How many times do I have to say it?

How many times have you said that to your kiddos? Probably about 130 billion times? More or less, is about the average.

To be honest, I even have to say this to my students. I’m starting to feel very much like I am channeling my mom, and I completely understand why she hated to have to repeat herself. In that way, she and I have always been alike.
No matter who it is, what the situation is, I hate to repeat myself.
It’s true, some things need repetition. It’s how we learn, almost like muscle memory, and some need more “exercise” to gain that memory.
When I became a mom, I learned early on that things were not going to go my way or be easy. I was raised around younger kids all my life, but raising kids is different. It wasn’t until I started teaching, however, that I began to fully understand the differences in each child’s learning abilities.
Some are kinesthetic, others are visual, then some are auditory. Most are not auditory. There are a select few who have the advantage of following oral directions and commands… It’s a very small selection.
Those are the ones you know you can rely on to get things done the first, maybe the second time.
The others? They are the ones who really try your patience. Those are the kiddos that you have to change your method of teaching, as well as learning, in order to teach others. Repetition is a good thing if we view it as a positive and stay positive, remain kind yet direct, and encouraging.