Talk to the Hand: Communicating with Your Children

Geez! Some days are just better than others!  Yep!  I know.  Some days are great, and some days are not so great.  One thing is for sure.  Homeschooling is a journey that will require you to communicate with your children on a whole different level than your parenting journey.  

Oh!  Surely.  We want to combine parenting and teaching.  This might quite possibly be a drop in the bucket for some.  However, for a vast majority of us, parenting and teaching do not go hand in hand; at least not in the since of really communicating with our children.

Why is this true?  Well, it is pretty simple.  We parent to raise our children in a godly manner and fashion.  Of course, their education will cross-over into their upbringing.  Though for many aspects, our children view parenting and home education as two totally different things.

Just try it. Have someone ask your child/children how they view their home life.  It is almost a given they will have one response pertaining to your parenting and one response pertaining to your teaching style. So, where does this lead us?  It means we must find a way to communicate with our children in such a fashion that they WANT to learn!  That they are EXCITED about school.  That they wake up each morning EAGER to begin their day with YOU as their teacher.  I think that can be accomplished with a few steps of MOTIVATION for you...the homeschool teacher/parent.

One way for you to communicate with your children is to really LISTEN to them.  What are their likes, their dislikes, their trigger points of excitement.  Knowing these things will help you to formulate a plan of action to really GET TO THEIR HEART AND SOUL.  It will allow you to teach them to love to learn.

Another way of communication for helping your child succeed in their education is to open the doors for you to know your own listening style and your child's listening style.  How do you listen to others? How do they listen to you? There are four listening styles that will help you determine how you should carry out your day as well as how you should communicate with your children based on their listening style and yours.

1. People-Oriented listening> You love people and enjoy taking time to talk and listening to others.

2. Action-Oriented Listening> You prefer short-sweet information-no errors or stopping points.

3. Content-Oriented Listening>You prefer LOTS of details

4. Time-Oriented Listening>    You prefer utilizing your time wisely. You have a bucket list. Things on a schedule.

Knowing these four areas of listening as they relate to your personal listening style as well as your child's will help you to be on track TOGETHER!  

The last tip of communication I have for you as a parent/homeschooling mom is to RELAX!  There is nothing more important than to allow your children the FREEDOM to learn at their own pace.  They are wonderfully made.  They each have their own uniqueness in the world.  It is so vital YOU allow them to shine just as God created them to do in their lives.  If we shut our children into OUR own little world, we stifle them from all God created them to be in this world.  We, as homeschool parents, are facilitators of learning...not dictators. In order for us to communicate with them, we have to be open to listen to their wants, needs, and desires.

I hope these things have helped you to really see how we can communicate with our children without the feeling of helplessness.  All information contained within this post is documented through the textbook entitled Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others.

Reference:
Beebe, S.A., Beebe, S.J. & Redmond, M.V. (2011). Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others (6th ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education, Inc.