Never Give Up
When January arrives almost half of the school year has passed. This is a good time to assess your children’s progress and plan strategies to help them succeed. If they have been struggling in school, renew your efforts to work with teachers. When children are taught the way they learn, they can achieve. Never give up.
Sometimes it is very difficult to watch our children struggle to learn. But there are times when suddenly a mini miracle happens and everything clicks. They get it. I want to tell you a true story about one little boy in my class who had a severe language processing disorder. He could not understand language. Imagine sitting in a classroom all day listening to words all around you and not be able to make sense of any of it.
One day Kyle was puzzled by the word “rough”. The spelling of the word is enough to confuse anyone. How do the letters gh produce the sound of f? So to help Kyle understand the meaning of rough I asked him to touch several rough surfaces as I repeated the word. Then he touched surfaces that were smooth so that he could feel the difference. We did this over and over.
Suddenly something happened that I cannot explain, I call it a God moment that opened the world of language to this child. He began to understand language. He was able to absorb information and understand it. He could use what he learned. His writing and oral language became more coherent. He began to smile and laugh. Now he could understand jokes and wanted to share them with me. I can still remember him coming to my desk with a big smile. He just had to tell me his joke. It was as if something within him had burst forth and blossomed.
What is the reason for this story? I want to reiterate that we must teach children the way they learn. We must seize the moment when children come to us with a question. Rather than become impatient with what may appear to be a silly question, we must take a few minutes to give them a solution. Sometimes we must first help them understand the question, then show them how to find the answer. We must take the time. Finding the solution may not be the usual way of explaining a concept. We may have to find two or three different explanations before children get it. This is like finding the missing piece to a puzzle. There is no magic formula. Perhaps the magic comes from our willingness to embrace the learning styles of each child, teach them, motivate them, and inspire them to never give up. When we do this right, the rewards are enormous. Remember Kyle.
There are many ways to teach our children. What a great responsibility it is to know that we are teaching them today so that they may learn and succeed for the rest of their lives. But this responsibility is a huge honor and a gift. Remember this and never, never give up!
When January arrives almost half of the school year has passed. This is a good time to assess your children’s progress and plan strategies to help them succeed. If they have been struggling in school, renew your efforts to work with teachers. When children are taught the way they learn, they can achieve. Never give up.
Sometimes it is very difficult to watch our children struggle to learn. But there are times when suddenly a mini miracle happens and everything clicks. They get it. I want to tell you a true story about one little boy in my class who had a severe language processing disorder. He could not understand language. Imagine sitting in a classroom all day listening to words all around you and not be able to make sense of any of it.
One day Kyle was puzzled by the word “rough”. The spelling of the word is enough to confuse anyone. How do the letters gh produce the sound of f? So to help Kyle understand the meaning of rough I asked him to touch several rough surfaces as I repeated the word. Then he touched surfaces that were smooth so that he could feel the difference. We did this over and over.
Suddenly something happened that I cannot explain, I call it a God moment that opened the world of language to this child. He began to understand language. He was able to absorb information and understand it. He could use what he learned. His writing and oral language became more coherent. He began to smile and laugh. Now he could understand jokes and wanted to share them with me. I can still remember him coming to my desk with a big smile. He just had to tell me his joke. It was as if something within him had burst forth and blossomed.
What is the reason for this story? I want to reiterate that we must teach children the way they learn. We must seize the moment when children come to us with a question. Rather than become impatient with what may appear to be a silly question, we must take a few minutes to give them a solution. Sometimes we must first help them understand the question, then show them how to find the answer. We must take the time. Finding the solution may not be the usual way of explaining a concept. We may have to find two or three different explanations before children get it. This is like finding the missing piece to a puzzle. There is no magic formula. Perhaps the magic comes from our willingness to embrace the learning styles of each child, teach them, motivate them, and inspire them to never give up. When we do this right, the rewards are enormous. Remember Kyle.
There are many ways to teach our children. What a great responsibility it is to know that we are teaching them today so that they may learn and succeed for the rest of their lives. But this responsibility is a huge honor and a gift. Remember this and never, never give up!
