I never pretend to know it all. I have a lot to learn and I'm always learning. Every day a person or experience teaches me something, whether it's good or bad. I also do a lot of teaching. I admittedly don't always get it right, but I try to behave the way I want my children to behave. Sometimes it works and they develop good habits such as always wearing their seat belts. Other times I need to remind them over and over again to do something or to not do something.
Fortunately, I've had the opportunity to sit in a lot of elementary school classrooms, and I've picked up some tips on how to manipulate children into making good choices. The most powerful I've seen is the giving of positive reinforcement to peers. "Thank you for pushing in your chair, Emily." Suddenly, the kids who didn't push in their chairs are going back to their desks and pushing in their chairs. And no one yelled at them or even told them to do it. Genius. I decide I'm going to try this at home.
You see, after dinner Elizabeth always clears her place at the table and takes her dishes to the sink while Matthew leaves everything where it was to go do something fun, fast. So after dinner last night I thanked Elizabeth loudly for helping to clear the table. Without a word, Matthew walked from the family room to the kitchen table, picked up his plate, and walked to the sink. I didn't say a thing but was thinking, "I did it. I got him to do it. He's learning. This is so great!" He set his dishes by the sink and I was opening my lips to thank him when he picked up Elizabeth's dish and put it back on the kitchen table. Oooooh. Mom was denied.
Hmmph. Teachers don't know everything. I bet they learn something new every day, too.
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