Sid and I finished our 14 hour training course yesterday. I think I'm going to miss it. They will offer it again in January (but I don't know if they will let us get credit for it again so soon). I would take it again in a heart beat. There is only so much that you can get out of one lesson and remember long enough to practice and internalize. The next time you get something different.
The three things I'm trying to take away from this whole class and work in to my normal life are: 1) don't tell your kids what to do. Give them choices (that you can live with) and let them suffer the consequences if they make a bad decision.
2) Never nag, especially not over homework. Nagging them about their homework denies them the opportunity to screw it up and learn a valuable (low cost) lesson. The school already provides the negative consequences. Done properly this is a win-win for the parent. Instead of asking after the work that still has to be done ask the child to show you what they did well and verbalize why it was so successful. This trains them to see their accomplishments and not their failures. Done wrong they can train the child hide their performance and their school work from you. Should the child suffer a bad grade from their failure to make a wise choice remember the phrase "Oh, honey, that's so sad. Try not to worry about it. They teach this grade at school every year. We will still love you no matter how many times you get to repeat it."
3) Chores (now called contributions) are the easiest route for children to learn many wonderful lessons including that everyone needs to contribute, there is not always a financial reward, its nice to help others, trade can benefit everyone, perserverance, and success is its own reward.
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1 comment:
Karin - what is this training class about? Where did you go to take it and how much was it? It sounds very interesting.
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