The Yosufs’ house is unlike any other house. In the sitting room, instead of a television, there is a blackboard on the wall. For two hours every day, Mr Yosuf writes complex mathematical problems on the board. His daughter, Zuleika, copies them into an exercise book and solves them.

Zuleika is special. She’s five years old, but instead of watching cartoons or playing computer games, her favourite pastimes are solving equations and reading books. She already spends hours every day in a university library. Next year Zuleika will become Britain’s youngest “A” level student.

Not surprisingly, the Yosufs are a very clever family. Zuleika’s two sisters and a brother, aged 16, 14 and 12 are also good at maths and are already at university. Her father, who specialises in maths research, has taught them all. “Zuleika is very competitive, says her father.” She sees her brother and sisters working every day and she can’t wait to catch up with them. I remember teaching the others maths when they were eight. Zuleika solves the same problems now, although she took up maths much earlier. We could see she was interested in numbers at a much younger age. ”

So what is the secret of their success? When their first child arrived, Mr Yosuf and his wife made up their minds to teach all of their children at home. They say that home tuition combined with love and understanding has helped their children to succeed. “We’ve been patient and supportive, and they take pride in what they do,” says Mr. Yosuf. “Maybe Zuleika has a natural talent for maths, but I believe given the right surroundings, any child could do well. ”

One thing all child prodigies(神童) do have in common is a complete dedication to and love of their subject. They spend many more hours working at it than the average child, and this extra effort is reflected in their achievements. It is not necessary to be extremely talented to be a child prodigy, but you do have to have a lot of motivation.

To adjust you baby to the external world, educating him is your main assignment. How will you educate him? What role will he play in the world?

According to Darwin’s theory of the evolution of the species, we are a competitive species and one survives by adapting itself biologically to various environments through various ways. Competition was useful for the progress of society and for the survival of human beings.

Today, however, the challenges are different. There are environmental imbalance, deaths of thousands of children every day by starvation and countless diseases. Therefore, it is urgent that the philosophy of preparing our children for competition and power be replaced by one of preparing them for love and cooperation.

The earth is a unique home to us all. We must educate our children so that they want to preserve nature and it can in return make them more powerful and capable in society. Our children have to learn that we don’t need to practice actions that benefit only our homeland while all other countries are destroyed. The destruction of other countries and lives leads to the impossibility of the future existence of our home. We must teach our children that the main necessity of men and children is love. Love is good to ourselves, others and nature.

But it is getting harder to love. We are not capable of demonstrating hate to a flower, grabbing it and throwing it at the floor and stepping on it. It sounds insane! But we are insensitive to the extent of seeing a homeless person on the ground and pretending it’s not our problem! Our strong idea of competition has led us to total insensibility!

5 . According to some researchers, you should not praise children for everything that they do. It does not help them build self-confidence.

Most parents and teachers agree that praise can help increase children’s self-confidence — the more, the better. However, according to some researchers, only proper praise is good for children. If adults praise everything children do, it makes children look for praise all the time, not trying to do their best. “Teachers should not say things like ‘good job’ or ‘nice work’ whenever a child does anything. They should encourage them to continue to improve,” some researchers advise.

Another idea is that children with high self-confidence are happier, and do better at school. About this, Marshall Duke, a researcher in children, says, “High self-confidence brought in by too much praise does not make children happier, get more, or become able to do more. Finding a child’s advantages and developing them can help build confidence more than too much praise can.” Praise also loses its effect if it is given equally to all students.

“It’s important to tell children the truth about what they’ve done. Honest feedback (反馈意见) is far better than empty praise,” Duke adds. “People have got into the habit of not telling children when they’re wrong. That makes it hard for them to deal with difficulties when they grow up. That’s just how the world is.”

6 . Parents should stop blaming (责备) themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.

I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling himself (懒散地躺) on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don't know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”

He hasn't forgotten them. He' s just decided that he' s not going to use them. She confessed (坦白) that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.

Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.

“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.

7 . Few days ago the government closed the schools for the virus. You were effectively your children's teacher those days. That might seem a bit daunting (令人气馁的), but I'm here to tell you that it's possible. Here are my top tips.

Don't try and copy the school system.

    1     So cast that aside. Stop worrying about it. Teach in the way that you would teach and in the way that suits you and your child.

Think about something to do with timetabling.

For many of us, a timetable is absolutely essential.     2     Don't look on social media at the timetable that your neighbor has posted；that's all colour-coded and terrifying. Just think of one that suits you and stick to that.

Have a breath of fresh air in your garden.

If you have your own garden, remember that playing in the garden, playing in the mud is education.     3     Fresh air will make them learn better. Sunshine will be better for them.

    4    

As a home educator, if there's a math problem that they're struggling with, I can sit down with them, explain the concept, and make sure they've understood it. This is something that not all children get in the school system. And this is something that you can really make the most of, so cherish the opportunity.

Take advantage of the massive wealth of online resources.

There're absolutely loads of things on the Internet. There are sites dedicated to home education. There's Twinkle, which is a really good teacher resource site. There's Conquer Math, which is a brilliant daily math programme.     5     Think of it as something that your children can use to gather useful information. So you can work with those online tutors together to educate your children.

Tutoring your children at home is a really good opportunity for you to get to know your children, and you might learn something about yourself in the process.

8 . If you have spent any time reading papers on teaching strategies in the past few years, you have probably noticed a strong backlash against drill & practice, in favor of “constructivist activities” and “project-based learning”.

Memorizing facts, many people argue, is an outdated educational practice, since anyone could just Google a fact on demand or look it up on Wikipedia nowadays. They consider that we should focus all school activities on the acquisition of skills as opposed to knowledge.

However, learning by rote (memorization by repetition) is more important than you think. There are many cases in which having knowledge immediately on the tip of your tongue can have great social and professional value. For example, last night at a networking event, when I casually asked a Nigerian entrepreneur how much of his business was conducted in English versus in his native Yoruba, he immediately became more engaged in our conversation. It was as if the simple fact that I knew that Yoruba was spoken in Nigeria won his trust, and therefore built up our relationship.

The same goes for professional settings. If I am a pharmaceutical salesman talking to a doctor about a specific digestion drug, and he asks if it has any effect on the process of peristalsis, it will look quite unprofessional if I have to pull out my medical dictionary to look up the word. I need to memorize those facts so that I can access them immediately.

Of course, most constructivist educators will argue that on-the-job training and project-based learning are more effective at learning new concepts than rote memorization. The problem is that no single cost-effective constructivist activity will guarantee that you will be exposed to all the concepts you need, or that you will fully remember the facts that you are exposed to. If you actually want to acquire a full range of knowledge about a given topic, the most guaranteed and efficient way is to study deliberately using the time-honored practice of repetition—specifically confidence-based repetition.

9 . Can you imagine a world without music? Studies show that public schools across the country are cutting back on music classes to save money. Worse, some schools have never had music classes to begin with. But without them,students’ academic growth and emotional health could suffer. In fact, music classes are necessary for all students in schools.

Recent studies by Brown University have shown that students who received music education classes were better in maths and reading skills than those without music classes. Another study by the College Board found that students taking music and art classes got higher points. Students' academic success seems to depend on their taking part in music education.

Music programmes in public schools also help to add to a students sense of pride and self-confidence. Teens today have too many learning tasks. Besides, they have family problems, self-confidence problems, relationship troubles, and other troubles. All of these can stop academic success, but music education can help. A study by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse found that students who took part in school music programmes were less likely to turn to drugs. Music programmes encourage students to work together to produce an excellent performance.

Music crosses language, class, cultural and political boundaries. Music allows students from different countries to connect. For example, at a school talent show, a new Japanese student played a piano duet with an American classmate. Although they could not communicate verbally, they were able to read the music in order to play the duet. Two students from different cultures worked as a team with self-confidence and common purpose through music.

The gift of music is priceless. We need to be sure to have necessary music classes for all students. The world is losing its music, and putting music into schools is the first step to get it back.

10 . As a children’s author, I don’t just write books. I build bridges. I carefully construct each of my stories to connect readers to the story itself, to the characters in the story, and to other readers.

My goal is to build kids’ social-emotional learning skills to help improve healthy relationships and prevent peer cruelty. And since October is National Bullying Prevention Month, this is the perfect time to share with you, dear book lovers, how literature can be used as an effective tool to address hurtful behaviors.

What I’m describing here is nothing new. For years, children’s literature has been used by advisors, parents, teachers, and librarians to address tough issues kids face in their everyday world.Researchers report that literature, with proper adult guidance and assistance in a safe social setting,can help form viewpoint and empathy (同情) in young readers. And let’s face it: the more empathy and compassion kids have in their hearts, the less room there is for arrogance and contempt (蔑视) of others.

I love what Dr. Zipora Schectman, author ofTreating Child and Adolescent Aggression Through Bibliotherapy, said in the book: “Through the imaginative process that reading involves, children have the opportunity to do what they often cannot do in real life — become thoroughly involved in the inner lives of others, better understand them, and eventually become more aware of themselves.”

Because the social world of today’s children is very complex, I try to include in my stories the wisdom and insights of young readers, so that my books go hand in hand with their life experiences and views.

There are also many other wonderful books that generate thoughtful conversations (my website lists my top picks-from pre-school to young adult, both fiction and nonfiction). If you’re looking for ways to turn stories into teachable moments, visit authors’ or publishers’ websites for ready-made lesson plans. With lessons in hand, you’re ready to open the hearts and minds of young readers to new perspectives and possibilities!