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I read a very interesting article on Yahoo yesterday. It made some great observations about the relevance and timing of praise for your child.
This reminded me of a time when my son came to us asking about some spelling. It was obvious that he didn’t think it looked right. We took the time to work through correcting the spelling with him. I don’t remember how young he was but it was maybe as early as grade two.
We were reprimanded by his teacher!
She told us we were wrong to correct the spelling. She said we should be reassuring him that he was doing great.
The reality was that we had reassured him that his efforts were spectacular. We acknowledged the validity of his own concern and worked through the problem together achieving an even better result. He learned in the process. Remember, he came to us.
At the time we felt the teacher was way off base and ignored her any way. Our son has better spelling and grammar than most his age because he makes the effort to improve. That is a great trait.
As a team manager for a competitive soccer team, I was involved in deciding cuts. We never told a child they were a failure. We always advised that we needed certain skills and invited them to work on developing those in order to make another effort at joining the team.
Don’t lie! They know! Lie to a child and you lose their trust. Maybe forever.
When I was going into management, I worked with a man who gave me great advice that applies to so many places. Even raising kids. He said always remember the three F’s. Fair, Firm, Friendly. And in that order.
If you remember those, people will gladly accept constructive criticism and will usually rise to the challenge.
No matter how old we are, we’re always someone’s child!
Make it a great day,
P.S. What am I thankful for today? I’m thankful for good teachers (my parents). I’m thankful for common sense. I’m thankful for my children.
What are you thankful for today?
Please share ...
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