作者：北美考试教学中心 托福写作组 曹优优
What concerns parents and educators the most is children education. Among honesty, helpfulness and organizational ability, it I have to instill a set of values into kids younger than 10 years old, I believe being honest should be given the top priority.
First of all, an honest child will win the favor of parents and teachers. Generally nobody wants to be entangled in lies, especially grownups who value intensely the right of being trusted, which can be deduced from screaming everywhere “Why don’t you trust me!”. No matter in real life or in fictional movies,, tragedy or suspense caused by mistrust is commonplace. In this setting, adults cherish opportunities to hear true words from those naive spirits. Therefore, the most important thing we should share with young kids is bound to be “being honest”.
In comparison, teaching children to be helpful is not very urgent since those children lack the capability of offering a hand. We can teach children some basic living skills in their childhood, but they may injure themselves or cause some troubles once they take actions without supervision by adults. Can you imagine what a 5-year-old girl will encounter when she tries to cook for her beloved mom alone? The only lucky result is that she does not get hurt. In order to protect those children, I am fully convinced that requesting them to be helpful at an early age is counterproductive.
Likewise, telling a little kid to be well organized is impractical. Indeed, some people may claim that being organized is essential for a child’s development because this quality can prevent a person from feeling puzzled or being misled. According to those legends throughout history, the ability to think before leap or to be disciplined is one prerequisite of success. However, in view of the nature of children, telling them to be organized should not be prioritized. As is recognized by all, it is easy for children to make a mess. They are so curious that they run wild aggressively, throw about imprudently, and scribble unthinkingly. Sometimes asking them to keep everything in order is to smother their creativity. Therefore, we might as well leave more freedom to those little big shots.
In conclusion, considering the positive effects of children’s telling the truth, we have to nip dishonesty in the bud. As for organizational ability and helpfulness, we can teach children the importance of these two values in their later adolescence.
