So, am I the only one dealing with tears when it comes to a student learning something new or difficult? Today, they reviewed 5 states in the Midwest, and by Friday, he needs to be able to locate them on a map, spell their names, and know their abbreviations. My job is to work on it every day to help him memorize the information (this also includes knowing them myself…which, if you knew me, you would laugh at this notion). Tonight was our first night and he was doing so much negative self talk that I don’t know what to do!
“I don’t know how to spell any of these states”…”I don’t know anything…I don’t know this…I’ll never get this”
Really?! It was just introduced to you 5 hours ago. What’s the big deal? That’s why we are practicing!
Moms out there – I don’t understand this phase. I try really hard to understand this phase, but it makes no sense. Why do kids this age (and beyond??) feel like they should know everything already? Why are they so hard on themselves? Or have I created this mindset in some sort of way?
And the crying just makes the homework effort that much more difficult b/c you spend time trying to calm them down…and sometimes I think it is all just whooey (another clean swear) b/c there is no way that he doesn’t know something we just reviewed 5 minutes earlier.
I don’t get it.
I am patient and I empathize with him…encourage him to calm down and understand that he isn’t expected to know everything, and that is why we have homework, people don’t come out of their mommy’s bellies knowing math and geography…blah blah blah. But, at some point, I think I am going to lose my mind.
LOSE.MY.MIND
