Hi All,

We've just started a lego wall of challenge. DD7 runs from challenge. The moment she finds something remotely challenging she starts to meltdown... quickly. For the past 2 years I've been trying to explain why tackling difficult things is good but I haven't made any headway until.... THE LEGO WALL OF CHALLENGE. The other day she was starting her downward spiral and I said, 'It's like you hit a wall. I wish that you could see what's on the other side. It's actually really amazing over there!" For some reason she actually stopped and started to think about it. I suggested that we build a lego wall. Every time she perseveres, despite frustration she gets to take a brick off the wall. It is amazing how well this is working. As soon as she starts showing signs of frustration I say, "I think we've found a challenge for the wall!!" She then plows right through whatever was upsetting her and happily takes off a brick. Today (we homeschool) everything was going really well. She looked at me and said, but I want to take a brick off the wall:)

I just wanted to share this, maybe other kids will respond to this approach as well.

A.

That is so cool!!!

Absolutely fantastic idea!! Thanks for sharing : )

Awesome!!!
I will take this opportunity to soapbox a little.

Notice that Annaliisa is celebrating when she and her DD see signs of frustration because they are opportunities to win a lego brick?

How many times do we see our children showing strong feelings and feel our hearts sink with dread? How often to we feel like those signs of frustration are like the ticking of a time bomb? I know that I still feel those feeling inside sometimes.

Annaliisa, I want to accuse you of the greatness of savoring challenges and the greatness of teaching your DD to savor them too! What a great lesson - go brag go!

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Great idea!

Holy cow!!! I don't know what kind of magic mojo you've got, but keep it coming--that idea worked like a dream with my DD8, who has been getting frustrated with math. I told her the idea, and she gave me this really sweet look and said, "I get it, we take it down brick by brick..." The wall has been built, we had the best math session EVER, and she proudly took a brick off her wall.

Best. Idea. Ever.

hmmm I wonder if this will work for putting face in water at swim lessons .. Ill have to try it next week

I might make a lego wall of challenge for myself.
What a great idea!

this is great.

I LOVE the concept!

My kids have the same issue, but I'll need to find a way to tweak it a bit. The younger is a LEGO fanatic, and taking a brick off a wall would not excite him much. I need the opposite--something to build. The LEGO Castle of Resilience?

Suggestions welcomed.

The Lego wall of Challenge is a very clever idea.

My daughter is enjoying the challenge and frustration of her online AOPS class, and I've concluded that part of this is because she can check what is essentially her automated progress score. After working for 1/2 hour, it might go up by 1 or 2%. It is very slow going, but it is just enough reinforcement to keep her going when the going gets tough. I also think it works because she knows it is an honest assessment. No one is patting her on the back or telling her "you can do it".

I'm definitely going to do this with DD8. What a great idea!

Thank you so much for this wonderful idea!

�Like.
Love it. What a way to inspire!

I love this idea! I'm going to try that with my easily frustrated 9 year old. It sounds great!

I'm so interested to see if this will work for others after a week or so. What a great response to this thread. It is still working for DD7. She's not as over the top excited as Day 1 but that's to be expected. She just had her year end performance for a class that she was less than enthusiastic about. Instead of complaining or getting stressed out she said, 'Can I take a piece off for this?' Let me know how it's working out!

A.