Take Your Time...

   Many times we rush through work and try to get the list of things we have to do, checked off.  It is good to be quick and efficient, but sometimes we need to remember not to rush through things.

    Doubtless most of you have a child, or younger sibling that you tell, "First work and then play."

     With the promise of play more often then not, the student races through their work and you end up with a mass of scribbles, wrong answers, and sloppy work.  Of course then, is the prospect of re-doing it again.

    I always tell my students that if you don't have time to do it right the first time, you must have time to do it right the second time.

    The Bible says:

     "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;"  -  Colossians 3:23

     It is important for children to understand at an early age that when they undertake to do something, they should do the very best they can, 'or why do it?'.  If it is important enough to start, it is doubly important to finish.

    So I encourage you, even if your child or sibling groan about having to re-do their work, continue stressing to them how important that they do things right the first time so that they do not have to do second.  Blessing!

-Sharron

Frustration & Learning

     Learning new things can sometimes be hard, and if that is the case, frustrations are bound to occur.

    How do you know if your child is frustrated?  Usually children will whine, cry, pout, get angry, or just shut off completely and refuse to do work.

     How do you prevent frustrations?  Sometimes frustrations are unavoidable, but there are some measure that can be taken to prevent them from getting out of control.

    Recognize when your child is getting frustrated, or when you are getting frustrated.  Take a break, go over flash cards do some physical exercises, get a drink or snack, read a short story, etc.

     Raising your voice, scolding, or rushing the lesson will only be a source of further frustration to yourself and your student.

    I have learned that each student has their rate of learning and a certain level of work that they are able to complete in a time period.  One child may not struggle with the same things that another child is, or they may complete more work in a short period of time.  Since I have been homeschooling some of my younger siblings, teaching, and tutoring; I realize that we need to learn each child's strengths and weaknesses.

    If you are a mom who is homeschooling you already have a head start.  You know what interests, motivates, encourages, discourages, or frustrates your child.  More often than not, you know some of their strengths and weaknesses.  Form your lessons based on these observations.  You probably notice that each child has a certain attention span or may work better at a certain time of day.

    The important thing is to be patient with them and yourself.  If you are getting stressed, even though they are not, take a break!  Frustrations have a way of spreading from one person to another.  Keep hydrated and reward yourself and your student when a difficult task is complete: a piece of chocolate, special meal or snack, extra playtime, etc.  Just keep a positive attitude and give sufficient time for difficult tasks.  :)

    It is also important to realize that we get frustrated as well, but unlike children we can usually manage our emotions to keep from being too overwhelmed.
 
    What about you?  Do you have some positive teaching strategies when addressing frustrations?  What are some methods of reward, or how do you identify their rate and capabilities of learning?  We'd love to hear from you.  Just type your comments below.  God bless you!

Sibling Rivalry

     Sibling rivalry.  Or in other terms... competition.  Bad or good?  Well, that depends on the motives and attitudes involved, but really, who doesn't like a little friendly competition?

    I have three younger siblings and I would be lying if I said we never competed.  Ever since I can remember, there was always some type of competition going on: who could run fastest, drink the most water, win the race to the top of the stairs.  There were arm wrestling competitions, a competition on who the loudest was, or a contest to see who could hold their breath under water longest.  To be honest, I won most of them.  This makes sense because not only was I the oldest, I had more motivation: a younger sibling besting the older?  I would never hear the end of it.

     Now that most of us have passed our teenage years, we compete with each other less.  Each of us have found our own special niches in the family which was probably determined through sibling rivalry.  Not the best artist?  Two choices: work harder, or find something else to do that others were not as interested in.  Those of us with siblings are really blessed, because as an only child we are less likely to be introduced into various interests.

     My twin sister has her own 3-D printer where she prints plastic objects like decor.  She is a good gardener and she likes sci-fi a bit.

     My brother is our very own computer geek, entrepreneur, and accomplished musician.

     And my youngest sister is an excellent baker, flower gardener, sportsy person.

    So where did I fit in?  I like to garden, but it definitely is not my first choice.  I bake, but my specialty is limited to pies and cobblers.  I am tech savvy to some extent, but I use this intelligence for blogging rather than figuring out the stock market, and would have never thought of owning a 30D printer... I'm also not to great at sports.

    Now, my confession.  I probably could master each of these things as my siblings have but I doubt I would enjoy it as they seem to.  I am the artist among my sibling group, the authoress, the Sunday School teacher, and an aspiring dulcimer player.

    If you are worried about too much sibling competition among your clan, I'd advise you not to (unless of course someone is suffering because of it).  Siblings push us to find what we are good at and to earn our place in the family, so to speak.  Sure, I lost the arm wrestling competitions with my brother as he got older, but he had earned the place in my life as a protector.  My two sisters may have passed me up concerning gardening and athletic skills, but it is fun to have them on my side or eat the fruit of their labor.  Each sibling has their own unique personality, and just because someone says rivalry does not mean sibling fights (though my siblings and I occasionally fought).

    So, what are your thoughts?  Do you deal with sibling rivalry?  Has it pushed you to try new things that you might not have otherwise?  Do you have advice on how to deal with sibling rivalry when it gets out of hand?  I'd love to hear from you!

    Until then, God bless you and thank you for reading.