Motivation

I was reading What To Do About Your Brain Injured Child by Glenn Doman. Much of the book is a history of The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential and an overview of the stages of normal neurological development. There was not much information on *practical* application of the Institute's ideas, which was what I was after (most of Doman's other books are high on practical, just FYI, although I know his methods are controversial).

There is one part on motivation, however, that caught my eye. Doman tells the story of a brain injured little girl who is supposed to work up to hanging from a bar for one minute, but on her first try only manages half a second. He shows the difference between an UNmotivating response ("Oh, no, honey, that was only one half second and you have to hold on for one minute, it's so important!") and a motivating response ("Who would have dreamed that a tiny little girl like you could hang on to that bar for a whole half second!"). The goal, he says, is not to compare where she is to how far she has to go, but to compare where she is today, to where she was yesterday. I'll take that even a step further - with my oldest who seems to go one step forward, three steps back sometimes, then leaps ahead 4 steps only to lose it all the next day, I need to compare what she did today to what she could do a year ago.

While I don't go so far as to sound like the first mom when I realize my children need motivating, how often do I forget they need motivating, and sigh or complain when they are having trouble with something? ( Does "but you knew this yesterday!" sound familiar?)

Hopefully, as we begin to add more schoolwork to our days, I can remember to put encouragement high on my priority list during school time.