It is natural for parents to want their children to excel, to be the best, to be above other children in almost everything, to grow up into exemplary citizens who achieve so much in life. That’s an open secret that most of us have in our hearts, which is why we do everything to build our children into the super kids that we want them to be. But how do we exactly go about raising super kids? Each of us has a unique formula, but most fall into a common pattern. I see parents who buy musical instruments for their children and spend a fortune on music teachers who they hope turn their little ones into musical geniuses. Some parents want their children to become great athletes and train them in sports early in life. Others focus on the academics and do everything to make their children good harvesters of academic honors. Parents who use this formula of raising super kids often end up being disappointed.

There are parents whose formula of raising super kids tend to work better. This formula involves letting their children find the path to their own dreams,  and when it is found help them follow it.  Every day these parents discover new things with their children, new talents, new learning, little things that when put together can become really great. These parents let their children discover their own strengths and help them work on it.

Every child is a super kid, but it’s up to parents to see where the strength of their children lie. If we start by letting our own dreams for our children overtake our ability to see what they really have in them, we could muffle the super kid in them forever. Remember that our dreams for our children may not be their dream. If we just learn how to see the little wonders that a child learns and does every day, we will see the super kid in every child, and we will be more fulfilled as parents.

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Danny White with AnointedFighter.com has decided to take the best of two worlds, martial arts and religion, and combined them into a very unique system called ChristJitsu.  The lessons and life principles of the Christian faith now have the excitement and recognition system of the martial arts world.

ChristJitsu plays on the popularity of martial arts, especially mixed martial arts and their Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Relax parents, kids won’t be learning to prize fight in a cage.  Instead, Danny claims they will be learning to fight in the cage of life.  ChristJitsu translated means, ” the way of Christ.”  The students will be learning important life lessons founded on the humility of the Christian faith. (more…)

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Recently, I completed earning enough  money to buy a Xbox 360 Pro for myself.  I am limited in the amount of ’screen time’ I am allowed a day, and I wanted to discuss that with you.

Now, some of my thoughts on screens (TV, video games, computers, etc.) for kids.  First of all, I believe they are addictive.  Some studies have shown that video games are addictive, they release a drug-like chemical. Here is one article on the study of video game addiction.  I have seen kids at school who are addicted, it’s all they talk about or do after school (World of Warcraft is the most common addiction).

Also, there is a link between screens and obesity.  Sure, there are games like the Wii Fit that exercise you,  but how much of an exercise are they?  To me the Wii Fit doesn’t provide a serious workout, and most games in it are not as effective as believed.

I think screen time for children should be limited.  Screen time should be decided on a child by child basis, but on a school night anywhere from no time to an hour and a half a day is good.  For example, if a child is doing poorly  in school, limit the amount to a low number (for example zero to half an hour).  On weekends, up to four hours a day is a good amount.  I have noticed that kids who are allowed to use screens more get worse grades.  That is because instead of doing homework when they get home, these kids game or watch TV. Also, in class, these kids will think things like, “I need to level up my dwarf mega super warrior” or “What’s on Fox tonight?… oh, it’s that comedy show” instead of “Two plus two equals four”.

These addictions can cause physical injuries, too, such as the ones mentioned in an older Level Revel article, Injured by Living in a Virtual World (Thanks, Bea).

Screen time should be limited because there are many dangers lurking around the corner!

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For the longest time, I resisted my son’s pleas for a Pokémon trading card game. Ditto for Bakugan, Digimon, and a slew of other nonsense words that he threw at me. I didn’t know very much about it at the time, but the cartoon looked cheesy (it is), the game sounded complicated (it is), and I was pretty sure the whole thing would end up costing me a princely sum of money (it has).

When Max got a $25 Amex gift card for his eighth birthday, I made the mistake of telling him that he could spend it on anything that he wanted. As it turns out, that’s just enough money to buy two Pokémon starter decks. I wasn’t crazy about the idea, but I didn’t want to go back on my word. And so it was that Max entered the Pokémon trading card game frenzy.

The biggest problem is that two starter decks just aren’t enough. He needs a Fire deck, a Steel deck, and booster packs with special chromium card inserts and legendary Pokémon. He’s got a Pokémon Guide Book that he has worn the cover right off. He has studies these things with such alacrity that I have to think that he could be graduating from MIT by now if he put that much effort into his schoolwork. He knows their names, their types, their strengths and weaknesses.

Meanwhile, Max’s little brother is too young to play, and his mom is too smart to get sucked into this debacle. So, you know who he’s going to practice against. And it isn’t enough that I play against him. We have to trade cards with each other, swap energy types, and discuss at length the merits of Water Pokémon vs. Fighting Pokémon. The game is absurdly complex, with Byzantine layers of rules and conditions. Did you know that his Pokémon can simultaneously burn and poison mine?

Having said all that, in the final analysis the game is good for him. He’s learning to think strategically, which will help him throughout his life. And since I’ve started insisting on a chess match between Pokémon games, he’s learning to play a strategy game that will last beyond adolescence. Still, the cartoon I could do without.

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I taught myself how to play the guitar when I was 17. Yes, I started late, but I learned fast. Just a year after learning the guitar, I played bass in a band that my brother and I started. During that time I seriously considered pursuing a career in music, so I learned everything there was to learn about music. But time changes things and some things had to be set aside; my music took the backseat as I pursued my degree. But music did not die in my heart, it just lay dormant, waiting to be tapped into wakefulness. I keep telling myself that I will soon have time for it. But that time never comes.

Time flies fast, now I am a father working hard to build a good future for my son. Just like other parents, I want my son to excel, to be somewhat extraordinary, to have artistic talent. In life, artistic talent is not really necessary, but it is a very big plus and how I wish my son would have it.  I want my son to learn music, too, but I do not want to force it on him. If he shows interest in music, I gladly will give it to him.

Every time I see a very young child showing extraordinary talent in music, I can not help but wonder about the best time to teach a child how to play a musical instrument. I saw a  young Korean girl execute a very difficult classical piece with so much mature emotion on Youtube. It made me wonder about the time she started to learn the guitar–was it when she was three or four?

My son is now four years old, but he is not showing any interest in the guitar. The only things with my old electric guitar that catch his attention are the volume and tone knobs on it and not the music that it produces. But this does not frustrate me, I know that the best time to teach  him how to play the guitar or any musical instrument is when he shows interest. It could come any time, maybe when he’s 5, or 8, or when he’s 10. It could be when he’s 17, who knows?

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