How to praise our child?

When our children do something super, what will we do as parents? Surely, we should praise them. However, we should take care of praising our children. When given inappropriately, our praise will only result in a negative impact for them.

“Positive praise for children, in one hand, can strengthen their motivation, but on the other hand, it may also result in negative impacts,” said Najelaa Shihab to Kompas Female in a talkshow “The Myth and Fact about Early Stimulation at Home” in a series of Breastfeeding Fair event 2012 held by Asosiasi Ibu Menyusui Indonesia (AIMI) in Grand Indonesia, Central Jakarta, May 2, 2013.

Don’t do your children homework!

Truthfully, we parents should always be ready to help our children with no exception of their homework. However, note that helping is different from doing. Then, let our children do their homework and we only need support them in the hope that they can do their homework by themselves.

Anindita Budhi R, counselor in Yayasan Pendidikan Pupuk in East Kalimantan, Bontang, states that there are some negative effects when parents are involved in doing their children’s homework.

Bagaimana Memotivasi Anak untuk Belajar?

Tak sedikit orangtua yang mengeluh, kenapa nilai anak-anak mereka rendah, padahal mereka termasuk akan yang cerdas dan rajin. Nilai rendah tidak hanya dipicu oleh ketidak mampuan anak dalam menyerap setiap proses pembelajaran yang dijalani. Masih banyak faktor lain yang memicunya, termasuk motivasi belajar.

Jangan Manjakan Anak!

Salah satu hal yang paling tidak menyenangkan yang mungkin dihadapi seseorang adalah anak-anak yang manja yang selalu merasa bahwa mereka berhak untuk meminta apapun yang mereka inginkan kapanpun mereka menginginkannya.

Jika tugas kita sebagai orangtua adalah untuk mengasuh dan membesarkan anak-anak kita sehingga menjadi manusia yang berperilaku baik dan bertanggung jawab serta bisa memberikan kontribusi positif pada masyarakat sesuai dengan potensi yang mereka punya, maka salah satu tugas penting yang harus kita lakukan adalah memastikan anak-anak kita tidak menjadi manja. Memanjakan anak sama halnya kita memasukkan mereka dalam jurang, karena mereka akan sulit untuk memahami realitas kehidupan yang sebenarnya, terutama yang ada di luar diri mereka.

Rereading Old Books

Living among the freshly-published books doesn’t really make me get apart of books I’ve read. Then comes the time when I need to reread my old books. Seldom do I read a book completely, only a couple of pages I am interested in or I’m in need of, though oftentimes I’m tempted to reread the book thoroughly.

When in need of encouraging words, I keep my eyes on pages telling the life-story of Nyai Ontosoroh, a character in a novel of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, the Earth of Mankind (Bumi Manusia). The struggle of Nyai Ontosoroh that the life had to go on and she did it in any way that she pleased as an indigenous woman married with a native Dutchman looked as something burning the fire in myself that is almost extinguished. Her life was so miserable, but she went through it so bravely.

Creating Heaven in Classroom

Education has from time to time merited much discussion. It has always been an interesting topic to talk about. Even, though we may easily find shelves of book stores full of references and writings in the topic, new references always come up, even if perhaps with the same ideas as previously published. This seems natural in that human beings may not be separated from education. Since the early life, we have been surrounded by any topics of education.