My thanks to Tara Kennedy-Kline for today’s kindergarten readiness post for the next letter: E = Experience. She writes passionately about the wisdom that experience is the best teacher.
My “brick to the head” realization of the day:
Parents today are so focused on “giving their kids everything they need to be successful” that they forget that some of the biggest tools for success are failure, desire, and accomplishment. If we are constantly setting our kids up to only succeed and then rewarding them through gifts or praise, we teach them nothing. If we refuse to allow our kids to experience failure or consequences (even those imposed by others) we deny them the experience of how their actions impact the world around them. If we never ask our child to contribute to or earn their possessions or activities, they never learn pride in ownership or accomplishment. We need to remember that the reason we know “more than them” is because we have experienced more than them. Now it’s time to let them learn…through experience.
Thank you, Tara! Tara is a multi-level mom, speaker, coach, and author of 2 books: Stop Raising Einstein and Mom Entrepreneur Extraordinaire. We are radio show host colleagues; her show Stop Raising Einstein is on Toginet which is the parent station of Rockstar Radio where I host my show Learn and Play with Mrs. A. E could also be for Einstein…
As parents, caregivers and teachers we are in the tough position of allowing our children the opportunity for experiences while at the same time guiding and protecting them. For that we rely on our own experience! What learning and developing activities will your child experience today?