Let Them Be the Coach
Being a kid is tough, probably much tougher than we care to remember. It’s easy to feel like you aren’t important, don’t know what you are doing and aren’t as good as you want to be at something.
As a mom it makes me sad to see brave faces that you can tell are hiding those feelings but as a teacher I need to find a way around it.
That’s when I realized: Let them coach you!
One of the best ways to learn a new skill or to perfect old ones is to teach other people. It is also a wonderful way to work on boosting confidence. As parents we try to give our kids confidence with pep talks, but encouraging words only go so far. Actions go further.
I put this idea to the test this summer with my son who attended two soccer camps back-to- back. Every evening after dinner we’d go to the backyard and he’d teach me the new skills he picked up that day. Some of it I knew already but all of it was rusty. It’s been awhile since I played soccer. When he showed me specific moves and skills he was practicing, it built confidence in his own ability. As a bonus, we were both getting a little exercise in!
Do you know what I noticed? The more I let him teach me the more he was open to letting me teach him.
My younger daughter got in on the play too. Not only did her brother teach her some moves with the soccer ball but she taught all of us her own brand of ballet.
The best part was that we moved and learned together, and that’s what The Together Counts™ program is all about.
Now that we are transitioning to the school year, my kids will have a huge pool of new things to teach my husband and I. Learning together means taking turns being the teacher, and in the end you’ll have a stronger and healthier family to thank for it.
Allison McDonald is the mom and former preschool teacher behind No Time For Flash Cards, a blog filled with learning and play for young kids. When she isn’t blogging about crafts and learning you can find her running with friends or exploring the forests around her home with her two kids. Allison lives outside of Seattle with her daughter, son and husband.
For more information on family activities, check out these Together Counts resources: