Crucial pieces of parenting advice from Janusz Korczak

Before Poland was invaded by the Nazis, Janusz Korczak was planning on moving to Palestine. At that time he worked as the director of an...

Before Poland was invaded by the Nazis, Janusz Korczak was planning on moving to Palestine. At that time he worked as the director of an orphanage, and just couldn’t bring himself to abandon all the children in his care and leave them alone in Warsaw. He decided to stay with the children and face the terrible events that would follow together.

In 1942, when the Nazis began to kill the Jews living in the ghetto in Warsaw, he had a second chance to save his life. But when Janusz was given the opportunity to escape, he refused to do so.

The story goes that he once again refused to leave his orphans when they all reached the deportation point leading directly to the death camp. One of the SS officers recognized the children’s author and asked:
— ’Is that you who wrote ‘King Matt The First’? I read that book as a child. Well done. You can go free.’
— ’What about the children?’
— ’The children have to go, but you can leave now.’
— ’You are wrong, I can’t just leave. Not all men are bad people.’

None of the people who witnessed this conversation are still alive. Neither are those who listened to Korczak’s stories on their way to Treblinka, one of the most horrifying of the Nazis’ camps, as he sought to distract his terrified children from unhappy thoughts and fears.

It’s impossible to doubt that any of these stories about Janusz Korczak is true. Every little episode of his life reveals that he was a great man who would have acted exactly like these stories suggest. He was a strong person and an amazing teacher who chose to stay with his children even when faced with the gas chamber. That day he sacrificed his own freedom and life to stay together with his pupils until the very end.

We believe that these three little stories are all you need to know about this noble man with a big heart. But beyond this, to complete the portrait of Janusz Korczak, we can only share these ten profoundly insightful thoughts from his pedagogical books, How to Love a Childand Loving Every Child.

1. Don’t expect your children to fulfill your ambitions. Help them to become who they truly are, not who you are.
2. Don’t expect your child to return everything you invested in him. You gave him his life, how can he pay you back? He will give life to another, and then to another, and this is an irreversible act of gratitude.
3. Never vent your resentments at your child, and you will avoid disappointment later on in life. You reap what you sow.
4. Don’t look down on your child’s problems. Everything in life is given according to what one can handle. Remember, a child’s life is just as challenging, and it might be even more challenging than yours, since he doesn’t have any life experience.
5. Never belittle your child!
6. Don’t forget that the most important encounters in life are our encounters with children. Pay more attention to them, as we can never know whom we will encounter in that child.
7. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you can’t do something for your child. Just remember, you’ve never done enough if you haven’t done everything you can.
8. A child is not a tyrant who takes over your life. He is not just your flesh and blood. He is a precious Cup of Life that was given to you so you could light up their creative fire. He is a declaration of love shared by two people, and from the moment of his or her birth, they will not just be raising a child, but a living soul.
9. Learn to love someone else’s child. Never treat someone else’ child the way you wouldn’t want your child to be treated.
10. Love your child no matter who or what they are — even if they turn out to be untalented or unsuccessful as an adult. Rejoice when communicating with them, because a child is a celebration of life that is always with you.                                                                    Source: http://brightside.me/