Parenting Matters: A different kind of lesson
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 6, 2019
The many lessons parents teach children is something we write about in this column regularly. Parents are probably the most important teachers our children ever have.
Lessons on talking are one of the first lessons parents teach. Smiling comes almost as soon because most parents smile at their delightful new family additions. Manners come surprisingly early when parents teach their children about please and thank you. Educational lessons are many. They usually begin with reading. Every book you read to your little one is a lesson in reading.
This lesson includes how to turn the page, the beginning of reading and learning colors and numbers. Soon after learning about reading and maybe even before comes learning about mathematics. Sometimes learning about mathematics begins with learning to count the jelly beans or Cheerios that are on the table.
But there are other lessons parents teach. We recently talked about the importance of teaching about kindness. This kind of lesson is a bit different. This is a lesson about an emotion. While many lessons have an emotional part some mostly have an educational part.
Emotional lessons are sometimes learned later but they still have an important side and need to be taught.
Nature, a classroom
Another lesson that parents are the most important teachers about is beauty. We have it all around us but sometimes we forget to pay attention to it. But take a look.
The snow was absolutely beautiful. Even many people who couldn’t leave their homes marveled at the beauty.
It reminds us of the beauty that is all around us. It is beauty that we frequently ignore. It is the beauty of the snow, the mountains, the sunrise, the clouds, the flower buds, the rain, and the changing moon.
Like many other things in life, we need to help our children learn about the beauty that surrounds them. The best teacher our children have about beauty are their parents.
Many times we talk about beauty when we emphasize how people look. Certainly some people are considered beautiful; others become more beautiful after you get to know them. Physical beauty is a more difficult concept to teach a child. But beauty in nature and the world is something we all need to learn to pay attention to and appreciate.
When we define beauty as “a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight” we recognize beauty can be many things to many different people. The pleasure we receive from beauty is immediately identifiable.
When you teach your child about beauty, you are teaching him to recognize something that pleases his aesthetic senses.
When you talk together about something that is beautiful, you help your child to tune into something that pleases him. When you stop together to look at the beauty of the sun setting, you are helping him tune in to the pleasure this picture presents him.
When you look out the window at the snow falling and appreciate the beauty of it with your child, you are teaching him to take the time to appreciate something in life that gives him pleasure. This is a gift.
Whenever you set out to teach your child something you first need to believe it is worthwhile. Let me tell you appreciating beauty is worthwhile. You and your child can find joy and happiness in recognizing the beauty that is all around us.
This is a wonderful and important lesson to teach your child. Don’t miss a beautiful opportunity.
Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and former executive director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which publishes newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents. To reach current First Teacher Executive Director Nicole Brewer, email nicole@firstteacher.org or call 360-681-2250.
