Andrew and setting a goal

I was a bit hesitant to write about this because it has nothing to do with academics. But instead it is a different kind of learning. Setting a goal. Andrew has been swimming all summer long on a local swim team. This has been his first year and being that it is his first year, there are other children on the team that are quite fast.

At the first meet, Andrew came home and said that he got a ribbon but was last. I told him that it is so awesome that he did it. We talked about practicing and what practicing can do. I told him that many of these kids have been swimming for several years. I then asked him, Andrew what is your goal for swimming? It took him awhile to figure out what I meant. But by the end , he said his goal was to get less than 8th place. I then asked him what he thought he would need to do to achieve that? He said practice.

Well, I asked him what I could do for him? He said to let him go swimming more than in the morning. I arranged with a neighbor to have her help him with the Butterfly. She said that at the pool, he did not play around much. Instead, he kept practicing.

Well the day arrived and my hope was that he would not get disqualified and I was excited to see how he would do. To our great excitement, he received 3rd place for his heat. To many this may not seem that big of a deal. However, it drove home a lesson for Andrew that may serve him well for the rest of his life. Setting goals and practicing go hand in hand.

Since then, he set a goal to get a ribbon below 5th for the breaststroke. Once again, he accomplished his goal in his heat. 2nd place. From what I have read, I wanted to try desperately to make sure it was not about me as a parent and Andrew pleasing me .Instead, I wanted him to experience for himself what it feels like to accomplish something for himself. When I saw him, I said, "You did it!". I hope it drove the message home. (Secretly inside, I am so proud of him:) )