Lifelong Learning

Holiday is the time to say love to your parents, kids, family and friends. Using a holiday gift to show your love is a great way.

The spirit of the holiday gift is showing love; therefore it does not necessarily need to cost lot of money. As parents, we need to stress this point to remind ourselves and teach kids as well. People want to show love to their love ones, and want to be loved by their loved ones. Exchanging holiday gifts among the love ones is a tradition of a lot of culture in the world.

Some homemade holiday gifts ideas

Teaching kids to make a nice gift can teach them about love, inspire and encourage them and can create a very good opportunity for them to learn and gain real life experience.

Parents would love to receive a unique Homemade Holiday gift with care and love from their kids. Making a bookmark, art card, candle jar, special key ring, family photo book, hobby box, or words of wisdom could be good ideas for kids to prepare the presents to their parents.

Some holiday gift ideas by your budget

Kids enjoy receiving gifts, and caring parents always try to do their best to please their children with the holiday gifts. A good gift for your kid does not necessarily expensive. The latest tech-toy and computer game can teach kids a lot of things. However, in order to help kids develop physically and mentally, kids have a lot of other needs. For example, they need to go outdoor activities to take fresh air and exercise, they also need friends to interact with develop their social skills. Learning skill serves them for the rest of their life, which is the key. So consider how much to spend by your budget and then decide what to purchase by your child’s special need.

A good gift for a child should meet his or her need in the same time; it would be better serve as a very considerable motivating factor to encourage the child to learn. There exist many kids’ holiday gift ideas, starting from the advice of friends and finishing with a wide array of various magazines and TV shopping programs, which can be taken advantage of. However, I think the most trustable source of kids holiday gift ideas come from you, the parents’ observations of your own child. If parents notice what your child is especially interested in you will realize what will please and motivate him or her most and meet his or her needs most in the quality of a gift.

A child at different developmental stage may have different interest and need. Too many toys do not necessarily good for your child. Parents need find your answer by your child’s particular need. Here are some holiday gift ideas I recommended:

1. Books
   Reading a book is a very good habit, and parents need to help your child to foster the good habit as early as possible, therefore a book tailoring to your child’s age is definitely a great gift idea. Research book options online at a web site like Amazon.com where you can read parents’ reviews before you buy it. Quality books can shape kids’ minds and imagination and kids will benefit a lot from reading it.
2. Educational DVDs, computer software
   Appropriate video help kids to learn and stimulate their minds. Educational videos, which are based on classic children’s books, are good holiday gift options for kids.
3. Audio and video players
   Nowadays, there are a lot of great contents are put into audio and video formats, such as audio books, kids can learn before bed time, which needs an audio MP3 player, Apple iPod shuffle is the most popular one. Teenagers can watch news and historic stories using video players such as Apple iPod nano to expand their horizon.
4. Sports goods
   Sports are very important to kids’ healthy development. Encourage kids to take a part in sports activities, which can build their strong body in the same time, train their mental toughness, which are key factors towards success in their life. Sports socks, an exercise DVD, tennis balls, Racket balls, a swimsuit and exercise shoes are great gifts for kids as well.

Happy holidays to you from Parents-and-kids.com!

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Recently I read a paper, which studies difference between Japanese and American students, very interesting. Because of the cultural differences between the two countries, the students behave differently on attitudes towards discussion, voicing objections to teachers’ remarks, views about competition and efficiency.

Attitudes towards discussion
In American culture active initiation and participation of discussion are encouraged while in Japanese culture attentive listening and brief comments after contemplation are promoted.

In a seminar, American students were talking loudly and clearly on what they thought, while Japanese students most of time were good listeners not speakers. Some American students thought, the Japanese students were not interested in what they said, actually the Japanese students liked what they said and just were thinking about it. In Japanese culture, silence is positive, which implies contemplation. However, in English-speaking communities silence is considered socially undesirable. American culture gives priority to verbalizing what people think spontaneously and clearly while Japanese culture gives priority to considering others’ feelings before expressing whatever occurs in their minds. By understanding each other’s differing viewpoints, we are able to acquire shared meanings in order to achieve good communication.

Voicing Objections to Teachers’ Remarks
In Asian cultures influenced by Confucianism where students are educated to respect and not to challenge their teachers, many students hesitate to voice obvious objections whereas by American value, challenging a teacher’s comments by asking questions is acceptable.

Views about Competition
Competition is the primary method among Americans for motivating members of groups while Japanese people in general value cooperative attitudes, promoting harmony.

Views about Efficiency
American culture values getting things done while Japanese culture generally gives priority to the other person’s feelings.

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I found an article comparing East Asian and American values, written by David Hitchcock who was the former director of East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the United States Information Agency.

He did the survey by asking Americans and East Asians (Japanese, Thais, Chinese, Koreans, Malaysians, Singaporeans, Indonesians, and Filipinos) on societal values and personal values and his report shows the following results.

Most valued societal values

By the East Asians:
An orderly society
Open to new ideas
Freedom of expression
Respect for authority

By the Americans:
Freedom of expression
Personal freedom
The rights of the individual
Open debate
Thinking for oneself

Most valued personal values

By the East Asians
Respect for learning
Fulfilling obligations to others
Self-discipline
Hard work
Achieving success in life

By the Americans:
Self reliance
Personal achievement
Hard work
Achieving success in life
Helping others
Fulfilling obligations to others

Apparently, we can see that there are fundamental differences not just with societal values but also with regard to personal values between East Asians and Americans.

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With the hot Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are going on, let’s discuss about the difference between USA and China, in order to understand each other, learn from each other.

I was born in China and live in U.S.A now. By my observation, there are major value differences between the two countries. For example, comparing with most Americans who think “economics” comes first, most Chinese think “people relationship” comes first. Chinese view “humility” as a virtue; while Americans view it is a sign of weakness; Chinese respect for seniority, wisdom, and ability; while Americans more respect for success, achievement, and wealth. Chinese families educate children should learn to respect the elder, love the young, and rely on the family and friends while most American families educate children should learn to be independent. For priorities, Chinese like balance which leads to a mixture of business, individuals, family and friends, nationalistic, and political; while Americans first priority is almost strictly business.

In addition, there are some societal differences between the two countries, for example, Chinese are centered around “relationships”, stressing human networks; Americans are centered on “individuals”, respecting heroes. Comparing with Americans who are eloquent and usually are effective communicators, most Chinese are quiet and reserved.

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