Making Mistakes, and Why We Should Make More of Them

I think that it is easier for a school-aged child to fail around their teachers than it is to fail before their parents.  If you think about it, they only see that teacher for a short time a day, but they live with us during their nights, weekends, holidays, and over their summers.  They are much more vested in their relationships with us than they are with their teachers. 

So, the homeschooling child will probably react quite negatively to criticism in regards to their work.  I've seen it with my son. 

I  hate seeing my son get so upset with himself.  I try to express that it is okay to be wrong, but what we have to work on is learning from our mistakes.  But I think that he gets hung up on his error and cannot see beyond that. 

But I found a way to let him know that it is okay to make mistakes.  I began to be quite vocal with my mistakes.  For example, during cooking, I sometimes misplace cooking items and utensils.  This is what I would say:

"Whoops.  I accidentally put the salt in the fridge, again.  I got a little confused."  I then would then place the item in the correct place (while my son watched me). 

Here's another kitchen mistake:

"Oh, no.  I spilled the flour on the ground.  My mistake.  I'll just have to be a little more careful next time."   I would then calmly clean up my mess. 


I make mistakes when I write, too.

"That "p"  is a bit too sloppy.  I can do better than that."  I would then calmly erase it before redoing it. 

Sometimes, my mistakes are deliberate.  My son's penmanship is a bit sloppy at times.  While writing, I'll sometimes draw a messy s or g.  "I can do better than that," I would calmly say before correcting my "mistake." 

My son still makes mistakes, but now he'll say things like: "I got confused," or "my mistake," and even "I can do better than that." 

I was told that my behavior was called modeling, and I must say that it works.  So keep that in mind when you watch your homeschooling (and regular schooling) child when he/she makes mistakes.  Make some of your own and be vocal about your correction.  Our little sponges are watching and listening, after all.