Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Teaching Kids To Accept Being Different

By : Kari Kay

Children don’t have the same filter between their brains and their mouths that adults do, and if you need evidence of that, just think back to any moment of embarrassment caused by your child’s ultra-honesty.

It’s one thing for an adult to see someone who is obese and think, “he’s fat,” but children are more than likely to point and say in a loud, non-indoor voice, “Wow, Mommy, he’s fat!”


Children are more attuned to differences, both in physical stature and behavior, and have a tendency to point them out in other children, causing distress and anxiety. However, according to at least one expert, it is not only possible to teach them to be more accepting, but it’s also possible to condition those who are different to accept themselves, as well.

Kari Kay, author of Floppy Cat, from the Floppy Cat Company (www.floppycat.com) based her children’s book on the life of her real cat, Floppy, who was born with a balance problem that turned his normal feline gait into a staccato strut, making every step a challenge. She is using his trials as a metaphor for the differences children are prone to spot.

“Floppy was born with very little balance control which made his daily life very difficult,” Kay said. “He had two other siblings that were born with the same challenges. They laid around most of the day letting their challenges get the best of them, while Floppy reacted differently. He spent his days taking on one adventure after another. Rarely did you see Floppy in one place for very long. Floppy enjoyed his life. Never letting his challenges stand in his way of having fun.”

Her tips for children include:

• Keep your head help high at all times – No matter your situation, always have faith that being yourself is more than enough to making the most out of life.
• Don’t let challenges hold you back from doing or getting what you want – Life isn’t always going to be easy, but that doesn’t mean you should let its challenges hold you back. Facing them with a smile can be your strength!
• Figure out what you want and go for it and be willing to learn new things – It’s sometimes easier knowing what you don’t want than what you do want, but once you’ve figured it out, you should be more like Floppy, who didn’t let anything stand in his way.
• Believe in yourself! Use your uniqueness to move forward in life – Being different isn’t a burden, but rather, it’s a gift. Use it to your advantage instead of letting it hold you back. Your ability to overcome adversity will inspire everyone around you.
• Stay positive! Look for the good in every situation – Even at its worst, life can still have its good points, if we only look for them. Floppy wouldn’t have had to look far to find doom and gloom, but instead – no matter what – he could always see the good in every situation.

“If you want to live life to the fullest – stay focused on what you want, look for the good, and never, never let challenges stand in your way as obstacles,” Kay said. “Rather, you use them as opportunities to grow and become all that you want to be.”


Read More ..

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

"Subduct Children Heart"

The extent to which education and affect the heart and soul children?. Just an intelligent cognitive effect for not a lot of soul

By Mohammad Fauzil Adhim

Mixed feelings when Allah Ta'ala my favor I met with the paper book Theodore Herzl, the leader of millions of people have been willing to bleed blood-establish the state of Israel Raya. Reading Der Judenstaat-Jewish State to bring mind-I remember when brotherhood full-time in the Mountain National Silaturrahmi shoot. Memories that touch and make my chest packed by dreams about a TV station, a network of newspapers, the schools that the birth of man, the institutions that became the center so that it can realize the good will of Islam to be rahmatan lil 'alamin for all and all mankind.

Have confidence that I can not write a theme other than what I perbincangkan now. Airmata I have proof that does not fall when I write this sentence-the sentence. Not by feeling sad because it does not freeze, Tuan. But as a very strong emotional and confidence so that depth. Insya-Allah, for Allah Almighty, in a moment later we will be able mewujudkannya. There is no reason for the pessimistic because Allah 'Azza wa Jalla never stop giving aid, unless our faith has been exhausted and our confidence in His power was low.

Learning from those who have passed away, not the exception of Theodore Herzl was the Conference millions of Jews to establish Israel Raya moves to seize the land of the Palestinians, there is one thing we should note. Create a history of success, not on the size of the property and the number of people who stand behind us. One hundred million people who keyakinannya thin, easy akan lari terbirit rear-thousand people selected by the confidence which is very strong and a very great courage. When Herzl wrote Der Judenstaat, the Jews were not powerless and tercerai berai. But Benjamin Se'ev-name Theodore Herzl, writing in the daily book after years of Basel Congress in 1897, "In Basel, I dirikan Jewish State. If I say this with a rough day, I will be greeted with ridicule of the world. Maybe in five years, but certainly in fifty years, every person akan eyes. "

What makes the Herzl so sure? Media and the strength of the network. Media play a human mind, the lead even the most averse to at least do not care. Media can make people mourn what they should syukuri, and should celebrate what they can not make a bed in three days because the awful tragedy. Media can make a decomposition appear in a flash, and a person can make a jump-shooter dicaci and diludahi. A man who has matured enough to think can also change due to any posts that are made with full strength. Especially children and young people, media not only influence. He can be black and white set their mind, even if parents accompany their children almost every day.

Among the company's media-Herzl-sepeninggal very seriously the use of children is Disney with a variety of products, mainly cartoon films. Mogul was founded by Michael Eisner, a Jew who is militant Islam-phobia on The Disney Company is working hard birth products for children. They have serious, try to do their best and never stop to improve. Today, millions of children waiting for Muslims with patient films on their TV screen with their parents-which sometimes is not assisting, but the fight took memelototi. Some of the offers are still good, but not less inject poison into our minds, while we enjoy the happy.

With regard to choice of use to these children, I teringatlah to David McClelland. Top CIA-cost institutions inteligen-American McClelland research for the entrepreneurial spirit of many people of the nation. McClelland then concluded that the spirit of entrepreneurship is influenced by the need for achievement (need for achievement). How did this achievement needs to influence their lives? McClelland stories refer to the child. This confidence is based on the results of analysis of children's stories proyektif nations that ditelitinya.

Although education in universities participated effect on attitude and insight, especially someone, but the influence of the strong imprint on the personality of the period is small. And children's stories, including that they see the film-set is very large power needs of the soul. Children who have strong soul when entering adolescence, if Allah they are not easy-especially affected by guncang-new things that are around him. Being a teenager does not by itself mean that the confusion jatidiri so busy searching for their identity, which is then used as justification to do anything that is not true. There are young people-teenagers who have not experienced keguncangan. They have found jatidiri before entering adolescence. This is what is called the Foreclosure identity.

Questions we are, why there should guncang and lose grip of religious subjects so that they receive since the small berbekas not as if, while at the same time teenagers do not experience identity confusion? Allah knows best bishawab. Determine the cause of education is that they receive in the past, and which affect the heart and their soul. Just be smart on the cognitive values of nation, not a lot of people. Too much knowledge is not too determine what the main driving force for human life-McClelland then considered as a requirement (need). As a doctor in the disease, just the depth of knowledge about the dangers of smoking, not enough to make them stop smoking. That is why cigarette companies are happy to link the government warning about the dangers of smoking in their ads.

Well, one way of effective influence is the child's life story. The more powerful a story, the greater the influence of the spirit of children. Similarly, the more they read the early stories in effect, the stronger the soul bekasnya. Strong influence of this will be greater if children are to reveal the back story and the impression that he was catching through writing. 'Ali bin Abi Talib once said, "Ikatlah writes with knowledge."

Therefore, these two skills, namely reading and writing - we need to revive since the early. We move the soul to read them since the children of the new age of a few days. Excitative interest we read them, and we teach them how to read since the early, not only to improve the intellect. More than that, hopefully we are to do so because Allah 'Azza wa Jalla was made to read (iqra') as the first. Iqra 'bismirab-bikal ladzii khalaq! The fact that teaching reading since the early terbukti improve our children's intellect pleated-fold, it is wisdom that we syukuri.

But ...

Just make our children skilled in reading and writing early, is not enough. We must give to their reading-reading for nourishing mind, feelings and their ruhani. Not enough if we just achieve the brain. We must turn them so that the soul needs to grow a very strong driving force of their lives as well. We have to write stories that children nutritious. Now! There is no time to wait, because every second time we ran away. As Mogul Michael Eisner, there must be in between that we do for children. If Eisner realize dedication through a network of business The Disney Company, and whether we will do?

The rest, we need the books the story of a life, that is, teachers who have the power of the soul. This determines their future children. In the hands of teachers, books that are less gizinya can be addressed so that the heart, mind and menajamkan the lives of children. They reason that we must prepare to deliver our children for the struggle of appeal. Unnecessary haste to establish universities. If we have been able to build on the strength of the soul our children to play sedari gratitude to the junior-senior high school-through schools diasuh by teachers with a strong mental strength, strength ruhiyah a strong knowledge and strength of the mature, if Allah we are holding the next generation of history determines fifty years to come!

Allahu akbar!

Kolomnis author is still in the rubric parenting magazine Hidayatullah


Read More ..