In India, babies sleep up to five years old with their parents, and in Japan, five-year-olds use public transport on their own.
Today, there are a million different ways to raise a child. Here are some amazing things that parents all over the world practice. Beware: after reading this, you might be revisiting your own methods!
1. In Polynesia, children raise each other by themselves
In the Polynesian islands, it is customary for babies to be looked after by their older brothers and sisters. Or, at worst, cousins. The atmosphere here resembles the Montessori schools, which are becoming popular in Russia year after year. Their principle is that older children learn to be caring by helping young children. And the crumbs, in turn, become independent at a much earlier age. I wonder what the parents are doing while the children are busy raising each other?
2. In Italy, sleep is not followed
Needless to say, in the Italian language there is not even a word that means “time to sleep”, since no one requires children to go to bed at a certain time. However, in this hot country there is a concept of siesta, that is, an afternoon nap, so that children get used to the natural regime, which is dictated by the climate. Young Italians sleep with adults from two to five, and then enjoy the coolness until late at night.
3. Finland doesn’t like standard tests
Here children, as in Russia, start going to school at a fairly adult age – at seven years old. But unlike us, Finnish mums and dads, as well as teachers, do not require children to do their homework and standard tests. True, the Finns do not shine with success in international school competitions, but on the whole this is a happy and successful country, whose inhabitants, although a little phlegmatic, are calm and confident in themselves. Perhaps the reason lies precisely in the lack of tests that turned children and their parents into neurotics in other countries!
4. In India they like to sleep with children
Most of the children here do not get a private room until after the age of five, as sleeping with the whole family is considered an important part of a child’s development. Why? First, it extends breastfeeding to nearly two to three years. Secondly, it makes it easier to deal with problems such as urinary incontinence and thumb sucking in children. And thirdly, the Indian child who sleeps next to his mother, in contrast to Western peers, develops team, rather than individual, creative abilities. Now it is clear why India today is ahead of all the planets in terms of the number of gifted mathematicians and programmers.
5. In Japan, children are granted independence
The land of the rising sun is rightfully considered one of the safest in the world: here children under five years old quietly move by themselves in a bus or subway. In addition, the crumbs are given a lot of freedom to control their own world. Almost from the cradle, the child feels his importance in the world of adults: he takes part in the affairs of his parents, is well versed in family matters. The Japanese are sure: this allows him to develop correctly, learn about the world and gradually become a well-mannered, law-abiding and pleasant person in communication.
6. Gourmets are raised in France
The traditionally strong French cuisine is also reflected in the way the children are raised here. Already at the age of three months, little Frenchmen eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and not just eat milk or mixture. Children do not know what snacks are, so by the time the family sits down to the table, they are always hungry. This explains why little French people do not spit food, and even yearlings are able to patiently wait for their order in a restaurant. Mothers cook the same vegetables in different ways to find the broccoli and onion cooking option that their child will like. The menu of nurseries and kindergartens does not differ from the restaurant menu. Chocolate in France is not at all a forbidden product for babies, so children treat it calmly and do not throw tantrums on their mother with a request to buy sweets.
7. Toys are prohibited in Germany
It’s surprising for us, but in German kindergartens, which children visit from the age of three, toys and board games are prohibited. This is explained by the fact that when children are not distracted by playing with inanimate objects, they develop critical thinking, which in adulthood will help them to refrain from something bad. Conciliator, there really is something in this!
8. In Korea, children go hungry from time to time
The people of this country consider the ability to control hunger to be a vital skill, and children are also taught this. Very often, babies have to wait until the whole family sits at the table, and the concept of a snack is completely absent. Interestingly, such an educational tradition exists both in highly developed South Korea and in poor North Korea.
9. In Vietnam, early potty training
Vietnamese parents start potting their babies from … a month! So that by nine he is fully accustomed to using it. How do they do it, you ask? To do this, they use whistles and other methods borrowed from the great Russian scientist Pavlov to develop a conditioned reflex.
10. Norway is fostered with a love of nature
Norwegians know a lot about how to properly temper the young representatives of their nation. A common practice here is to put babies to sleep in the fresh air starting from almost two months, even if the temperature outside the window is slightly above freezing. In schools, children play in the yard during breaks for an average of 75 minutes, our students can only envy this. This is why Norwegians grow up hardy and grow into excellent skiers and skaters.