The first thing a parent wants is for her child to be healthy. The second thing she aspires for is to see her young one’s full potential unleashed. While these aspirations may vary from one parent to another, these particular desires make businesses pioneering in nutrition science flourish.
For the past 100 years, Wyeth Nutrition has been committed to producing science-proven milk formulations that address the nutritional needs during the early stages of a child’s life. In the past century, many children have benefited from Wyeth products and many parents have slept soundly knowing they have one more partner in raising their kids.
Believing that taking milk is just one step in unleashing a child’s potential, Wyeth Nutrition, in celebration of its 100th anniversary, hosted a parent talk focused on “Sparking the Wonder and Awe in Children.”
“We believe in every child’s potential and that it is upon the collective hands of parents, the society and the environment to develop kids, to allow them, and to support them to realize their full potential,” says Wyeth Philippines communications head Michelle Pador.
Child expert Vicky Cantada and parents whose children have won international awards in science and innovation shared valuable tips on how to support growing children who will soon become, hopefully, the world’s greatest innovators.
Encourage children to ask questions
A child who asks many questions is a child eager to learn, so when your kid asks anything, Cong. Sitti Hataman advises not to brush off these queries away.
“We encourage our children to ask questions. My husband and I try our best to answer even the silliest and out of this world questions,” she shares. “But for questions we really don’t know the answer to, we’d say, ‘We should research and ask other people.’ If you’re in a hurry or if you’re doing something, you can say ‘Can we go back to that later?’, but really not tell them off.”
Set a structured schedule on studying
According to Vicky Cantada, it’s vital to set a structure in their schedule and study habits while they’re young, for this will be their foundation as they grow older.
When it comes to her child’s studying, Belinda Derecho was very much involved. “I really focused on my child when he was in elementary,” she says in the vernacular.
“After school, I helped him review his assignments in all subjects. Aside from getting information from the books, we researched further, especially at times when I didn’t know the lessons. When he graduated as the class valedictorian, that was when I let him go, because I believed we already built a solid foundation,” relates Derecho.
Cantada supports this belief, maintaining that as the child gets older, parents should ask him what he wants to do next. “Ask more questions such as ‘What would happen if you spent too much time here?’ ‘What would happen if you don’t do your assignment?’ Scientific questioning is all about being creative and having ideas rather than telling them what to do. It is also how we build ways of being imaginative and innovative. They can come up with their own ideas and at the same time, balance their time.”
Marife Tamayo, for her part, always reminds her eldest daughter to balance her activities. “Aside from studying hard, she should enjoy her life as a teenager.”
Make time for bonding
While they are still young, Cantada emphasizes that parents should not be obsessed with their child’s studies, but instead strive for balance. “It is also important for parents to structure bonding time like going out together for meals and traveling.”
Danilo Tamayo and his wife make their children’s activities a bonding time for them – sort of hitting two birds with one stone – by “accompanying and guiding them during their activities.”
Don’t focus on failures
No one is perfect, and the best experiences are learned from mistakes, that’s why Cantada reiterates that parents need to develop a sense of optimism in their children. She recommends asking questions like “What can you do differently,” so instead of focusing on failures, the children can focus on the solution.
“It is the role of the parent to encourage them, to assure them ‘okay lang ‘yan,’ and to affirm them,” opines Jaime dela Cruz.
Give a reward when it is due
When children do something good, parents are encouraged to give them something that shows affirmation. But this is not to say rewards should only be of the tangible kind.
“When they are young, give them external rewards to motivate them (toys, food, travel, etc.). But as they grow older, you also want them to create internal rewards (tell them they did well and encourage them to go further) to make them feel good about themselves,” suggests Cantada.