The Editor’s Desk – From Beneath the Clutter

Things are looking busier around here. I’m starting our homeschooling experiment with my daughter now, to see if that’s what we’ll do in the fall. She’s enjoying what we’re doing so far, which is mostly working through the incomplete workbooks she brought home from school, including a nearly complete science and utterly untouched social studies workbook. I’m not too happy those subjects were so neglected, but now they’re tools for me to use, along with my own thoughts on skills that my daughter could use to improve whether or not we homeschool.

And what do you mean it’s nearly July?? How did that happen?

How to Teach Your Child to Pay it Forward

We all love our kids. In fact acts of kindness (or paying it forward) are simple, small, selfless acts done to others and not expecting anything in return. Here are some useful hints to teach your child to do and to receive acts of kindness.

Help him to pay attention and to observe the world around him to see opportunities to help someone. Let him look around and think about what others might need. It’s not that they cannot live without, but to brighten their day and to ease their life. Let him find at least one possible act for each friend, neighbor, family member. It is not necessary to carry out everything, but to start the conversation and thinking.

Teach him to find the ways to do something good to others. Every person is different and sometimes it can happen that the person he want to help really doesn’t want any help. Do not let him be frightened, discuss different options and possibilities how he can approach people or how the acts can be made without even confronting other people (like leaving a flower at the door). Show him different ways so he does not get discouraged.

Show you child that in order to create a difference he doesn’t need a lot of money. Inspire your child to come up with ideas that does not need any money. There are millions of opportunities that are free but can make a huge impact. Smiles are free, thank you’s are free… Some ideas require some work, of course, or sometimes they need to give something away (like toy or clothes), but what is really important is not the price of that but the act itself and that’s what you are promoting.

Let him do something nice to a stranger or someone he does not know very well. Sometimes kids are shy and they do not feel comfortable with the strangers. Of course, there are situations that they should be afraid, and you should discuss all the perils and risks with your child, but try not to go overboard and scare the little kid too much. Help the children to see good in everyone and that they can be nice to strangers as well. In this way, they will gain more confidence and self-esteem.

Remind the child that he should not expect something in return. Sometimes children expect a reward. But sometimes people he helps doesn’t even want his help. And sometimes they will not be grateful at all, but that is their problem. Explain to the child, that their own feeling of satisfaction and helping someone is his prize. He is doing it ultimately for himself, to feel good and proud of his actions and words.

Help your child to pay attention to acts of kindness done to him. By exploring different deeds that he can perform, your child can become more aware of the acts, that were done to him. Support and encourage his observations, discuss different situations, acts and his reactions. He will become more alert to other people’s small acts and maybe he can even get the idea for his next act of kindness.

Alenka Tercic is a stay at home mom and entrepreneur, whose mission is to empower parents to raise prosperous, positive, responsible and accountable children. By raising and educating her own daughters she learnt the importance of early teaching of the Universal Laws that are not taught in the schools. Her main focus of work is to equip parents with ideas, lessons and resources to teach kids through play which can be found at her website The BEST Children Lessons. She provides continuous support to parents through coaching. She is an author of the “50 Law of Attraction Games for Children” workbook and several articles about kids and Law of Attraction.

Alenka also works as a volunteer for “Medved Zdravko” non-profit organization for helping children using the EFT and Tappy Bear in Slovenia.