Research has shown that engaged parenting helps children build cognitive and emotional skills.
Too much parental direction, however, can sometimes be counterproductive, according to a new study led by Jelena Obradović, an associate professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education, published March 11 in the Journal of Family Psychology.
In the study, the researchers observed parents’ behavior when kindergarten-age children were actively engaged in playing, cleaning up toys, learning a new game and discussing a problem. The children of parents who more often stepped in to provide instructions, corrections or suggestions or to ask questions – despite the children being appropriately on task – displayed more difficulty regulating their behavior and emotions at other times. These children also performed worse on tasks that measured delayed gratification and other executive functions, skills associated with impulse control and the ability to shift between competing demands for their attention.
Education, politics, and anything else that catches my attention.
A few years ago a parent I know posted a question on fb. They had a conflict and wouldn't be able to make their high school girl's volleyball game and were distressed about it. They asked if it would be okay to miss it.
ReplyDeleteI posted that, at the age of the kid, it was time for her to have activities she did for herself, just because she wants to do them, and not for parental approval. That the parent absolutely does not need to go to every game, and maybe that the kid might actually like *not* having you there. Let go.
I don't know if it ever occurred to my parents to take time off work to watch me run a race or two at my high school track meets, but if it did, they still didn't go. And somehow I survived!
ReplyDeleteI will say my husband and I attended games, concerts and plays. We also joined various booster clubs. What we did NOT do was turn it into a social event for us. We stayed parents.
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