Who is a free man? How to raise an internally free child?

Classical articles on internal freedom, written by Simon Soloveychik. Open chapters from his book Parenting For Everyone.

Free Man – The Manifesto of Educators

By S.Soloveychik

… Each man has his or her values and highest goals in this real world. Yet, there is one highest value, which all other goals and values correspondingly relate to. It is extremely important for teachers and educators to understand what this highest value is…

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Talent of Freedom – Notes to Free Man

By S.Soloveychik

THIS HAPPENS ALWAYS: some well known concept suddenly comes out from the shadow to the light, from the ordinary – to the most important. Together with this word move on the values scale something very important in our understanding of a man, the relation of people, is enlightening. Thus, in our eyes, almost forgotten word mercifulness has changed, raised for the first place…

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Odd Way To Teach, But It Works

By S.Soloveychik

During both the summer and winter school vacations, Victor Shatalov, a teacher in Donetsk (Ukraine), travels to various parts of the country, often far from his home — to Murmansk, Petropavlovsk- Kamchatsky, Novosibirsk, Tashkent or Odessa. In recent years he has covered thousands of miles. Listening to a seven-hour lecture on how to teach mathematics […]

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Are Children Thankful?

By S.Soloveychik

Children – are thankful people, children – are thankless people. Parents torment a child, compel him to study – it’s ok, he will then say thank you. But if “thank you” is postponed for years, a child grows not knowing gratitude, and his soul is as in darkness. Is there a lot of utility from […]

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Law of The Cat

By S.Soloveychik

What if a conflict is with siblings, with neighbors, with other adults? Here, unfortunately, an implacable “law of a cat” works, we can call it so.

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Parenting and Money

By S.Soloveychik

Here is a field of constant family war – money, things, “give,” and “buy.” How to invert it into a field of cooperation? Greed is almost the first childish sin. “Greedy- stingy” – is the first of childish name calling. Other bad qualities are yet hidden, but greed seems to us to show itself in […]

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Language of Desires

By S.Soloveychik

A tenth grade boy complained to me, “Why is it so? For sixteen years I live together with my parents and we still can’t find any common language?” We may describe all our difficulties with children as an inability to find a common language with them. The child doesn’t understand us! “How many times have […]

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How a Child Becomes Intelligent

By S.Soloveychik

We develop a child, help him to study, we lead him to his real successes and we improve his image of himself as a worthy man. But this is difficult; it is accessible to few parents. During half an hour it is unlikely to help a son to study. But there is another possibility: we […]

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On Intelligence

By S.Soloveychik

But for that we must find a blending point of intelligence and heart. Intelligence – is cold, heart – is hot. A “fevered mind” is a sign of disease, “frozen feelings” is a sign of a troubled heart. How can we join non-joinable things, ice and fire? To join them – in order that the […]

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Why Children Risk

By S.Soloveychik

Similarly to how children risk their lives, testing their courage, they test their conscience, violating rules and laws in order to test (on purpose!) the awe-inspiring feeling of shame. Actions that result in punishment and awe-inspiring, terrible feeling of shame attract children as a test, in which independence develops. What do children do to test […]

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