<p>CC students are nothing but the best, brightest, and most dedicated individuals I have ever seen. How did you guys do it? Please post any tips you have on raising children with outstanding academics, personalities, and drive. Through discussion and debate I hope we’ll be able to come up with some kind of formula that will be able to help other parents in the future.</p>
<p>A. Let them learn how to work the VCR.
B. Building blocks
C. Fish
D. Grandparents
E. Smart Nannys (never used)
F. Reading
G. Dumber Parents
H. More Sleep
I. Trickery
J. Day Care/No Day Care
k. Day trips to everywhere.
l. Lots of green leafy vegetables and fresh fruit (both non organic)
m. Easy on red meats (he didn’t like to chew)
n. Dry diapers and early toilet training.
I. Heck if I know. He consistently beat me in everything except physical activities.</p>
<p>Married a guy with outstanding genes and work ethic for academics like my own. Nature plus nurture. Nix the early toilet training- some things just weren’t important to son, nor within his control (I still remember a sister-in-law who trained her kids early, two never went to college, oldest finally finishing). Gifted son needs less sleep (as I have seen in literature about smartest people) than most do. I know post #2 is tongue-in-cheek.</p>
<p>No child or parent is perfect. You take the material given to you (genes) and decide your priorities. Reading is important- nonfiction and fiction. Go to your public library at least once a week. Emphasizing academics over sports/social life also- meaning don’t let them interfere with schoolwork. Expose them to local museums and programs. Do the maximum, not the minimum when given choices in school (no study hall, do musicical instrument, participate in activities such as sports if they want to and any other optional activities). Try to challenge them. Let them do out of age/grade reading, activities that interest them. Don’t worry about what the rest of the parents/students consider the norm- do what works best for your child.</p>
<p>The majority of parents have kids who fit into their world- they have no questions for CC as their child gets decent grades and plans to go to one of the usual choices of colleges for their area. It is those parents who want something more/different for their child that end up here. I know of many well educated professional parents who never gave a thought about which suburb to live in for its school system, and who accepted the norms around them. Some of these have children who live up to their maximal potential, but others could have done much more if their parents would have paid attention to available opportunities.</p>
<p>CC parents can be accused of being too involved, meddling… There is no single formula- the material (kids) is too varied to come up with any sure fire method of success.</p>
<p>I think Anonguy is putting us on. But what the heck…</p>
<p>My kid’s intelligence with academia is a fluke. His father and I are bright enough but, well, we see the look of confusion in his teachers eyes when they meet us. They might as well have a thought balloon over their head that says, “These two? Really?” </p>
<p>Things I would recommend to any parent:
- Love your child without limits.
- Put logical limits on thier behavior.
- Read to them/with them for as long as they will let you. It’s the part of my son’s childhood that I miss the most.</p>
<p>I think parents of CC kids are not the some as CC parents. CC parents, how many of your kids come here? CC kids, how many of of your parents do? I think the kids who come here tend to be more amazing then my kids are. My kids would NEVER come here, but there are pretty special in their own way.</p>
<p>Kent Manigolds formula 401 baby maker Gold edition.</p>
<p>I think I know what Shrinkrap is sayin`</p>
<p>Also, I don’t think it’s so much the parents raising these kids to be “CC-quality”. Instead, I think it’s the outstanding and the few that just tend to congregate on CC.</p>
<p>As a kid, I think the reason I always did well in school was because I knew it was what my parents wanted. My parents never (seriously) indicated to me that money or success was important: education was one thing that could never be taken away from you, and coming from a divorced mom and a constantly-unemployed dad, that means a lot. A degree may be meaningless (as my father’s dusty BA in History can prove), but the knowledge you gain makes you a more interesting person, a better citizen, and a better parent. (I secretly suspect that all parents want their children to grow up to be better parents than they think they were; similarly, I think most parents are better at parenting than they think.)</p>
<p>I don’t know if my mom comes here, but I suspect, had she known about it two years ago, you’d all be very well acquainted with Zammom.</p>
<ol>
<li>Genetics.</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m a student here on CC.I think the biggest thing is letting your kids figure out how to handle things and teaching them that if they stick their hand in a fire, it’ll burn. Let them live and learn from their mistakes; don’t live and learn for them. Don’t coddle your child. For all the mistakes I’ve made, I’ve had to account and pay for all of them. Some of them were painful and most of them were embarrassing. </p>
<p>Sometimes, it’s not about the right sort of parenting. Sometimes, the wrong type of parenting leads to great kids and sometimes, mediocre parenting leads to great kids. Try to make sure your kid has their priorities straight, and provide whatever tools you can for greatness. Your child will choose whether or not to pick up those tools.</p>
<p>I told my kids to observe everything I do and listen to everything I say, then do the opposite.</p>
<p>As a former elem school teacher, I can tell you from my own experiences teaching plus raising a child of my own, start reading to children as soon as they are born. I happen to believe that reading can be one of the single most important factors that can foster “smartness”. The other suggestions made by previous posters are excellent as well!</p>
<p>I have 2 Ds, the older one will not read unless she absolutely has to, and most of what she reads for leisure is just trash, the younger one would read in her sleep if she could. The older one is very street smart, gets good grades, has a lot of social grace, a leader in almost everything she is involved in. The younger one is great, but because she spends so much time reading, she is not as intuitive with people and is often more quiet in social situation. From my personal experience, I am not as big of buyer of reading as a big factor in fostering smartness.</p>
<p>[Prenatal</a> Music](<a href=“http://www.makewayforbaby.com/prenatalmusic.htm][B]Prenatal”>http://www.makewayforbaby.com/prenatalmusic.htm). Velcroed headphones to my wife’s abdomen and played a mix of classical and classic rock. Warning: do not do this with country music for obvious reasons :D</p>
<p>Great song about parental advice by Drive By Truckers</p>
<p>Outfit</p>
<p>You want to grow up to paint houses like me, a trailer in my yard till you’re 23
You want to be old after 42 years, keep dropping the hammer and grinding the gears </p>
<p>Well, I used to go out in a Mustang, a 302 Mach One in green.
Me and your Mama made you in the back and I sold it to buy her a ring.
And I learned not to say much of nothing and I figured you already know
but in case you dont or maybe forgot, Ill lay it out real nice and slow </p>
<p>Dont call what your wearing an outfit. Dont ever say your car is broke.
Dont worry about losing your accent, a Southern Man tells better jokes.
Have fun but stay clear of the needle. Call home on your sisters birthday.
Dont tell them youre bigger than Jesus, dont give it away. </p>
<p>Six months in a St. Florian foundry, they call it Industrial Park.
Then hospital maintenance and Tech School just to memorize Frigidaire parts.
But I got to missing your Mama and I got to missing you too.
So I went back to painting for my old man and I guess thats what Ill always do </p>
<p>So dont try to change who you are boy, and dont try to be who you aint.
And dont let me catch you in Kendale with a bucket of wealthy-mans paint. </p>
<p>Dont call what your wearing an outfit. Dont ever say your car is broke.
Dont sing with a fake British accent. Dont act like your familys a joke.
Have fun, but stay clear of the needle, call home on your sisters birthday.
Dont tell them youre bigger than Jesus, Dont give it away. </p>
<p>Dont give it away</p>
<p>I don’t consider myself a genius, but I do consider myself a decent teenager. I credit my dad for his though love and dedication for shaping who I am today. I was seperated from him by my mom on many occasions, but he never gave up. He taught me the very limits of love a parent can have. I learned it’s limitless. He got custody of me for my last year of high school. He helped me apply for colleges, connect me to a nearly forgotten family, and helped me make the right decisions.</p>
<p>The only thing is that he seems to underestimate what I can do, but that’s only a minor flaw of him.</p>
<p>Before I go to college in the fall, I’m going to write him a letter of all the things he did for me and how I appreciate all of them.</p>
<p>^^^What a wonderful story!</p>
<p>Genetics.</p>
<p>Parents who were themselves academic and therefore have a pro-academic attitude without even thinking about it. </p>
<p>It also helps if the kids have Asian American friends, so that they pick up a pro-academic attitude from another source.</p>
<p>Involvement in instrumental music might help (the smart kids tend to be in the band or orchestra, leading to yet another place where kids can pick up a pro-academic attitude).</p>
<p>Both of my offspring are reasonably academic (the younger one more so than the older). The older one graduated with honors from our state university and is now a graduate student in a Ph.D. program that is among the top 15 in his field. The younger one attended a selective academic magnet program in high school (by her own choice) and is now a sophomore at a university that U.S. News considers in the top 20, where she has a GPA slightly above 4.0 (the university gives A pluses, thus making this possible). But I don’t think my husband and I tried very hard to “make” them academic. It just sort of happened, for the reasons mentioned above.</p>
<p>I truly do not know that anything we did or didn’t do is the reason our son has turned out to be the kind, smart young man that he is. But these are my thoughts:</p>
<p>Read to them and talk to them from birth. Doesn’t matter what you read at first, IMO–just read. I read the newspaper and Newsweek with exaggerated expression when S was an infant. It was the only way I had time to read them at all, and baby boy didn’t care what it was as long as it was in my voice.</p>
<p>As important as reading: talking with and attentively listening to the child as soon as s/he can talk, and continuing through all the phases (yes-even knock knock jokes). Model reasoning and learning skills. What if I…? What would happen if…? What would work better: this or that? Listen to their ramblings and questions. Be a safe haven for them. Ask their advice!</p>
<p>Let them play. Children learn through play. A driveway and a hose in the summertime = weeks of fun. Dams can be built, rock diversions constructed…</p>
<p>Our son did not watch any TV during his preschool years. Nor videos or computer anything. It was all interaction with people, pets, and things. I suspect that this reinforces the wiring in the human brain that is useful later. But that is not why I did it that way. It just seemed right.</p>
<p>Treat them with respect. Respect their feelings–they are real, though perhaps immature. </p>
<p>Important phrases to use often-in no particular order:
I love you.
I don’t know–let’s find out.
You know, you have a point. I hadn’t thought of that. (Then change your decision if it is warranted)
I’m sorry, I was wrong. (my parents never said that one!)
It’s OK to make mistakes. That’s how we learn.
The only bad mistake is the one you don’t learn from.
That is not how we treat people in this house.
It is OK to be angry. It is not OK to be mean.
Do your best.
Is that your best work?
I trust you.
If you lose someone’s trust, it is very hard to get it back.
Let me know if I can help.
Making a mistake is one thing; lying about it is much much worse.
We tell the truth in this family (and make sure you live by this, too.)</p>
<p>And so much more!</p>
<p>I don’t know how exactly I ended up with 3 amazing children, but I am humbled and thank God every day. When our children were young we always made sure they knew school was their number one priority, and that we expected them to do their best. That didn’t have to mean “perfect” or all A’s, but best effort. Somehow, the lesson stuck with them over the years, and we are truly blessed with good people who happen to also be good students.</p>