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Newsletters>
February 2009 Newsletter
February 3, 2009
Hi everyone
I hope everyone had a lovely Family Day, and was able to enjoy time with their family! Sometimes we get caught up with the business of life and really have to make an effort to relax and do nothing. Giving us Family Day helped give parents a chance to stop and enjoy the day with their family. It is hard to relax, stop and smell the roses when there are so many other things that need to be done.
Tutoring one on one enables us to get to know the student in many different ways. We not only learn where their needs are to be met, but we also learn how they think and learn, their sense of humour, how they organize themselves (or not) and whether they are comfortable at taking risks. The latter means how comfortable is the student in “having a go” at something and not being afraid of getting it wrong? This can be a real challenge in today’s world. Remember when you as a child, played out in the street? You probably were out of the house all day and your parents never turned a hair. Not so in this day and age. We need to know where Jane or Johnny is, who they are with and how they are getting home if they are out of the house. This control can play havoc with the child’s ability to take a chance. How can parents help their child feel comfortable with risk taking?
We can start when they are young by encouraging them to do something however small, and praising them, even if they don’t manage to do it exactly as we would have hoped. Praise the positive and omit the negative. This could apply to later achievements such as the school work. By saying for example, “Your work is so neat” even though some of it is wrong helps the child take a pride in his/her work and try harder next time. They will soon find out which of their answers are wrong.
I heard of one parent who first of all made sure her child knew how to cross the road safely. The next step, she picked her child up from school she dropped him off not too far from home and told him to walk the rest of the way. Of course unbeknown to the child she followed him to make sure he was safe! She did this regularly, each time dropping him further and further away until he was able to walk home all by himself. This would not work for everyone. However, there may be something else that would be appropriate for your child, to help make him a little more independent. We all have one aim with regard to our child, and that is to make him/her become more independent and confident. With this in mind what could you change? A child who is comfortable at taking risks is not afraid to be wrong and will learn lots of lessons along the way. He will also learn to be accountable for his actions and a more rounded individual..
Next time you are with your son or daughter and an opportunity arises; see if you can encourage your child to have a go at something he/she has not tried before. Notice how he/she tries to do it. Is he/she quite comfortable at taking a risk or is he/she afraid to have a try? Remember to praise whenever possible.
March Break is coming up. I hope you and your family have a safe and happy time.
Best regards
Christine
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