Monday, August 9, 2010

The Way to Education: Shortcuts Don’t Do It

A) When Ricki was younger, I used to study with her almost on a daily basis. We would review school work, as well as progress in study areas I had set as goals. This year I took pretty much a vacation from teaching Ricki. Instead, I have been doing more housework, as well as taking the time to care for my health: walking, swimming, etc.
But now I am trying to slip in a bit of study time here and there. Whether it is time spent cooking, cleaning, or pure book study, there is no substitution for it.

B) When it comes to educating Ricki as regards behavior, and extracting from her better conduct, there is no substitution for a good behavior modification plan, and taking the time (and contributing the energy) to carry it out. It isn’t easy. But every gain made makes it so apparent that the effort is called for, and worth it.
Ricki wanted to watch computer yesterday, but at 4 PM (when I wrote this post) I still had not allowed her to do so. I insisted that she pick up every miniscule scrap of paper that she has left behind her bed, and that she do her chores, etc.

When parenting any child, but even more so, a child or teen with special needs, “remote control mode” just won’t do the trick. You have to stretch yourself to do and give more.

1 comment:

Batya said...

All kids need it, and today's parents are particularly lazy about tough systematic parenting.
Great post!