Use Her Strengths To Address Her Struggles

I was working with one of my daughters the other day in chemistry.  I actually have two daughters in chemistry right now and one is loving it and the other loathes it.  

“It’s too much info!”

“I don’t understand!”

Listen, not every subject is going to be easy for your child.  It would be weird if they all were!  That is like a pro basketball player also being a pro baseball, pro golfer and pro quilter!  Our brains are all different and we work better with different things.  But here is the blessing, she DOES have some natural strengths at her disposal and so often those strengths can be used as a springboard into her places of struggle. 

My daughter that doesn’t love chemistry right now is actually very strong in math, so we had to find a way to tap into this part of her brain to feed the chemistry through.  This is the logical, black and white, yes or no, right or wrong part of her brain.  (Remember that brains in adolescence are very under construction AND having to learn big new material and emotional regulation at the same time.  whew!) 

Let me give you some examples.

- a child that is strong musically may learn better to a beat or pairing facts with a song.

-a child that is strong physically may learn better with a movement associated to the information like when bouncing on a ball, taking a walk or standing on a balance board.

-a child mathematically strong may love flash cards, a good outline or another very pragmatic or logical way of learning information.

-a child experientially strong may need to go and see this information in action to make it real and understood.

Knowing her strengths and learning styles is so important for their educational, and emotional, growth and maturity. 

“You are not good at this” can quickly turn into a definitive “I AM not good at this” and those “I AM’s” are hard to overcome and reverse direction on.  

Their teacher may not always teach in the way that serves them best and this is a lesson in and of itself because the world does not always give you what you want or how you want it, but recognizing her own strengths and using them for her benefit is a great step toward self-disciplined leadership! 

This doesn't just apply to school either!  This can be applied toward chores at home, time management, and relationships even! 

Keep the doors of conversation open, ask the important questions and help her know her strengths and so she can learn to use them in her struggles!