Confession: I (and my wife) get frustrated (and maybe sometimes angry) that our son doesn't want to do the things he needs to do.
At the end of the last school year, our then second grader made a list of goals for the summer as part of an assignment. Despite reminders I don't think heh ever looked at them.
One of our goals for him was for him to have his multiplication facts memorized. Admittedly, I didn't follow through with it as well as I should have, with using driving time in the car to work on a fact family and such.
He's a kid with a delicate ego and sometimes poor self-esteem. He's said at times he feels like he's "the worst kid in the world."
We try to be loving and encouraging as much as possible. Apparently we don't always nurture that very well, though. At least it feels like our efforts haven't paid off in creating an "I-can-do-it" attitude.
At the end of the last school year, our then second grader made a list of goals for the summer as part of an assignment. Despite reminders I don't think heh ever looked at them.
One of our goals for him was for him to have his multiplication facts memorized. Admittedly, I didn't follow through with it as well as I should have, with using driving time in the car to work on a fact family and such.
He's a kid with a delicate ego and sometimes poor self-esteem. He's said at times he feels like he's "the worst kid in the world."
We try to be loving and encouraging as much as possible. Apparently we don't always nurture that very well, though. At least it feels like our efforts haven't paid off in creating an "I-can-do-it" attitude.
We've tried various approaches: encouragement, check-lists, even the occasional bribe. Nothing's been effective. And ultimately we want him to have the self-motivation to do things on his own because he desires to achieve things.
So, I'd love to hear what works for you...how do you instill a desire in your child to accomplish the tasks before him that aren't going to go away? How do you help keep a child motivated?
I notice there were no comments, not an easy task.
ReplyDeleteYour methods sound similar to our own.
I do think that as much structure as possible helps. It's hard to prevent the emotion from getting in the way of the work.
Allowing decision making within boundaries.
er, you know all this already...good luck, he's a smart boy, when he's good and ready he'll get er done.