This book is excerpted from "The Education of Carl Witt" by Jinghua Publishing House, written by Carl Witt, translated by Liu Hengxin, third edition in August 2004. For the beginning of the excerpt, please see "Book Excerpt - The Education of Carl Witte (Opening)".
Fast track for the first few chapters:
Chapter 1 The Importance of Parental Companion and Education
Chapter 2 Uncovering Children’s Potential
Chapter 3 of "The Education of Carl Witt" (hereinafter referred to as "Carl Witt") I captured the best period of my son's intellectual development
From the third chapter, old Carl began to really start He has learned his parenting methods, many of which are easy to learn and easy to use. Let the author introduce them to you one by one.
Everything must be limited, including diet
The more you eat, the better. If you eat too much, the blood will reach the stomach, which will affect the development of the brain. "It will also Let the child's brain be filled with the concept of "eating can solve all problems" from an early age... When he grows up, this concept of "eating" will transform into the concept of over-reliance on substances" (Excerpted from "Calvert" Chapter 3 Chapter p26)
The author has experienced that children will vomit if they eat too much, which will increase the burden on the spleen and stomach.
There are currently many scientific opinions on infant diet, including not adding complementary foods before 6 months of age, and eating bland foods and soft foods before 1 year old. Especially when it comes to eating light food, I must emphasize that babies are very sensitive to taste, and they will find it delicious even with a little bit of taste, so there is no need to expose them to heavy flavors very early. However, as adults get older, their tastes will change. It's on the heavy side, so you can never use an adult's taste to judge a baby's taste.
Avoid foods with additives as much as possible, choose natural foods, and reduce sugar intake. Almost all children like sweets, such as lollipops, chocolate, cookies, cream cakes, and ice cream. These tempting foods may not be resisted by adults, let alone children. The author has seen some children eat very poorly at dinner. When asked, they usually eat too many sweets, so how can they have the appetite to eat dinner? I have also seen children with tooth decay because they ate sweets at night. However, it is really not easy to avoid it. If you don't eat, your friends will sometimes give you gifts. When you go out to play with other children, their parents will take care of them. Sometimes, parents can only bite the bullet and refuse other people's kindness.
Maintain a healthy mood
- The traditional Chinese parenting concept is to wrap the baby like a rice dumpling, but old Karl doesn’t think so? “When a baby sleeps, it must not be like a rag doll. Wrap him up like that” (from "Calvert" Chapter 3 p28). "Because a healthy person needs freedom rather than restraint, even if the restraint seems comfortable." (Excerpted from Chapter 3 of Calvet, p29).
- Breathe fresh outdoor air frequently and exercise more.
Old Carl’s training started when the baby was two or three weeks old. One of the trainings was: “Let my son grab my finger. Since the baby is born with the ability to grasp the reflex, he was as hard as hanging on a horizontal bar. Pull up his upper body. By the time the reflex disappears at two months old, his arms will have become quite strong, creating conditions for crawling training in advance." (Excerpted from Chapter 3 of "Calvert" p29)
- Shower often. I think most families can now buy a children's bathtub and make some bubble baths. Children especially like it. The author also bought a swimming pool, but it was not very practical and used too much water.
- When a baby cries, should parents comfort it immediately?
Old Karl’s point of view is that if the child is not hungry or sick, ignore his crying, because old Karl hopes to “let his son realize from an early age that it is impossible to get happiness by begging” (Excerpted from the third chapter of "Calvert" Chapter p30)
We often hear two opinions now. One is the "procedural parenting method", which is similar to old Carl's approach. The most typical example is: if the baby cries, don't hug it immediately. Otherwise, there will be a situation of constant hugging; the other is the intimacy parenting method, which advocates more caressing for the baby. The author personally prefers the second type. From the perspective of a baby, or to put myself in his shoes, such a little guy is not very good at talking yet and can only lie flat, surrounded by strange giants. When he cries, At that time, if you don't comfort him, he will be so scared and insecure. From an adult's point of view, I think most parents can't bear to hear their baby cry. Furthermore, how long can you hold your baby? When he really grows up, if you want to hug him, he won't want you to hug him. In short, the author still prefers the intimacy parenting method.
Hearing training: Often sing beautiful songs to babies, recite poems, tell stories, and cultivate their ears. Unknowingly, babies can recite poems and stories naturally. Although there are many high-tech toys on the market that play music or tell stories, the author believes that if mothers can spare a little time every day to sing or tell stories to their babies, it will definitely get twice the result with half the effort. Pay attention to telling a story repeatedly, and children will love to listen to it. Enhance memory.
Eye training: "When my son was two or three weeks old, I bought him some colorful and bright cloth kittens, puppies, and deer. I placed them all around my son. I often move toys to stimulate his vision. I also often let my son watch the rainbow reflected on the wall." (Excerpted from Chapter 3 of "Calvert" p32)
Observation ability training: " After the child's vision develops, there are two ways to cultivate the child's observation ability. One is to cultivate the child's observation ability through colorful colors. I hung copies of various famous paintings around my son's room. There are also a large number of imitations of famous sculptures on display. Since my son was a child, I have held him in his arms to identify various objects in the house, such as tables, chairs, etc., and read the names of these objects to him. At first, my son only paid attention to the paintings. Gradually, I also understood the meaning of the colors in the painting." (Excerpted from Chapter 3 of "Calvert" p32) It is really good to supplement this method. It not only cultivates observation skills and develops children's language skills, but also plays. It enriches children's knowledge.
"Color Contest", a practical game for infants and young children
"Crayons are also a good toy for children. I prepared a large piece of paper. Starting from a certain point, I will use red The crayon draws a 3 cm long line, and then my son also draws a parallel line of the same length with a red crayon. Then, after the red line I drew, I use a cyan crayon to connect a line of the same length, and my son also has to use it. The cyan crayon draws a cyan line behind the red line he drew. If the crayon used by my son is different from the color I use, the game will not continue and the son will lose. "(Excerpted from " "Calvert" Chapter 3 p33).
Practical games for infants and young children: "Pay Attention"
"Whenever I pass by the door of a store, I ask my son what items are displayed in the window of the store and ask him He searches for these items in his memory. The more items his son can name, the better." (Excerpted from Chapter 3 of "Calvert", p33)
This little game is fun and simple to strengthen your child's memory. Practical and can be played anytime and anywhere. This game also inspires us. Games are everywhere. On the road, in the park, you can play games and learn knowledge everywhere.
Language training
"I advocate starting to instill vocabulary in children when they are 15 days old, and teach them to speak when they can just distinguish things." (Excerpted from the third chapter of "Calvert" Chapter p35)
As long as the child is awake, talk to him more, sing, or read. Learning language requires an environment, and adults must provide this environment for children.
A few points to note:
1. Pure pronunciation
When children first learn to speak, they will always encounter some words that they cannot speak clearly. For example, the pronunciation of L, such as the raised tongue sound and the flat tongue sound, must be corrected at the beginning. Many times, we think it is funny for children to speak with a milky sound. In fact, if we do not correct it when we are young, it will be difficult to correct it after we get used to it. . In addition, incorrect pronunciation will also affect children's hearing. If the incorrect pronunciation is repeated for a long time, it will be difficult for children to distinguish whether the pronunciation is accurate or not.
2. Make full use of everything around you
Old Carl’s method is still so simple, easy to learn and effective - "From the church at the entrance of my village, I talked about what I saw along the way, consciously The ground called his son to pay attention: tall trees, short grass, flying birds, thick wooden fences, street lights, buildings, carriages, various flowers and plants, various people, and busy little ants... The son was teased and became curious about the outside world. As soon as he went out, he pointed here and there, babbling non-stop, and his speech improved much faster." (Excerpted from Chapter 3 of "Calvert", p37)
3 . Storytelling is the most effective
Choose good books and tell good stories to enhance memory, imagination, and affinity with parents and the world.
Not all picture books are good picture books, and all children's stories are suitable for infants and young children. The author himself spent a lot of thought on what kind of story to choose.
At the beginning, I found picture books to read, but I often stopped reading halfway through. Some picture books (including foreign ones, don’t be superstitious about the moon in foreign countries) are really scary. I really doubt that these are picture books written by people with children. ? Is this for kids? Especially when looking for picture books -
- Avoid those with violent themes, such as Alibaba's Forty Thieves, and even some plots of Snow White are not suitable for young children);
- Avoid those with violent themes Horror, for example, I remember a Japanese picture book about a picky child being eaten by a child who pretended not to be picky;
- Avoid this kind of thing purely for the sake of reasoning. There's nothing wrong with picture books, but they really don't interest adults and children;
- Avoid using more negative words than positive words. For example, "David Can't" is a very popular book, but the author I think it is really inappropriate for a baby. I keep repeating some bad things to the baby and things that cannot be done. What will happen to the baby? Psychologically speaking, these negative things will only deepen the impact on the baby. Just like a good friend of mine said to me, he doesn’t even know how to read this book, and the baby will learn bad habits as soon as he reads it.
What kind of picture book are you looking for?
- The language is beautiful, the content is peaceful and warm, full of love, and beautiful pictures are better
Some of my personal favorite picture books are recommended to everyone, such as: "My Dad", "My Mom", "Guess How Much I Love You", "Smarty Beans Picture Book", "Harry's Floral Sweater", "Grandma Flower", "Warming House - A Confession of Love", etc.;
- Chinese poetry and nursery rhymes passed down from our ancestors are also beautiful. They rhyme with oblique and oblique and are refreshing to read. Some audio books are also suitable for children to learn by themselves;
- I have to mention Qiaohu, which is for young children. Duan's stories are lively and interesting, and they also cultivate living habits. Children learn language and knowledge, and they are easier to accept.
Again emphasize teaching by words and deeds
Children imitate at first, so the person who takes care of the child and the one who has been in contact with the child the longest is particularly important. What words are spoken and what kind of words are used? Language may determine the child's language and speaking habits, so parents who have a baby must first arm themselves so that they can "speak of lotus flowers", so that the baby can also speak beautiful language.
Cultivation of creativity-?
"Do more, think more, ask more questions... No matter what kind of questions my son raises, I will patiently answer them." (Excerpted from "Carl Wei Special》Chapter 3 p42)
Encourage children to make up stories. No matter how fanciful the story sounds, it is like the wings of children's imagination. Parents should take good care of and encourage them. Just imagine, if you tell someone a story and the other person listens attentively, you will become more motivated. But if the other person is indifferent or listless every time, then you will become less and less willing to tell.
Respect every "creation" of children - "Some parents don't understand their children's imaginary world. When their children use wood chips and cardboard boxes to build cities and palaces for play, they often don't clean up the house. Saying hello to a child destroys the child's play, which ruthlessly destroys the child's spiritual world. The seriousness of this move is that it not only deprives the child of happiness and joy of play, but also prevents the child from becoming a poet or scholar in the future. , inventors... Parents often destroy geniuses through indiscretions in education.
"(Excerpted from Chapter 3 of "Calvert" p44)
To be continued