A Math Teacher – A Coach

I remember as a young student in elementary and high school I always struggled in mathematics.  I seemed to just get by each year and soon what I didn’t really know became almost too embarrassing to admit.  I seemed to hide it well and continued to float through the system without anyone taking too much notice.  The irony of it all was that I really liked the subject, albeit not reflected in my C average.  If I recall correctly it was somewhere around grade 11 a math teacher took notice of my fragile state and my poor conceptual understanding of the subject.  Finally helped had arrived… someone was going to give me all the answers I was looking for.  This was no ordinary math teacher and she had no intentions of just giving me the answers.  Her support was going to be much deeper than at first anticipated and her dedicated compassionate desire was drawn from her own struggles as a student.  She knew and understood that everyone thinks, absorbs, and conceptualizes thought in a different way.  Here is the amazing part… instead of giving me the answers, she asked me the questions.   Questions that broadened my thought process and made me think about mathematical sequences from different angles.  She guided, supported, nurtured, nudged and most importantly she held the faith in my own ability to succeed, even when I could not.  I soon discovered that not only did I still like math, I loved it and I was good at it.  I did know the answers and I became a much more confident student.  Somewhere along that high school journey I discovered that I had this incredible tenacious spirit, I was much more intelligent than I gave myself credit for, and that I could persevere through some really challenging times.  So how does all of this relate to being a parent coach?  Well first I need to disclose that raising children does not compare to grade 11 math or I would not be writing this blog and you would definitely not be reading it.  Our children are distinct and complex little beings and no two are the same.  They all have different needs and we as parents all have different styles.  I will not tell you what to do, rather I will take the time to get to know you and your kids, and I will hold that belief in you when you feel unsure.  I take the time to have a clear understanding of the current struggles you are facing.  I ask questions that broaden your thought process about child rearing.  I present applicable developmental information that will shed a deeper understanding of your child.  I will guide, support, nurture, and nudge you – all the while holding the compassion for how hard you are working to raise the greatest kids!   Little did I know that my grade 11 math teacher was going to teach me so much more than calculated equations… I should go and find her and tell her that she actually taught me how to struggle, persevere, believe in myself, and to have introverted and extroverted COMPASSION.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I’ve ended up where I needed to be.

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