Raising Children

Raising Children	Fostering Independance	Discipline
The Right Toys	Emotionally Healthy Kids	Music

Advice for parents raising children

*Do not tax the nervous system unduly
*Allow a degree of license with food - expect some loss of appetite
*Pay particular attention to body warmth
*Do not force physical exertion against resistance
*Do not force the child on any front
*Now is not the time to learn a wind instrument because of the degree of stress it imposes on the respiratory system
*Sleep is very important

The child may be ready to take on extra questions about death in a more pictorial way. Previously death was not a reality in the same way because the child was carried by the pre-birth forces. At nine years these forces yield.

A sense of the child's individual destiny is formed in three stages - one at nine years,

another at eleven years when the limbs become lanky and at puberty up until sixteen years old when the true individual breaks through. The developing adults take responsibility for their own destiny.

Some medicines help the child through the nine year stage, notably iron - blood levels of iron may fall and bearing in mind the special relationship that iron has to the Earth it is an appropriate medicine.

They are virtually unavoidable today, and are one of the greatest tools for information and management. They are required to be taught to very young children by the National Curriculum in the hopes that our children will be prepared for the world of machines when they graduate. However children below the age of 14 do not need interaction with computers. Children of 14 or older are quite capable of learning very quickly the workings of a computer while being more prepared and able to do so productively than a 7 year old. The harm to children from computers in similar to television (see above) regarding radiation, two-dimensional viewing etc. Many people argue that while this is the case, computers differ from TV in that the computer requires interaction. Indeed, you are required to not simply be a passive viewer, but you have to initiate and respond to the computer.

This interaction though can create additional problems in the developing child with hand-eye co-ordination and motor skills. My eldest son enjoys playing puzzle and building games on the computer, but we strongly restrict his playing and he understands that it is not a healthy pastime. We explain to all the children how TV and computers affect our brains and this helps them want to limit exposure ! We have observed that our son seems to gain a sense of achievement from playing computer games (educational or recreational), but this achievement is not a healthy kind, or even real. Real power (empowerment) is not gained from simulated situations but I feel this hinders children in their search for genuine empowerment. Building a play house, finding treasure using a map, fixing a bike are all real ways of creating genuine achievement and help to develop hand-eye co-ordination !!