The ability to homeschool our children is a great opportunity and it’s a lot of fun to be able to do that. And one thing with our kids is that I expect them to do great in school. I expect them to be able to learn, and I think they know what my expectations are and they reach those expectations.
I think when kids know what you think, how you think they’re going to do in something, they believe in themselves a little bit more. My oldest daughter, she had a stroke before she was born and she has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and global developmental delays.
But I still teach her pretty much the same way as I teach her neuro-typical sister. I expect her to learn and I think she’s going to do great in school. One thing, one area that I’ve seen her really succeed is in reading. That’s one thing that the neuropsychologists that she’s seen and the neurologist that she’s seen, they’ve all said she’s probably going to have difficulty reading, but she reads great and she loves to read.
And I know with that love to read, she’s just going to continue doing better and better. And I think a big part of your expectations for your kids is what you verbalize, and not just to them. You definitely want to encourage them by saying that you think they’re doing great and that they’re learning so well, and school is exciting and learning is exciting. But also what you say to other people.
And so I don’t ever want my daughter with a disability to hear me say, “Well, I don’t think she’s going to understand that very well because she has a hard time learning.”
Because if she hears me say she has a hard time learning, she’s going to believe that about herself. If she hears me say, “She is learning so well and she is reading great, and she is understanding math and she’s putting numbers together.” Then she’s going to hear that about herself and think, “Yeah, I can do that. I’m pretty good at that.” And so, I’ve seen how my expectation in her especially has really helped her to succeed.
Kids, I mean, really anybody, we can all have a tendency to be lazy. So all we needed is an excuse for why it makes sense that we can’t do certain things. “Oh, I can’t do that because I have this struggle.” And I don’t want to give my kids that excuse. I want to give them the empowerment to know that they’re smart, that they can learn. And I want to help them believe what I believe about them. I want them to believe it for themselves.
Check more of Melanie Musson’s articles here: https://www.freeadvice.com/
Key takeaways
- Encourage children
- Avoid discouraging remarks, instead help them.
- Show that you believe in them so they will have confidence in themselves.
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