Wow, you guys are great. This is an amazing forum. I haven�t read The Optomistic Child, but I will. A lot of what has been mentioned we do try. For a while we actually cheered mistakes (give me a M, give me an I.... what does that spell? Mistake! Yah!). As crazy as it seems, it did help. I do still catch myself praising the product rather than the effort. It�s such a hard habit to break, esp. when kids truly surprise you. But I am working on it
. Mistakes such as the invention of the chocolate chip and other discoveries would be a really good angle for my DD.
My DD was coddled as a baby. I do freely admit to this mistake, first baby, older mom, and therefore it has taken about a year for a lot of the Montessori inspired changes to start take root. I also think that she was praised way, way too much at preschool because she was so noticeably �different�. They constantly made a big fuss about her abilities.
Sometimes I do step in and try and fix things, if I suspect a crazy emotional response is brewing. If I think that she can handle it, I don�t. It�s such an automatic response, because her frustration can bring the house down. She is extremely sensitive, emotional, and definitely struggles to keep herself in control.
Jesse and onthegomom, I do agree that modeling is a good approach. I try very hard to point out my own mistakes (luckily I have plenty of opportunities to do this). I�ve never thought to �stage� a mistake though. This way I could focus on situations that are consistently difficult for my DD.
Iucounu, I very much agree with what you have said, however, I do find it so hard to put into practice. Since I�ve started homeschooling, I feel like I�ve had to change my parenting style, my views and approach to learning and attempt to change major parts my personality (although, I�m not sure how successful this part of the experiment will be...). Thanks so much for your input.
And..... Lori, this is my experience too and it is hard. My daughter is extremely kinesthetic and almost everything has to include some form of movement. For example, she often jumps on the bed when we work on spelling, 1 jump for each letter. About 2 weeks ago my DD announced that she would never use a workbook again because they are meaningless to her. We really do have to be open and inventive!!!!
Your responses have been so helpful. Thanks so much.
Annaliisa
