Teaching Your Child Persistence

Persistence is a valuable life skill that can lead to success and the ability to persevere and cope during life’s difficult moments. Some children have a difficult time developing this skill. You might notice your child tends to give up when tasks become too difficult. Since young children have short attention spans this shouldn’t be a concern to parents but, here are some ways to reinforce and teach persistence.

Set Expectations
Anything requiring hard work is worth achieving. Talk to your child about the goals they want to achieve in school, in sports or at home. Tell them what it will take to “score a goal” or “do a back hand-spring”. Let them know how good it will feel to work hard and achieve their goal.

Don’t Jump to the Rescue
It is part of the parental DNA to step in a do things for our kids. Find a balance between teaching your child vs. doing things that are difficult for them. You have to experience defeat before you can really understand and appreciate success. If your child is stuck on something, guide them through the problem solving process. Show them how to think of alternate ways to achieve their goal. Tell them how important creative problem solving is.

Praise, Praise and More Praise
You see it in sports all the time. Praise can really be an incredible motivator. Winning teams who achieve great goals often have some players with average abilities. Praise can motivate even the most average player or student to perform at a much higher level.

Your child will not be persistent if they don’t like what they are doing. Find what your child really enjoys about sports, school or hobbies. Persistence will be natural if your child is working toward something they really enjoy.