persistence and building with boxes

My eldest son has been working very hard at constructing with recycled materials lately – as you can see from these box constructions.

This is a racetrack my son created, modelled off the racetrack I drew for his brother.  

  This is a robot created by my son without assistance (just some advice).  It is hard to show all the details, there are a lot of buttons and decorations on the head.

But he is at an awkward stage of having lots of great ideas and an idea how he wants the final product to look but is just lacking the experience and motor skills to put it all together.

This has provided a great opportunity for him to practise persistence.  To help him achieve the results he wants we have talked about

• planning projects before you start, including drawing a plan and gathering materials
• recognising when he is feeling frustrated and taking a break or asking for help
• remembering that many things he once found hard are now easier and that he will be proud of himself for sticking with his project through any difficulties

Persistence is an important part of developing self-esteem.  Many things that are worth learning require effort and persistence through inexperience and difficulties. It is great to see my son working on this important character trait.

How has your child shown persistence lately?


This post is for the Teach/Learn carnival, the June theme is Persistence. If you have something to say about Persistence you can join in by following the link.