Top 13 Brilliant Parenting Tips from Japanese Parents

Children often have the habit of asking repeated questions out of curiosity, which can sometimes frustrate parents. However, for Japanese parents, their children's repeated questions are an 'opportunity' to cultivate patience and encourage curiosity, to explore the world through each answer.

With each repetition, Japanese parents keenly observe what interests their children the most, such as music, books, or art, to find topics that capture their attention and provide the best training for their children.

When faced with a question from a curious child, Japanese parents don't immediately provide an answer. Instead, they ask reverse questions to help the child gradually find their own answers.

And from an early age, Japanese parents teach children to use children's dictionaries to look up meanings of words or correct spellings. This method of self-research helps children remember longer and fosters the habit of independence, avoiding dependence on others when wanting to know something.

In their approach to parenting, Japanese parents never compromise or allow the formation of bad habits in children. From the first mistake a child makes, Japanese parents immediately seek to correct it by analyzing the right and wrong of the child's actions and admonishing the child not to repeat the mistake again.

Moreover, Japanese parents never compromise or exchange temporary benefits with children that may lead to the formation of bad habits, such as turning on the TV just to coax the child to eat or buying toys to make the child obey.

Japanese children are known for their high level of independence thanks to the exemplary guidance of Japanese parents. They never impose on their children what to do or what to learn; instead, they allow children to decide everything related to themselves, such as what to wear, what to eat, and where to go.

From seemingly trivial matters like these, Japanese parents have helped children develop a very high level of decisiveness and independence from a very young age.

Japanese parents seldom criticize children harshly, as they understand the psychology of children 'When you scold a child as a pig ten times, they will squeal on the eleventh!'. When parents scold children harshly, they will be educated in the opposite way, following that denial approach. Therefore, instead of scolding the child as 'You are lazy!', Japanese parents will gently say to the child 'Can you tidy up by yourself?'

As for praise, Japanese parents will not praise children in a general way, such as 'You are so good!' but they often praise in a specific and clear manner 'You did the homework by yourself really well!'. Because they understand, when children are praised specifically for an action, it will be an encouragement for the child to try to do that job better in the next times to receive praise from parents.

For Japanese parents, every meal for children is the environment that determines whether children are educated with discipline and manners or not. Unlike Vietnamese parents who often carry and coax children to eat, Japanese parents usually believe that meals must take place in a dining chair and there is no need to force children to eat or worry about hunger. Parents often divide the number of meals in a day in the most reasonable way so that children know to eat when hungry or will be more excited about each meal. Thus, Japanese parents instill in children a sense of discipline and orderliness right from every meal of the child's daily routine.

According to Japanese research sources, teaching children to write early can change brain function and structure in a positive direction. When young children learn to write, they will have more conditions to learn about many surrounding issues, making them curious and eager to explore.

Japanese parents also believe that a child is just a small animal, only when the child knows how to write and has a linguistic system, the child becomes a human being. And Japanese parents understand that for this linguistic signaling system to work well, the closer the child learns to the time of birth, the much higher the effectiveness will be. Therefore, they often teach their children to write from a very young age.

'Children always learn everything from their parents. So, when you lie to a child, the child will lie back to you.' That's the belief of Japanese parents in teaching their children, and it's absolutely true.

Besides respecting the child's desires for independence, Japanese parents also emphasize telling the truth to their children. Except for unavoidable circumstances, they choose to be honest with their children. They believe that only when you tell the truth to a child, the child will trust you and feel comfortable sharing everything with you.

In addition to academic learning, Japanese parents also prioritize physical activity and fitness for their children. They often encourage children to walk daily and engage in light exercises in the morning. They organize outdoor activities and promote active lifestyles for their children.

The average height of Japanese people used to be relatively short, with men averaging 1.50 meters before 1950. However, the average height of Japanese men now reaches 1.72 meters. This demonstrates that the proactive approach of Japanese parents in promoting physical activity is entirely correct and commendable, something all parents should emulate.

In Japanese parenting, regardless of age, parents never force their children to blindly follow imposed rules. Japanese culture highly values children's creativity.

Japanese parents aim to optimize their children's cognitive development while fostering their freedom to create and enhancing logical thinking through play-based learning, smart toys, and methods from an early age. Additionally, they instill good moral character in their children, teaching them proper behavior and adherence to family, school, and societal principles.

Japanese parents are well aware of the harmful effects of children watching TV excessively at a young age, such as: wasting children's time, potentially leading to addiction and distraction from other activities, frequent exposure to electromagnetic waves can adversely affect children's developing brains, leading to reduced memory and cognitive abilities... Therefore, limiting children's TV viewing is a necessary step in Japanese parents' child-rearing strategy.

Many parents, in their eagerness to quickly resolve issues, give in to their children's demands and requests to make them obey immediately. This only leads to worse outcomes. Moreover, children may see this as a tactic to use whenever they don't want to listen to their parents.

So, when children whine and demand something unreasonable, be firm and do not agree, no matter how much they resort to coaxing or crying.

During the process of raising children, every parent must acknowledge the paramount importance of the educational environment, as it significantly influences the character and individuality of each child. Japanese people believe that it is difficult to educate a child well in a family marked by conflict, a school with many misbehaving children, or a neighborhood plagued by crime. Therefore, they always strive to create the best environment for their children, both at home, in the community, and at school.