DEFINITION: “The ability to endure waiting or delay without becoming annoyed or upset, to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties; the ability to tolerate being hurt, provoked, or annoyed without complaint or loss of temper.”
“Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.”
– Brian Adams
This month, your child will be studying the character word: PATIENCE. It is difficult to categorize at what age children will learn patience. In order to learn patience, one must learn how to deal with disappointment. If people give in to every demand of a child, then that child will never learn how to wait for what they want. This can be a difficult cycle to break, but it is possible if you understand this fact; as well as some ways to better teach patience.
The following information includes a few facts and tips regarding patience in children and ideas on ways to help them improve upon this character trait:
- With children ages 3 to 4: they are very impulsive and will want to be first during every activity. It is your role to help them understand the importance of waiting their turn.
- With children ages 5 to 7: they are impulsive and will blurt out an answer to a question without raising their hand and waiting for the teacher to call on them. It is your role to teach them how to wait for proper directions.
- With children ages 8-11: they are at the age where you must teach them patience during difficult times, such as dealing with bullies.
- With children ages 12 and up: now is a great time to teach them how to have patience as it relates to perseverance and endurance required to accomplish large goals.
Remember, some children will demonstrate great patience at an early age. This is the nature of the individual child and does not mean that every other child will be the exact same without some direction. Do not compare the patience of one child to that of the others, because it may frustrate the children that are naturally impulsive. Be patient with your students as you can teach them this characteristic and you will see progress.
Thank you for your support and we look forward to watching our youthful students build the skill of patience.
Sincerely,
Glens Falls Karate Academy