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Jun. 30, 2006
I'm bored.....
I have been random blogging today and was
really suprised by the number of blogs where parents have commented
that their kids are "already bored or restless." I saw a few good
suggestions about helping them make lists, giving them crafts to do,
starting school work back up...... everyone jumping to rescue the bored
child.
I have a radical idea, the next time you hear a child say "I'm bored."
Respond by saying "hmm, that is interesting honey" and when they say
"there is nothing to do", you can say "really, nothing to do?" and stay
very, very quiet.... or even go back to what you were doing, if
possible invite them to help you, but don't offer rescue suggestions.
Let them sit, stand, pace, pout whatever their reaction is until their
mind kicks into gear.
Usually parents don't jump up to give school work answers when the kids
say "I don't know." Most of the ones I know say, well find the answer
or let's find the answer together, depending on the skill level and
maturity of the child. Think of being bored as an "I don't know" answer
to the question "what could you being doing with your time."
Now sitting down BEFORE they say they are bored, like at the beginning
of the day or the first day of the week and brainstorming activities,
like letter writing, crafts, cooking, sewing, playing outside,
swimming.... to make sure the supplies are one hand and a parent is
available if needed is very different than rescuing them from being
bored. It is giving them background information before they begin their
work.
Kids as young as 3 and 4 need to start having a say in how they spend
part of they day. If they get used to you scheduling every minute of
their day, they will never learn the skill of independent time
management. And if you schedule "when it is important" during the
"school year" then they will get the idea that the time that is theirs
to schedule isn't very important at all. Just like with all skills
practice makes perfect!
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Posted by 
Jul. 1, 2006 - Good post!
Your other comments are good, too.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciated your comments :)