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!