Positive reinforcement

Since the opening of schools, our sweet Tana has not been very warm with her teachers. At some point we did not know what to do, but we know that she takes time to warm up to people. I tend to think she is melancholic- though I guess it is still very early for us to conclude that. They say melancholics' take time to develop friends ships, but once they have you for a friend..You are lucky because they are super loyal! Well, she takes that kind of character sometimes.

So for some time, we took this behavior with the teacher as being stubborn, because it came on and off depending on the side of bed she woke up from (moods). So at some point we told her that if she continues to do so, she would start receiving spanks. The girl did not change at all.

I am sure some of you must be thinking- are the teachers good? Yes they are. They are wonderful, knowing them at a personal level, they bless our lives and those of our children. I would not fault them, they worked extra hard to warm up to Tana, and they were not understanding why Tana is so not warming up to them, at some point i cousld see them wondering why she is so different from Kendi. Yes she is, they are all different, speacial and unique in their own ways.

Eventually, we decided to change strategy. The stickers came in handy and a lot of encouragement. We told her how the teachers love her and they are working very hard to be her friend, and any day she would hug them, it turned the whole house to a celebration mood. The girl has suddenly changed, she adores her teachers.

Recently, Kendi and Tana plucked flowers in our compound, carried them gently in the car, all the way to school to give their teachers. Honesty, I could see the tears in the eyes of their teachers’, just the appreciation from two little girls, who in small ways are saying – we love you teachers and we appreciate you.

What I have learnt is that we need to be sensitive to our children and when one way does not work let is try out another to reach out to them, they are not a homogenous group and our heavenly  father has a way of helping  us know just how to go about this.