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Keeping Focus July 2011 |
It can never be said enough in homeschooling circles: what we are doing is training our children, not just educating them in academics. In that
sense, we are more coaches than teachers or instructors.
Coaches do instruct, but it looks more like modeling and illustrating how to do something than mimicking a classroom teacher. It also includes a healthy dose of encouragement and often in-your-face discipline. One thing you will never see a good coach do is step in and do whatever needs to be done by the athlete as part of the training. Parents, on the other hand, seem to be prone to do this. Our excuse is that it is easier to just do it ourselves than take the time and effort to model it and explain why it has to be done a certain way. It may take less time at that particular moment, but it will end up taking more time down the road because the child still hasn’t learned how to do it on his or her own. Another reason why we often step in has more to do with our culture. It’s the idea – albeit a false one – that one of the primary responsibilities of parents is to provide ample opportunities for our children. We parents are charged with entertaining our children and keeping them occupied instead of the children taking that responsibility. Since we want to make the most of every opportunity given, we tend to jump in the moment anything goes wrong. That way we can be assured that we get the most out of our time and money. We tell ourselves that our children deserve the best experience possible, after all. But again, the child is short-changed. And we parents are in danger of burning out. What this does is undermine any chance of the child practicing problem-solving skills, making adjustments mid-stream, or learning how to resolve conflicts. Sometimes mistakes teach our children more than breezing through an activity. Related to this is the tendency to change what we’re doing or switch curriculums just because the student finds it boring, unentertaining, uninteresting, or impersonal. Sometimes the training has more to do with learning perseverance and diligence than doing what comes naturally. As much as we hate to admit it, drudgery is a part of life from time to time. So before you rush to step in, take a moment to put on your coach’s hat and consider what the best way is to train your child in the situation at hand. 420 words To view more 'Keeping Focus' Articles please 'Log In' and visit the 'Achives' page. |
