At the weekend, I was listening to an interesting conversation between my sister and niece, in this case, about effective study methods.
My niece is doing a course on how to best use her time after school and on weekends to study for tests and exams.
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She is 13, has just started high school and is, according to me, academically inclined so this course would be ideal to improve her performance.
The conversation that followed was a bit mind-boggling, especially as she said that she needed to know in advance about any family outing or recreational activity in order to fit this in around her study timetable.
So, this back and forth continued with her being insistent that she needed to know and, of course, my sister saying the opposite.
Ideally, my niece could have implemented whatever she had picked up from the first day of the course as she had an art test on Monday. However, she got distracted with visitors and forgot about the test.
A few hours later when this conversation took place, she had all sorts of excuses as to why she could not study. Also her cousins were around – this was one of the reasons given.
She was told this is where discipline comes in, that no matter what is happening around her, she should be able to pick up her books and study.
Am I being too critical of this situation? After all, children should be allowed to be children?
So, I added in my bit saying, let her be, let her make her own mistakes and by doing so, she will find her way. Is this approach any better?
Surely, a voice of experience would have good advice for her. After all, my sister went through the same trials and tribulations as a student.
It’s food for thought for both the younger and older generation, they both have to find middle ground somewhere along the way.
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