A young girl, who enjoys being the center of attention, may act out for her friends and family. Then one day her mother tells her to stop being so silly and grow up. This negative attention may make the girl feel ashamed of her behavior and from then on, hold back her free-spiritedness and then go through life feeling as if she can’t fully express herself for fear of being laughed at.

The girl’s experience shows how people live with shame when they have been criticized (批评) for just being themselves.

When it comes to teenagers, there are times they can be extremely difficult and try their parents’ patience. When parents become frustrated, they may say things like “I am starting to really not like you. ” They may not mean what they say. They may just be tired of arguing with the teenager and have become emotionally overwhelmed. However, the teenager doesn’t know their words are out of frustration, and may feel his parents are telling him they’re sorry they ever had him. The child may conclude that he is a bad person. Such casual criticism by parents can linger and stick to children like glue.

How to make this better? The next time a child shows you a drawing he’s done, or sings a song for you in an effort to get your attention, recognize that your response may be extremely important toward the child’s willingness to continue to explore these creative efforts. When a child is dancing and an adult makes fun of him, the negativity he feels can completely shut the child down from that activity, or even worse, fill him with shame as if something’s wrong with him.

That is why it is so important for parents to recognize that children are exploring their world.The more encouragement we how then and he more we keep their sense of what’s possible alive, the more likely they will be to explore and find their own enthusiasm in life.

They will keep alive their joy and their dreams for the future. As parents, I don’t think we can hope for anything more.

Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States and Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head start in life.【小题1】So parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education. 【小题2】

However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children’s skills differ. Some children are very skilled in some areas while poor in others. 【小题3】The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need to be confident, happy and clever.

Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. 【小题4】It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully step by step. The result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and lots of self-confidence.

Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious and arouse his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to repair them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. 【小题5】. And that is more important.

Reading books and looking at pictures are great, but nothing facilitates (促进) learning like travel, especially for teenagers. Not only do they get to see a world beyond their neighborhood, they also get to experience it—feel it, taste it, hear it and better understand the world around them.

After nearly four decades in the classroom and traveling the world, Phyllis Duvall Bailey knew this better than anyone else.

Becoming involved in the work in AKA Sorority Inc in US, she worked to educate children about the United Nations. There was no doubt in Bailey's mind that the lessons would mean so much more if the students could see things for themselves.

Starting in 2015, Bailey, 82, set out to take her students to the UN Headquarters in New York City to give them a “Window Seat to the World”, and thus transformed them into global citizens.

Indeed, it is a great opportunity to give students national and international exposure. Since Bailey saw the students as future leaders, she was desperate to expose them to the UN, its mission, its agendas (议程) and its supporting organizations.

She decided to give $10, 000 of her own money to pay for the late June trip, enough to take 10 students aged 14-17 on a four-night stay in New York.

There, they had guided tours of the UN Headquarters and the New York City Harbor (海港).It was Quenyaun Payne's first trip to the city and Taylor Sappington's second.   Payne, 17, is a senior at Mceachem High School in the state of Georgia, US.   Sappington, 15, is a junior at Therrell High School in Atlanta, Georgia, US.

Both said their visit to the UN was inspiring.

“I like not only how countries are working together but they're focused on common goals like global warming and keeping peace,” Sappington said.

Payne commented, “The trip was amazing. I'm so thankful Mrs. Bailey made it possible.”

Actually, there are a lot of people grateful for the retired teacher's effort. The United Nations Association of Atlanta recently gave Bailey its Humanitarian Award, and the United Nations Association of the US awarded her with the National Education Award.

But Bailey wasn't looking for recognition or even gratitude. Over those four days in New York, she'd already felt it and seen it in the eyes of those 10 teenagers, Payne and Sappington included, who made the trip. “It has been a real joy to get to see and watch their reaction to new experiences,” she said.