Don’t kid yourself; going to school is like going to work. Kids don’t
want to go to school any more than adults want to go to work. The need to pay
bills is what makes adults go to work, and a parent is what makes a kid
go to school.
At least this is the case from kindergarten through high school. The
challenge of these first 12 years is to get our kids to appreciate the value of
developing their minds. This is where the rubber meets the road for parents. If
you do this well, they will start liking school by the 7th grade. If
your kids still hate school by the 7th grade, you blew it.
So, what’s a parent to do? We must turn their problems into learning
opportunities for them. We do this by getting them to discuss with us how they
came to make each of their decisions, how each decision impacts all involved,
and what their decision would be like next time, now that they have learned
something from the experience.
REMEMBER, it is not enough to only do this in extreme cases of bad behavior.
It is far more useful and productive if you make a habit of doing this every day
with their little decisions and big decisions alike.
School Chat is about sharing the things we are doing right and helping each
other fix the stuff we are doing wrong. If you would like to join in, write me a
letter. Ask a question, or share a success story of your own.