#15: Try Your BEST!

Recently, my daughter's kindergarten teacher sent home a note stating how proud and excited she is that everyone in the class is working hard on his/her writing skills. She was "delighted" by all the notes, cards, and books each one completed to give to friends, family, and teachers. As any good teacher would do, she encouraged us parents to continue to foster this love at home by supplying our children with opportunities to practice their newly developed skills.

But then she stated, and I quote:

"Remember, we are only in kindergarten, so please do not get carried away with correcting your child's spelling, for this might discourage him/her from wanting to write."

Let that sink in for a minute........

This statement was written by a teacher who has been practicing her trade for more than 20 years.

Let that sink in for a minute.........

Now, trust me, I am not one of those crazy parents who thinks her children need to be Harvard applicants by age 15. I get that kindergarten is only the beginning, just a precursor for what's to come when "real school" starts. I totally understand that a child must first learn important, valuable, time-tested skills like finger painting, sock puppet making, and play dough sculpting before he/she can ever be expected to actually read, write, or spell correctly.

But really? My daughter's "been teaching for more than 20 years" teacher took the time to write a note discouraging parents from correcting their child's spelling? Really?!

Does anyone else find that to be a bit of an oxymoron? Or perhaps just MORON?

I love that my Sweet-ums loves to write. I even love that she doesn't want my help, most of the time, because she wants to "surprise me" with what she can do all on her own. I love that she always has a beautifully detailed illustration to go with her writing. I love that, when we started this school year, Kaylee could only write her name and some small words. But now she can read and write whole books! It's amazing what a child can learn in just a small amount of time!

I know that Kaylee is only in kindergarten and that she has her whole life to learn to structure her sentences properly, use correct grammar and punctuation, and to spell words correctly. I know that she may not be good at these things, no matter how many classes she sits through, how many examples she is given. I know that she may never be great at writing.

But I always want her to try her best.

And, in this case, her best includes learning to spell words correctly. Even in kindergarten.

*If I didn't correct her, she would still be spelling her brother's name like this: cristofer, instead of this: Christopher.

*If I didn't correct her, she would still be spelling the word "flower" (one that she uses quite often) like this: flowr.

*If I didn't correct her, she would still be spelling "princess" (a word she uses more than once a day, I assure you) like this: pritses.

*If I didn't correct her, she wouldn't be ASKING me how to spell things she is not sure about.

After all, learning to ask for help is the first step in trying your BEST.

I want my child to realize that she does have weaknesses. Without this understanding, she cannot see her need to try. If she does not try, she will merely settle for what she can do/has always had, and she will never know that there is better. That there can be a BEST.

Her Best.