What Would I Teach My Child

Occasionally I find myself talking to my imaginary child, telling her (usually it's a she) all the important things I've learned. I want to correct the errors my parents made, guide, teach and support my children in everything. I thought I'd list some in writing, in case I ever have one. Then I'll get to laugh at myself and my idealism.

General rules and ideas

Answer questions! No matter how weird or obvious the question, answer it, unless the child is asking questions just to annoy you. And don't lie. If you don't know, or you don't want to answer, say so. Also use the phrase: "I don't know but let's find out" a lot. Always feed the hunger for knowledge at the level the child can understand.

Social skills: Joke with them. Reduce the sensitivity to being laughed at. Joke about scary things to make them realize it is just a joke. Don't be too forceful to prevent them from telling you off - just make sure there are limits.

Language: Read stories all the time, let them read if they wish. Read poems and aphorisms, use word play.

Math with apples: "How many do we have? How many is left on the table? How many did I take? If I put x back how many do we have?" 10 apples should be enough to develop an efficient ability to calculate without help. I've always sucked at this; I want my kid to do better. It's not that I'd suck at math, just didn't practice.

Punish with what is important but not vital to them: Take away the toys, TV, Internet, freedom if needed. Don't trade with food or other things that affect their health, with which you eventually have to give in.

Don't exaggerate dangers. Two reasons; One, you're scaring them for no good reason. Two, the more you exaggerate, the sooner they realize that your warnings are not reasonable, and they'll have to test things to find out exactly where the line of danger goes. Don't force them to find it out themselves.