At
some point in a child’s life, a parent takes the training wheels off
the bike. Then, they promise that child they are going to hold on to
that seat and not let go. Eventually, the child turns around, looks
back, and realizes the parent did let go and that they are riding their
bike on their own.
I
think all parents do this with bikes, but too few are willing to do it
in school. Even the brightest students are going to reach a point in
school when things get hard for them. They are going to find a subject
or series of concepts that are more difficult than anything they’ve
encountered before. There is a chance that the student is going to get a
B or a C in that class. This is the time to let go of the bike.
Perhaps
more important than the lessons taught in class here, are the lessons
your child will learn about perseverance. This is the time where your
child is going to learn to deal with adversity in a work-like setting
and that not everything in life is going to be as easy matching the
words with definitions. This is the time, your child is going to learn
what it means to really think through a problem and discover what habits
they need to form to tackle an obstacle that is larger than them. This
is the time a child really learns about themselves and it's better to do
that now than in college or career when the stakes are much higher.
What
I am advocating here is that when the going gets tough, you don’t
insult a veteran teacher and insist your child change classes. This is a
crossroad for your child and it’s one of the most valuable times in
their school career. Let go of the bike and let them learn how to work
through the problem instead of just trying to make the problem go away.
Support them, cheer them on, and at some point, take joy when they look
back and realize that they did it on their own.
Yes,
when you let go of the bike your child has to stop at some point and
they are probably going to fall over and skin their knee. So, in class,
your child still might end up with a grade that is less than what you
are accustomed to. But, they are going to do so with the satisfaction
that they accomplished something, stuck it out, and made it through. The
dividends of that lesson are going to be something they can carry
forward as they encounter future problems and the knowledge that they
are capable of working through those is something they’ll never forget.
Just like riding a bike.
