Raising Wealthy Children

“The greatest reward for my efforts is what I become”
(source unknown)

When I go for my daily morning walk, I often a see an eight-year-old girl, going round and round the apartment complex, cycling alone. She does cycling for a considerable amount of time – just cycling. She invariably needs a reminder of time from her mother, otherwise she would just continue - cycling. She seems to enjoy it thoroughly, just as I would do when I was her age. She seems to be totally entertained by this simple activity.

But, that’s not necessarily true with all of us today. Many of us need to be constantly entertained or given something to enjoy ourselves. In fact today’s world feeds us continuously – food is fed, entertainment is fed, thoughts are fed, and dreams are fed. (80% of all advertising seems to be doing the last one). Children often complain of boredom – which to me means that they want to be fed something else. From infanthood, children are used to being consumers. As they grow, they demand more of it. Just like birds, somehow we as parents assume that our job is to feed our perennially hungry children. Hence, we run crazy from TV to movies, toy stores, entertainment zones to activity centers (like Geniekids). Phew! somehow let me keep my child busy.

I do not remember as child, my parents entertaining me. We had so much to do – had always some game or activity lined up – we were either running or jumping or catching or climbing or rocking or if nothing else just rolling over making all kinds of wired sounds.

Kids today also are intrinsically the same. On a Sunday, my wife and me collected four of our friends’ kids and took them to Cubbon park. For the next few hours, we just sat in one corner while the children submerged themselves in most varied kind of activities. Not a child came to us and asked us what to do – they just had so much to do.

However, the moment each parent came to pick up their kids, these children started demanding. It was as if, for some time, these children had forgotten that they had actually been trained as consumers. Why does this happen? Why is this generation bored so easily? Why is that we as parents feel up-the-wire as soon as children have holidays?

I have a pet theory based on concepts of financial wealth. The theory is simple – if I consume more than I produce – I am doomed to poverty. However, if I produce more than I consume – then I build wealth – in our case intellectual wealth. Higher my produce is, as compared to consumption, higher my net worth!

One of the surest sign of successful people is that they are in the habit if producing – producing dreams, producing ideas, producing work, producing results! It is the same with knowledge – if I am just going to receive knowledge – I may score in tests. But if I also start using knowledge (productively), then I know how to score in life.

Let me give you a simple test – all of us have studied triangles, geometry, and trigonometry. How can you find the height of a tall tree by just using a six inch scale? Think over this before you move on :)

My favourite term for our brain is LAZY SLAVE. You give it no work – its lazy – it will do nothing. You give it work and it is a dutiful slave. The most effective way to give our brains work is to challenge it. The most effective way to challenging it is to make it produce.

Production or creation of any kind requires complex and higher order thinking skills at multiple levels. This not only encompasses both the right and left hemispheres of the brain, but also develops more interconnections amongst the neurons of our brains, leading to richer cognitive development. Result is a ‘mentally wealthy’ child for you!

If your child has been watching TV – the child has been consuming. Here is how to make him produce: Let the child act like the character(s). Let the child make a speech on the show. Let the child make art based on the toons. Let him make puppets and enact the whole show. Let him create his own story with the same characters. Let him create the same story with different characters. Let him re-create the whole scene through clay models. Let him make a new song based on what he heard. And so on.

Here is a great example of children “producing”, that I recently came across. Three girls (each ten years old) from our apartment complex organized a winter holiday camp for other (smaller) children. Impressed by their sheer guts, instead of sending my six-year-old daughter to the regular winter camp organized by Geniekids, I sent her to this camp organized by these young enterprising girls.

I salute the parents of these three girls and kudos to them for giving their children this amazing “produce” experience. I sent my daughter to this camp to understand that enterprise is the best learning, that effort is the best result, that doing is most fun and that earn is part of l-earn.

Teach your child the most essential secret of success – independence. Teach them independence is all about doing, about producing:
Let your child not just eat – but cook (simple foods, if nothing just arrange biscuits in a plate for everybody).
Let your child not just listen – but tell (stories, news, opinions, etc.).
Let your child not just read – but write (her views, feelings, reviews, letter to editor etc).
Let your child not just laugh – but make other laugh (tell jokes, show antics, modulate voice, do drama, etc).
Let your child not just play – but invent (new games, new rules, new ways of doing, etc).
Let your child not just be entertained – but also entertain (put up shows, create art, etc).
Let your child not just ask for self – but also give (community service, little gifts, praise).
Let your child not just buy – but earn.

Finally check out this virtuous cycle:
The more the children produce, the less they consume; the less they consume, the wealthier they get

Continuous efforts, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential - Winston Churchill

By Ratnesh & Aditi Mathur
For www.geniekids.com

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