Good morning to the teachers, administrators, students, parents and visitors today. On behalf of the institution, welcome to the Brainy Montessori Open Day. Thank you all for coming, as always we could not make an event such as this happen if it was not your continuous support. On this glorious morning, I, Francis the founder of Brainy Montessori am going to give a talk on Parenting Tips. In my speech, I am going to share with you some characteristics of good parent. The purpose of my speech today is to share my experiences and knowledge of the topic as stated above, it is vital to have some parenting for each and every parent because it can act as a guide for us as a parent to be a good parent for our children. Being a parent in this world today is very challenging; there are a lot of internal and external factors to consider while making decision in choosing the best ways to nurture our children. Being a parent means you have to consider some moral value to instill in your child upbringing. In my opinion, one of the most important values for parenting is respect, you have to be always being respectful towards your children even while disciplining them, it is because the child will learns respectful behavior from their parents, and they are more likely to develop a healthy self-respect and a respect for others including their parent in the future. Respect is not just a vital ethical virtue; it is also an essential foundation for good relationships. Teenagers who show disrespect by ignoring, belittling, insulting or defying their parents make effective parenting difficult and unpleasant, if not impossible. Therefore, a central goal of good parenting is to teach your children to respect you. You also have a duty to treat your teen with respect. Again, this is not only an obligation of conscience but also a practical necessity. Parents who yell, manipulate, insult, demean, abuse or ignore their children erect huge barriers to effective parenting. Treating people with respect means letting them know that their safety and happiness matter, that they are important. To teach our children to be respectful, we need to translate the moral principal of respect into specific attitudes, behaviours and actions. Other than that, parents can entrust their child to make age-appropriate decision, these can ultimately help children to be responsible of their own action. If parents try to control everything in their childs life, it will send the message that they do not trust their child to make the right decision, as an instance when a child needs to choose their academic field, instead of choosing what subject your child should take, parent should respect their childs interest and choice. Consequently, the more control a parent uses, the less cooperation they will get as the child are prone to feel insecure and have low confidence level. However, it is also sensible to set limits for the children as it helps the child develop a sense of self-control. By encouraging independence for the child, it will develop a sense of self-direction which will be one of the important factors to help the child to be successful in their life later. Some parents mistakenly equate their childs independence with rebelliousness or disobedience, but it is actually human nature of wanting to feel in control rather than to feel controlled by someone else. In this situation, freedom boosts kids ability to recognise their interest as well as their self-image. Children who receive encouragement or genuine praise are also more resilient. Because they are focused on their effort and believe they can change their circumstances through determination or learning, they are not as shaken by adversity. On the flip side, children who have been praised for a fixed personal characteristic such as their intelligence or good looks, are confused by set-backs and view them as a personal reflection rather than a growth opportunity. In addition, children who receive stickers or a high fives for doing mundane tasks like putting their shoes on, begin to expect praise when praise is not called for and take it personally when it does not come which will inevitably happen as they age; the praise becomes more important than the achievement. Of course, it is okay to express pride in your child; it is a natural way to demonstrate love and support. But it is important to understand that if self-confidence and development are the goals, encouragement is a much more useful strategy. After all, when our children are on their own and faced with a challenge, we know it will not help them to think, "Why can't I do this? I should be smart enough." but it will serve them well to think, "This is tough, but with effort I can probably figure it out." As parents, we can do a lot in these younger years to build that kind of thinking from the start. There is no need to take drastic steps and snatch the soccer participation trophy out of your child's hands, but some reflective thoughts and words of encouragement on your child's effort and growth throughout the season will ensure their joy comes from their developing abilities and confidence in their own skills rather than the shiny award sitting on their shelf.Good parent also characterised by their feeling of empathy, gratitude and understanding for their children. Feeling empathy means the parents are able to put themselves into their childs shoes rather than to jump in and fix the problem for them because sometime all a child needs is a listening ear. A parent who is willing to tune into their childs words, tone of voice, and body language will have better chance of hearing what their child is really want saying. This situation will sets the stage for open communication and can go the long way in strengthening the rapport between the parent and child as well as lessen the miscommunication for both parties, communication between parent and child also develops special bonding among them and create better atmosphere at home. Besides that, by being grateful, parents help to build on childrens strength and as they are more approachable, it develops positive influence in their childs life.So practice gratitude with your child on a daily basis, but appreciation lists should not consist solely of toys and tablets. Teach your children to focus on being thankful for nonmaterial things, such as sleeping in a warm bed or taking an art class, to broaden their perspective. If your child cannot rattle off a list, it does not mean they are not grateful, they may simply need practice. If your youngster is not responsive, try a sneaky approach, for example, at dinnertime or before bed, ask him to name three good things that happened that day. Although many times it can be hard for parents to deal with a childs misbehavior it mostly happen because they do not understand them and to make thing worst is when a parent taking their childs misbehavior personally and reprimand the child without considering their child psychologically. We must always remind ourselves that as part of their growth and development, children are going to misbehave and do things that go against the rules. Knowing this fact can help parent anticipate and redirect a child toward more positive and acceptable behavior, and avoid a lot of unnecessary anger. Furthermore, understanding can also lead to forgiveness.Ladies and gentleman,Being a parent is one of the greatest gifts happen in our lives. To make sure that our child also feels the same, it is important for a parent to stay happy and always love their children to the fullest and unconditionally. Parents who practice happiness have a greater chance of influencing their childs perception of happiness while loving them will make the child feel cherished and valued. On the other hands, by showing affection through warm words, hugs and facial expressions towards their child, parents are able to avoid criticism and blaming when they are trying to correct their childs mistake. Happy parents also helps child to build positive character in their later life. Home is the first school of every child, so it is also vital to be an effective teacher for your children especially by example, you have to set clear rules and enforce them so that you can model the traits you want your child to learn such as good manners, respect and friendliness. For example, ask your children to set time or schedule for homework at home before they do other things after school. Good parents praise good behavior, but have predetermined consequences for mistakes and negative actions, such as no playing games if a child did not finish his or her homework. Instead of just advising or telling your child to stay in their study room or study on their own, you can also encourage learning by supporting your child to join educational activities which is suitable to their age, such as visiting the zoo or joining educational camp during school holiday, and by filling your home with books, whether purchased or borrowed from the library, it is also important to introduce your child to library as a place to fill their free times and to let them know the advantages of reading books. Children who are exposed to books from an early age will start school with a distinct advantage because their vocabulary tends to be much larger and they have had a greater exposure to speech and the written word. As we all know, parents main role in their child life is to be a leader. Someone the child can model and learn from but most importantly someone who will keep them healthy and safe. Leadership in parenting requires us being firm, when necessary and demands our willingness to put rules in place, even when those rules are not readily accepted by a child. Parents, who are a leaders, accepts that there will be times when their child will not like them for putting certain limits in place, but they enforce them anyhow, knowing that it is their jobs to do what is the best for their child. For example, as a leader in the family, parents should set limits for their child to be away from home and make sure they come home before the specific time limit given by parent, parent also should know all the friends of their child so they will be able to know their child activities especially for teenage children, knowing their child social circle will actually help parent to avoid their child to get involve with problems such as drugs and peer pressure. When parents become leader in managing their children, it also takes courage in parenting which can show up in different ways, such as taking an unpopular stand to instill values, rules, and limits, even if it goes against what their child, or others may believe. At other times, courage may be needed to let go and allow a child to make certain choices and experiences the consequences of such choices, so he can learn and grow. Courage is not reckless, nor is it the absence of fear; it is the willingness to try and do what needs to be done despite having fears. Courageous parent willing to let their child to choose their own path of life although it might not the decision they wish their child to take but for their child sake they are willing to take the risk. However, parents should not be forgotten that they are also need to be confident in their own self; it is because if they are confident in themselves, they do not have to provide every answer for their children but to do the best for their children. For example, if the parents do not know the answer, they look for it rather than dwell on their own mistakes, confident parents are willing to admit them, learn from them and make better choices in the future. High confidence level of a parent will let them see problems as opportunities to learn and grow. As a result, they do not prevent their child to face their own failure and they are in a better position to help their child develop self-confidence as well.Other than that, having clear standard for your child does not mean good parent are rigid. It is because as your child grows from toddler to teen, their needs change along with their body. Parents should not compare one child to another, and that rules should shift to match the age, needs and development of your children because every child is an individual strength For instance, if your son makes his bed every day but your daughter never does, tell him how much you appreciate his efforts to be tidy. Don't scold your daughter or ask why she can't follow instructions or be neat like her brother. But if your daughter does start making her bed, praise her. Set expectations that are reasonable based on their personalities. However, an effective parents takes cues from her child, whether an infants cry or a teenagers moods, to know what will work best in a particular situation. Stay tuned to your childs evolving needs by keeping involved in their life. In fact, as a parent, you have to remind yourself that it is fine to be imperfect as long as they are set a good example most of the time. In any case, even the most effective parent cannot control genetic traits or the outside environment. Trust your instinct as a parent, but do not confuse effective parenting with perfection. Parents should practice showing love and flexibility to yourself as well as your children. It is true that many parents do have to work a lot to provide their family with the things they need. Spoiling children does not mean parents do not need to show love and spend quality time with their kids. Parents should invest time, not money into their children. Children should not have to ask if they are important to their parents to know. They should just know the time a parent puts into their family and traditions they are always be there.We have looked at the facts; we have seen the consequences of not taking any action. It all leads to a very obvious need for us to educate our children in a correct way and also to train ourselves as a parent to be more understanding to our children. Always remind yourself to not strictly follow the parental behavior stereotype of your culture or family. Also, do not afraid to be a parent, do your best, be their friend but always set the limit so that you will act as a parent but not their collaborator; however, never over indulge your child because it can lead to stubbornness and irresponsible behaviors. I hope that my speech today will benefit all of you who are willing to spare some of your time to listen to my speech. (2515 words)

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