As a parent it is your job to teach your child when he does something wrong, how to solve the problem. However by becoming over protective and over critical you may be harming your child more than helping. This becomes even more of a problem if you are the only homeschool teacher for the child.
Why is being corrective all the time bad for your homeschool student?
You have to correct the mistakes your child makes, be it putting the wrong foot in the shoe or making corrections in their spoken or written work in class. By constantly telling your child what he or she is doing wrong you are not allowing the child to think. Once you have told him that a sum is wrong, don’t jump to give him the right answer right away. Please let the child work out why the sum went wrong, and then correct it. This will build long term problem solving skills rather than dependence on the parent.
Offer corrections but only when they are required
By allowing your child to solve their own problems you help boost their creative thinking, but by leaving them to handle something too big for their age you could rob their confidence. Consider if the issue is one that is age appropriate for your child to solve. Does your child need a couple of hints or a little bit more in the “known facts” department before he can solve the problem. In both these cases parental assistance is appropriate and should be provided.
Issues where being over critical is allowed
Does that mean that you must never criticize your child? You would have to have the patience of a saint to be that peaceful. No there are some areas where being over critical is actually in the interest of the child. For instance physical safety training. There is no way you can sit back and let your child play with fire, electrical sockets, knives, and other danger things without yelling at them. The difference is that here you are actually ensuring their safety by being over critical about these issues.
