IF CHILDREN LIVE WITH PRAISE, THEY LEARN HOW TO APPRECIATE

I appreciate Dr. Tesfa for taking his time in imparting with us his thoughtful article dealing with child rearing practice which is common in every society. As you are probably aware of, raising a child is very challenging, for we have to learn by trail and error. As Bill Cosby put it: If we want to learn how to drive a car, we can go to driving school, but if we want to learn how to parent, we have no any to look around.

As a father of two grown up twins girls, and now as a teacher of preschool, elementary, middle and high school students, I have found out that honest and sensible praise is what any would be parent or teacher can offer as the best gift in this competitive and hostile world. This is very crucial during later childhood from 3 to 6 years characterized by initiative versus guilt.  At this developmental miles stone children want to do everything on their own, and as such, parental and teachers' encouragement by means of skillful praise is of a paramount importance. For these age population are very sensitive, and they tend to cry or feel depressed whenever they are put down or denied reinforcement. I realize in our authoritarian society not only much praises are shunned, but also we don't have a favorable means or words of expressing them subtly. Tigrgna which is still almost a spoken language, lacks a sophisticated way of expressing our feelings and ideas. With this in mind, a Tigrigna Language Academy must be established in order to enrich this lingua franca  as any other Semitic tongues such as Hebrew, Amharic and Arabic..

All in all, I hope those who are in the Diaspora particularly in the States can benefit from reading these praises pertaing to their children:-

* WOW * WAY TO GO * SUPER * YOU'RE SPECIAL * OUTSTANDING * EXCELLENT * GREAT *

* GOOD * NEAT *  WELL DONE *  REMARKABLE *  I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT *  FANTASTIC *

* I'M PROUD OF YOU *  SUPER STAR * NICE WORK *  LOOKING GOOD *  YOU'RE ON TOP OF IT *

* BEAUTIFUL *  NOW YOU'RE FLYING *  YOU'RE CATCHING ON *  NOW YOU'VE GOT IT *  

* YOU'RE INCREDIBLE *  BRAVO *  YOU'RE FANTASTIC *  HURRAY FOR YOU * 

* YOU'RE ON TARGET *  YOU'RE ON YOUR WAY *  HOW NICE *  HOW SMART *  GOOD JOB *

* THAT'S INCREDIBLE *  HOT DOG *  DYNAMITE *  YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL *  YOU'RE UNIQUE *

* NOTHING CAN STOP YOU NOW *  GOOD FOR YOU *  I LIKE YOU *  YOU'RE A WINNER *

* REMARKABLE JOB *  BEAUTIFUL WORK *  SPECTACULAR *  YOU'RE DARLING * 

* YOU'RE PRECIOUS *  GREAT DISCOVERY *  YOU'VE DISCOVERED THE SECRET * BINGO *

* ALL RIGHT * YOU FIGURED IT OUT *  FANTASTIC JOB *  MAGNIFICENT *

* HIP HIP HOORAY * MARVELOUS * TERRIFIC * YOU'RE IMPORTANT * PHENOMENAL * 

* YOU'RE SENSATIONAL * SUPER WORK * CREATIVE JOB * SUPER JOB * 

* EXCELLENT JOB * EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE * YOU'RE A REAL TROOPER * 

* YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE * YOU'RE EXCITING * YOU LEARNED IT RIGHT * 

* WHAT AN IMAGINATION * WHAT A GOOD LISTENER * YOU'RE FUN * YOU CARE *

* YOU'RE GROWING UP * YOU TRIED HARD * BEAUTIFUL SHARING * 

* OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE * YOU'RE A GOOD FRIEND * I TRUST YOU * 

* YOU'RE IMPORTANT * YOU MEAN A LOT TO ME * YOU MAKE ME HAPPY * YOU BELONG *

* YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND * YOU MAKE ME LAUGH * YOU BRIGHTEN MY DAY * 

* I RESPECT YOU * YOU MEAN THE WORLD TO ME * THAT'S CORRECT * YOU'RE A JOY *

* YOU'RE A TREASURE * YOU'RE WONDERFUL * YOU'RE AWESOME * A+ JOB *

* YOU'RE A-OK * MY BUDDY * YOU MAKE MY DAY * THAT'S THE BEST *

A BIG HUG  A BIG KISS I LOVE YOU