Perseverence
How can parents support perseverance around homework?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines perseverance as "to continue in spite of difficulty or discouragement." It is vital for us to support this quality in our children, children who have a strong sense of perseverance will be able to overcome obstacles of all kinds.
Give the Right Kind of Space
Be available for help, but not controlling. Offer help only when your child asks. Let your child learn through confusion and mistakes. "Mistakes are magic” Believe yourself and tell your child that mistakes are how we learn. Avoid jumping in and taking over or correcting every detail.
The place in your home where a child does their homework should be as quiet and free from all distractions as possible.
Ask the Right Kind of Questions
Ask your child open-ended questions about the work they’re asking for help. Ask them to describe their problem out loud.
Say things like,
“What part is tricky?”
“What do you think you might try next?”
“Tell me what you’ve tried so far"
“Why do you think this might not be working?”
Celebrate and Normalize Effort
Praise any perseverance you see, as soon as you see it. Don’t focus on praising completion or correctness. Normalize that tasks can be difficult or take effort. Look for examples that you can use where you model perseverance. Did you have a challenge at work? Did you complete your taxes even though it was awful? Share these experiences with your child. Both these things can sound like:
“Wow that looked like it was hard, and you really stuck with it”
“I had a really frustrating project at work, so I took an early lunch. When I returned to the work, it felt much more doable. It was hard but I finished it!”
