Children need to experience success.  Success comes easily to some children.  Others struggle to succeed in their education.  As parents, and homeschool teachers, we need to nurture success in our children. 

If your student struggles in many areas of their schooling, help them find a skill that they can succeed at.  Help them find their gift.  They may not read well, or do well in their math ... but perhaps they are gifted artistically.  Nurture that, encourage them to develop their skill, and praise them.  Perhaps your student does not excel in any academic areas, but they can take mechanical things apart and put them together again, or they can build things.  Encourage that, nurture their success in this area. 

Our children need to know that they have a talent or gift of their own.  Don't let them become discouraged with their school struggles, encourage them to keep trying in their school work, but also to develop their gift.  Help them build a vision for their future ... how can they use their gift as an adult?  Point out to them other adults with similar giftings, or similar struggles, who are successful in their lives.

When our children struggle in one subject, we need to carefully balance challenging them with nurturing success.  We do not want their lessons to be so challenging that they rarely succeed.  But we also do not want their lessons to be so simple that there is no challenge.  If your child has a difficult day or week in a subject, think of a fun activity you can use to break the monotony and lighten the mood.  Don't let your child develop a strong dislike for a difficult subject.   Don't let them give up.  Help them have moments of success to encourage them to keep trying.

A wonderful book that gives ideas for using games and activities to teach subjects is How To Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator And Onto Learning by Carol Barnier.  The book is subtitled "Homeschooling Highly Distractible, ADHD, or Just Plain Fidgety Kids," but the book talks about finding the key to teach your child in their difficult subjects.  It is filled with creative ideas you can use to encourage a love of learning in your struggling child, and nurture their success.

April E.  (ElCloud Homeschool) is a Homeschool Mom of 6.  She has homeschooled for over 7 years, and enjoys sharing the things she's learned in her homeschool journey with others.