Teaching the Value of Perseverance
Perseverance does not come natural to us as adults and yet we often expect our children to show the character trait pretty early in life. So, how do we as parents go about teaching the value of perseverance?
Perseverance means pushing through or continuing to press on towards a goal in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. Yikes! I know that I personally don’t like it when things are hard so I can see how our children would want to give up when they run into problems too. Don’t you?
We have a couple of guidelines that we use in teaching the value of perseverance to our children.
Anticipate the problems or roadblocks
This is a tougher one for the younger ones. But older children are encouraged to think about the end goal and anticipate what problems or roadblocks they may encounter. Looking at potential problems to their plan allows them to start to think about alternate paths or solutions before they even kick off their project.
Failures happen
Even with the best laid plans, sometimes things just don’t work out as you would like them to happen. Try as you might, you may not win that science fair or get that promotion but maintaining your self respect, pride and attitude are more important.
Work smarter not harder
Being willing to work for something you want is an important lesson to learn as early as possible. That said, learning to work smarter is more important in my book. When you run into a problem, if you keep coming at it in the same way… you may get the same results over and over. But, if you will step back and work smarter; you can usually come up with a work around that will remove the problem and allow you to move forward.
As a parent, I think it is really important for us to teach our children the value of hard work and the honor of following through when committing to a project. I also think we need to teach them how to problem solve and look at the whole picture..noting the missing parts and how to come up with possible solutions.
We recently read a children’s book on this topic. Oogie the Bear faces a major challenge in his life. One day he discovers he is out of his favorite thing in the world.. what is he going to do?
Starting off with the local store where he buys his crackers from, he discovers that the store is out of crackers because the baker didn’t bring them. Instead of just giving up, Oogie stops and thinks about the steps needed to get his crackers to the store.
So from the store, he heads to the bakery. The baker says the delivery man didn’t bring them the flour to make the crackers. Tracking down the delivery man, he finds out that the truck had a flat tire which is why the flour wasn’t delivered to the bakery.
Soon the little bear is off in search of the solution to his problem. A tire for the delivery truck.
Once a tire is fixed on the delivery truck, the driver can take the flour to the bakery, and the baker can make the crackers for the store…and Oogie can then buy his loved crackers!
This story is a great example of thinking of solutions to problems instead of just giving up. Because Oogie thought even to discover the source of the problems, he was able to find a solution that helped everyone.
Oogie the Bear’s Rainy Day Adventure is available on Amazon in both Hardcover and Paperback versions. It is also available for downloading on the Kindle format.
Don’t have a Kindle? Grab one for yourself. They are so nice to use for reading. I love my Kindle Fire and my little one uses the e-Reader version (just for reading without the added games and internet options).
About the Book:
Perseverance is a necessary life skill that every child should understand. But teaching your children this valuable skill is not always so easy. How can parents start the conversation about the value of taking risks and never giving up in order to achieve their goals now, and to set them up for future success?
Enter Oogie the Bear, the star of the #1 Amazon Bestseller in the children’s book category, Oogie the Bear’s Rainy Day Adventure. Written by award-winning author Michael Weinberger, and featuring colorful artwork by commercial illustrator and fine artist Steve Bonham, this unique story teaches children and their adult reading companions the value and rewards of perseverance. It tells the story of Oogie, a little bear who, despite all the obstacles set in front of him, doesn’t give up on achieving his goals.
Providing silly fun both parents and children will find pleasure in reading together, Oogie the Bear’s Rainy Day Adventure is the perfect way to start talking about perseverance.
I received a copy of Oogie the Bear’s Rainy Day Adventure from Smith Publicity as part of a media release. If you have any questions about this book or topic, please contact them directly.
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