Where Do I Even Begin?
Are you concerned about the progress of your child but do not know where to begin? The day to day grind of life presents us with different scenarios. For example, some parents get to the point of acceptance, becoming desensitized to the struggles and writing it off as part of life and learning. In other cases, every struggle is personalized, to the point of dreading their child’s homework because it has become such a battle. There is no right or wrong here, it’s understanding your reality in order to find a path forward.
Part of my role as an educational consultant is to help guide parents through a process of analyzing these struggles in order to determine patterns. As parents, we are entrenched in the day to day behaviors, unable to see that there is more happening. My role is to connect with parents and children, while asking the right probing questions that will help get to the root of the problem. Typically, the realization quickly sets in that it’s been this way for so long that certain behaviors have been normalized.
One of the first things I advise is that parents keep a journal. It’s a simple but effective way to log all of their observations, questions, thoughts, etc. Not only does it provide a starting point for our conversations, but it helps track behaviors, allowing parents to note positives and negatives along the way.
As mentioned, when you are locked in the day to day, it’s hard to see what is really happening. Taking the time to write out this information will yield critical information needed to move forward. We might not be able to solve for everything immediately, but at least we identify a place to start. For instance, you may think that child is not “wanting” or “refusing” to do something. However, if the behavior is shown to be chronic and frequent, there may be other concerns. Journaling allows you to analyze these events individually while stripping away the emotion of the moment. It’s truly amazing what you may find.
As an educational consultant, I am here to help create these strategies within a safe, judgement free zone.
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