). Making the children self sufficient to meet the realities in life is the core of good parenting. Parents are the first teachers in a child’s life. They consider their parents as the role models in their life. Whatever the things they learned from the parents or family will often reflect in their behavior in society. Society or schools can do little in the molding of children when we compare the roles parents can

Why is it important that I understand what independent learning is Essay - 1

Why is it important that I understand what independent learning is - Essay Example Internalizing independent learning however is not easy and it would be necessary for the student to understand what independent learning is before internalizing it. It should begin in college that would later translate to our professional lives and even in our personal lives as we sought not only to become better professionals but also better individuals. Wedemeyer defined independent learning as consisting of â€Å"various forms of teaching- learning arrangements in which teachers and learners carry out their essential tasks and responsibilities apart from one another, communicating in a variety of ways †¦ Independent study programs offer learners varying degrees of freedom in the self-determination of goals and activities† (Wedemeyer 1975:11 cited in Kobuni 2013:232). This type of learning is exclusive among adults as it relates to â€Å"lifelong learning and self-directed learning† (Candy 1991; Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner 2007 cited in Kobuni 2013:232). In short, independent learning is self-motivated, lifelong and autonomous adult learning to achieve certain goals using various study programs and methods. Understanding independent learning should begin in college. It should start in college because it the stage where we prepare ourselves for our professional lives. Also, the academic rigors in college requires that we should understand and learn independent learning. College is very different in high school where many of the lessons are spoon fed. In college, we are required to look for information on our own through our research and study. We are also encouraged to think on our own and to do critical thinking. These modes of study require independent learning seeking information and learning materials using various methods such library, internet, interview, observation etch to be able to have the inputs necessary to do reports and critical thinking. It is important that