What should I be doing in a lesson when my child does it wrong?
Question: What should I be doing in a lesson when I ask my child to do something and he does it wrong or just sits there and does nothing? --Lynn M., mother of a five year old.
My answer: I'm so pleased you asked that question because handling this type of situation correctly is one of the keys to success. One of the first things you will notice about Phonics Plus Five is that the programs are designed so that your child will be able to do most things correctly and the number of errors will be low. This is invaluable in setting the right motivation.
In every activity, when errors do occur, you will see instructions telling you what to do. The instructions are likely to be different from patterns you are used to. Frequently, when children make errors (for example, not reading a word correctly), parents say, "Try again" or "Sound it out." or "You think that is ...?. Essentially, parents do what was done to them when they were children--they insist that the child independently come up with a corrected response—without providing any cues that help the child succeed. Although the intentions are only the best, the situation is stressful because it offers the child no real support to get past the error.
Believe it or not--it is far more helpful to tell your child that his or her answer is wrong. There is nothing amiss in telling someone that they have made a mistake, particularly when you move on immediately to offering assistance. So your next step is to provide the correct answer. Then your child repeats and completes the particular item—this time using your model to answer in a correct manner. All this is done in a calm, neutral, accepting tone. You will be amazed to see how this approach relaxes your child and encourages learning.
Do you have a question?
Feel free to email me, and I'll do my best to answer.
