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A Child’s Fear
So the time continues to fly by. My child is now 5 and learning at the speed of sound and light. I am continually reminded of how amazing a human being really is.
He only started Montessori Preschool 5 months ago. We chose to keep him out of school for as long as we could so that he could hone in on his language skills. I was a little concerned about how he would adapt once he started school.
Fear. . . oh yeah. Even though we had brought him there two afternoons to play with the kids after school, when the day came for him to stay for the whole day, it was traumatic.
He was amongst the older of the class. Being Montessori, the kids ranging in age from 2-5 are all in the same room learning together at their individual pace.
For two mornings there were tears, mainly because of the unfamiliarity of it all. But then, once he felt safe, he adapted quickly. Is that not unlike us as adults? Don’t you feel that way with any new situation or new job? There is that level of anxiety even when we know it is something we love to do.
Now, as he is learning in this new environment, what has become interesting is how he trusts the teachers so much that he feels only they can teach him.. . . funny, eh? He “only” wants to learn to read and write from his teachers, although this last week, he started to trust me to read with him because I make funny sounds and play.
His fear of making mistakes is very clear. He doesn’t want to be around any other children who are reading. It’s almost like he doesn’t feel as if he is as good as they are and is embarrassed. What he’s not quite aware of yet is that he is learning a fifth language and the written form of Chinese at the same time as English. He is not confused as he is able to make the shift, but I can see that both languages are taking time to sink into that amazing young brain.
Where he gets his fear from, I do not know. It’s like where he got his fear of water suddenly at 3 years old. What happens to us as we grow and what influences are there around us that continue to affect our lives? Words and situations have such an impact on our bodies, minds and spirits. We really have to be so forgiving and compassionate to ourselves throughout our whole life to be able to keep balanced, don’t you think?
[tags] learning, child, fears, shift, anxiety, growth, comparison, pace, teach, personality, individual, development, [/tags}