Sometimes your child struggles. Learning can be hard. And sometimes a subject can throw a roadblock that your child is sure she can never cross.
When your child says, “This is too hard,” or when the tears come, you know she has reached a roadblock.
Have you ever been there with your child? I suspect that all of us have, whether we homeschool or not. In fact, I suspect that every one of us has been there ourselves – stuck in front of a learning roadblock without any idea of how to pass over. Right?
That is when I think that the best and most important help we can give our sweet children is to be by their side.
I sit down with her and bring a glass of water for her and one for me.
“Be slow. Be deliberate. You can do this. Just BE,” I think to myself, “Show her that everything will be just fine. Don’t tell, show.”
Remember when your child was just learning to walk and toddling around the yard? She would misjudge a step or a jump and BAM! She would fall backwards.
Your first instinct told you to rush over and grab her and check for scrapes and broken bones, right?
As a new parent I did just that a pile of times until I realized that rushing over in a panic was showing my daughter that I was scared. And children who see scared parents, are instantly scared themselves. We all know this once our kids get past that toddling phase.
We figure out that the best we can do for our children is to be calm.
That is the same idea as helping a child who is stuck in front of a learning roadblock. Even if you have absolutely no idea how to do that Algebra problem, sitting down with your child to be by their side will help.
Just trust and try it out. You will find that that beautiful and wonderously-made child of yours has it in her to know what to do, even if you don’t.
Your first job is to calm her and give her a quiet confidence to take the next step.
Just like when she was toddling around the garden so many, many years ago.
(and if that fails, you can always look up the answer on the Internet! 🙂 )
and I linked up this post at this week’s Weekly Homeschool Blog Link Up at the Homeschool Review Crew.
