This past week, I observed my husband read to our
daughter (age 3yrs) and reinforce her number recognition. This account stood
out to me, because I was in the process of completing an assignment for the
class as my daughter made multiple attempts to "play school" with me.
I tried, but failed to remain attentive to her efforts. She finally
threw in the towel on me and moved on to her dad.
I had to pause as I noticed how gentle and
sensitive he was with her. He provided a safe play-learning space. His tone was
perfect; soft yet firm. He listened carefully as she talked, repeating information
as necessary which showed he was actively listening to her. The book that they
read was based on items found in New York. The book allowed her to count
objects in the case that she did not recognize a particular number. When she
struggled, he did not get upset with her. He was very patient from beginning to
end. When she got mixed up or irritated he reassured her that she could do it
and encouraged her to take her time. Through his effective communication, he
kept her engaged throughout the book which provided a successful learning
experience which on the other hand can be a bit stressful for her and me.
As I observed my daughter’s body language, I
could see that she felt secure and she lay nestled in her father’s arms. She
felt confident and accomplished as she correctly identified the numbers.
This week I have noticed that I seem to be shorter
and less patient with my daughter in comparison to the children within the
classroom. This is an observation that makes me sad, but ready and willing to
put forth the effort to change; effective immediately. My daughter and I have
lots of fun together, but when it comes to learning I can be a bit militant.
Though I come from a good place, simply because I want the best for her, I do
not want to communicate to her in a manner that is stressful or cause her to
lose interest in learning.
My goal is to make more conscious efforts to be
more patient with my daughter. I want to communicate to her that she has my
support and that I believe in her. I want to communicate to her that I proud of
all that she has already accomplished as she learns and all that she will
continue to learn.
Altrenia,
ReplyDeleteI felt as if you were in my home when I read this week’s blog. Sadly since I’ve been in school, it seems that I have very little time with my daughter and her dad makes up for me. She usually asks me to “play school” with her also and I have to tell her that mommy is doing her school work. It is definitely nice to know that we have such great support in our better halves. Where would we be without our support system? Great post!