scribblechic

My daughter is a notoriously poor speller. Tender to failure and hesitant in hope, practice is as much an act of self-confidence as it is a pledge to improve.

Last week when school was canceled due to low temperatures, she voluntarily set up a spelling station. Practicing the week’s word list and developing a strategy for success she played at mastery and claimed ownership of her list with creativity. On a tiny index card she outlined the number of letters per word and prompted this guide at the top of her improvised desk. Gone was the hesitation or insecurity, resistance to practice or resignation of inability. Test after test she churned out perfectly placed letters in much the same way she once verbalized letters by dissecting them into steps up and down our hallway. In these non-traditional contexts her instincts are true and her efforts attentive, creating a new equation for individual success.

Returning to school at week’s end I hugged my daughter tightly and reminded her that in practice her gut was true, confident and capable. At day’s end it was an out of place voice of frustration in a moment of happiness that interrupted my thoughts with a discouraged: My gut lied.

Sweet Girl, The truest measure of success is not where you succeed, but how you determine failure. Trying in the face of fear and doubt is a greater gauge of ability than excelling in an area of strength. Each effort is an active exercise in learning, each error an opportunity to do better. Your truest instinct was to try. Love, Mom

Tagged: Daughter, Learning, Musings