Is Your Child a Perfectionist?
As a (recovering) perfectionist myself, I spent years labouring under the misapprehension that perfectionism was a ‘good’ thing. It meant I was dedicated, it meant I did a good job, it meant I was focused.
However, it also made me pretty unhappy. There’s a big difference between being a perfectionist and being a high achiever. A high achiever will enjoy learning. Typically they’ll set realistic goals, enjoy the challenge of getting there and then perhaps continue on a little further – just because they can.
A perfectionist on the other hand will set themselves entirely unrealistic goals, fail to enjoy the challenge of trying to get there (because they’re so scared of failing) and then beat themselves up because they didn’t make the unrealistic target that they set themselves. For a perfectionist – ‘good’ simply isn’t ever good enough.
Plus, because ‘good’ isn’t good enough; perfectionists will often suffer from a sort of paralysis when it comes to starting tasks. Their fear of failure can become so strong that it literally prevents a perfectionist from even trying.
So, is your child a perfectionist? Do the following traits sound familiar?
Summer Activities for Children
Well the Summer holidays are upon us!
I really can’t believe how this year’s flown by! If the Summer holidays have somewhat snuck up on you and you’re worried about how you’re going to keep your little ones occupied over the break then check out the list below for some ideas:
1. Get Crafty!
Arts and crafts are a fantastic for children – not only are they lots of fun, but they also encourage them to use their imagination, and help improve concentration. Click here for some great arts and crafts ideas.
Helping Your Child to Concentrate
Developing concentration skills is a key part in a child’s development – and succeeding in any field, be it artistic, sporting or academic requires the ability to concentrate on the task at hand. Concentration is one of what we call the Four Cs (along with confidence, communication and coordination) which all of the games, songs and dances are created to help improve at Perform, so it’s definitely something I think about at lot.
All children have the ability to concentrate – think about the things they enjoy doing – e.g. they’ll often have no problem at all with concentration when they’re playing a computer game, drawing, playing a particular sport etc. Normally it’s just a case of being interested in something. However, the ability to concentrate on any task can be a tougher skill to learn.
Even as adults we find it difficult to concentrate from time to time – so it really should be no surprise that children struggle too!
