rancha.xyz Be free to choose their own route to self-knowledge, health and balance of body and soul.
This curious and interesting test was developed by Dr. Marshmallow, a very simple test that we came to know thanks to the philosopher, professor, educator and writer Jose Antonio Marina.
The test, according to Jose Antonio Marina, can better predict the academic future of many children than some intelligence tests. The test is held with children aged 5 years and consists of taking them to a room where they sit in front of a basket of sweets with the following recommendation: “You can eat the sweets while I’m away, but if you don’t eat them until I come back, when I come back you can eat them all and I’ll give you a present as well”
This simple gesture is a good way to measure discipline, the reward of effort, constancy, patience, etc. The test accurately confirmed expectations, as demonstrated by children who took the candy test and who were followed in their academic behavior for 16 years.
Children who had eaten the sweets without waiting for the adult to return tended to have worse academic results or left school before those who, at age 5, waited for the adult to return to eat the sweets.
How to make our children more disciplined
Learning to be responsible and disciplined helps us to gradually learn to be more autonomous, to have more emotional stability and, therefore, greater maturity.
How can we contribute to the development of discipline for our children?
1. Start establishing discipline from the moment of birth. Put him down and feed him always at the same times, for example. It is also very important to talk to them a lot since they are born; this gives them a lot of security.
2. Establish house rules. Children need to know from an early age that there are rules to follow; it is very important for them to learn to recognize that in life there are always limits. This is not to say that there aren’t special days like birthdays, Christmas, weekends at grandparents’ house… when we can break the rules a bit.
3. You need to give them responsibilities according to their age. Collecting toys, helping clear the table, cleaning the house…
4. Positive reinforcements. A child should always be encouraged with positive phrases and never negative ones. “I know you’re good at this and you’re going to do it really well,” for example.
5. Establish good communication with your child. Let him feel that he can count on you, that you love him, that you tell him how well he does this or that. It’s also good that you negotiate with your child, that he doesn’t think he can do everything he wants to do but also doesn’t feel like he lives in a permanent dictatorship. Boost your self-esteem and this will motivate you to keep doing things right, to make decisions in consensus with others and in a responsible way.
6. Explain the whys. If you explain that brushing your teeth is so that he doesn’t have cavities or that putting the seatbelt in the car is to avoid accidents, you will better understand the situation and understand that life has a reason and that it is not “because I say”.
7. Help them by example. There is no better teaching than example. Do what you preach and your speech will be much better received.
With this article, we wanted to pay homage to Jose Antonio Marina, one of the greatest thinking minds in the Spanish scene.
