Work/Break Balance

All children - not just those with special needs - are required to strike a balance between work time and break time. Are our expectations appropriate for their developmental level? As parents, we can fall into two categories;
*Expecting over-achievement
*Allowing under-achievement
The difficult thing is, we can fall into both categories at once.
(We never said parenting was easy!)

IMPORTANCE OF HARD WORK
You are instilling work ethic into your children when you push them to work hard and be successful. Having a realistic idea of where your child is 'at' developmentally will help you channel their productivity into their school work. If you're pushing them past what they're able to do, they may learn to resent hard work because they associate it with constant failure. If you let them quit when they're not having fun anymore, they might learn to achieve below their potential.

BEING IN TUNE WITH YOUR CHILD
You can get to know your child's level by talking to their teachers. You'll have a better idea of how to stretch your child academically, once you are up  to speed with their current educational level. If your child is falling behind with their school work, ask the teachers how you can best support their learning. If your child is excelling academically, work ethic is equally important. Ask the teachers how you can support academic extension.

REST AND DOWNTIME
All work and no play isn't healthy. If you take a look at your child's weekly schedule and all weekday afternoons are full of structured activity, you might want to reconsider. We recommend at least one afternoon per week that can be used flexibly; maybe you can go on a small hike, go to the playground, do some baking together or have a popcorn movie party. This kind of downtime allows you to decide what your family needs, instead of being bound to lessons and planned activities.

ACHIEVING THE BALANCE
There is no magic formula for balance. In some seasons of life, your family might be better off with more activity and other times you'll need less. Be flexible with the ebbs and flows of family life and pay attention to the impact that your schedule has on your day-to-day.