Sticktoitiveness

Learning curves.

They happen.

My son was required to create a PowerPoint presentation for his online high school geography class. The last time I created a PowerPoint I was young, childless and had much better executive function skills. The learning curve for this project was steep.

Beyond the facts he had to regurgitate for the assignment, he learned so much with this task. The most important being sticktoitiveness.

Homeschooling gives children a unique opportunity to see adults learning all the time. I don’t have all the answers and I don’t pretend to. Especially now that my children are older, learning alongside them happens on a daily basis.

They see I don’t give up just because something is hard or unknown to me. They see that sometimes I walk away to clear my mind. They see that sometimes I get frustrated. They see that sometimes I need to ask someone for help. They see the full learning process, from those surprisingly easy tasks that get whoops and hollers and the aggravatingly difficult tasks I thought would be a breeze but take four days of talking to myself to figure out.

We are still models of imitation to our teens. Let us not forget that.

When we have the honour to work together with our teenagers to figure something out, we walk the crazy path together, cheering each other on and finding laughs in the dark moments.

I think this is one of the most important things my children will learn; how to figure stuff out and stick to it when the going gets tough. Because isn’t that what most of life is about? Figuring stuff out as you go? And if true learning happens when you are actively involved, what better way to learn than to throw yourself in whether you know what’s happening or not.

And if they make it through to the other side, mission accomplished? Look at the level of trust and belief that has just been created! And if they don’t accomplish the mission, they have created a whole collection of tools and the knowledge that it is okay not to have all the answers and that asking for help is not a weakness. It is simply part of learning.

Sticktoitivness – the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult or unpleasant.

Sounds like a good quality to foster.

Until next time,
Marina