Be Patient
When I was a lad there was a shelf halfway up the stairs at home upon which were half a dozen ornamental mugs each adorned with a saying. “Patience is a virtue” is the clearest in my mind and perhaps that is why “Be patient” is my response to parents who seek my advice about the best way to help their child at school. I have written about it before in this bulletin and I stand by it now but I’d like to elucidate because patience can show itself in many guises.
“Do not compare your child” is another way of looking at it. Society encourages us to compare everything and inevitably, as parents who care greatly about our children’s education, it is hard not to want the best and for them to be developing as well as they can. But the point is that children often are developing as well as they can; it just may not be at the same pace as others. Children learn at different rates in the same way that there are many different physical heights and shapes across a year group. Children have growth spurts at different stages just as they have peaks and plateaus in their learning. Confidence has a huge part to play here but children lose confidence very quickly if they suspect their parents are unhappy with them in comparison to others.