Location + Time + Cost + Activity = Success
Finding the right program for your child isn't always easy. We understand that factors like the location, the time of day, the cost and specific activities offered can make or break the success of a program for your child. Let us help you find a program that strikes the perfect balance — on your terms.
Here are some important things to consider when selecting a program:
- Know what your child likes. See “We’re Good at the Things We Like” below. This is money-saving advice.
- Fulfill your end of any programming commitment through encouragement. This may include pushing your child to continue when the easy becomes more difficult.
- Be a partner in your child's success by attending events. Showing up shows support. Make an effort whenever possible to attend anything that is scheduled as part of your child's Afterschool program.
- Make sure you are able to make transportation arrangements. Missed lessons can not only be a waste of your time and money, but they can cause even the most gifted child to fall behind. To avoid embarrassment, children will often opt out of activities when they have fallen behind, even if they love the activity.
We’re Good at the Things We Like
Read that again. It doesn’t say, “We like the things we’re good at," though that’s true as well. No, it says we’re good at the things we like. That statement was made to me just today in reference to something I hate to do and am not very good at. I just nodded, thinking I’d heard it the other way around, or that my sister had said it backwards. Then she repeated it and said, “It works the other way around, too, but we’re good at the things we like."
It’s true. If we like something we’re willing to put the time into it to learn how to do it, for starters. Such is true with my “hate to do," search engine optimization. Books on SEO make my eyes glaze over. Listening to someone talk about how to do it makes my ears glaze over. I hate it. It’s not interesting to me, and I’m not good at it.
On the other hand, I’m great at making web sites. I used to do it for a living and still design my own sites most of the time when I’m developing a site for a business or my personal use. The first time I picked up a book on web design, nearly a decade ago now, I knew this was something I could do. I LIKED it. And I’m good at it.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t, or can’t, be good at things you don’t like. I don’t like putting away the dishes or changing the cat litter, though I’m good at both those things.
What I’m saying is if you hate something, and you’re not good at it, maybe it’s time to stop beating yourself upside the head and find a way around it. Hire someone to do it. Barter with someone to do it—you do something they hate and are not good at. Do something else instead. Or learn to like it and get good at it.
So the next time you’re doing something you hate, and feel you’re not doing a good job, remember it’s not your fault. We’re good at the things we like.
By Angie Dixon, SD Editorials (link)