Did you read about the Denver teacher, Kyle Schwartz who devised a unique way to get to know her students better? She asked her children to complete the sentence, “I Wish My Teacher Knew…” Schwartz received some honest and heart felt responses such as, “I wish my teacher knew… I have no friends to play with.”
What if we parents asked our kids to jot down what they wished we knew about them. “I wish my parents knew…” This would give kids a chance to share something they really want us to know. Oftentimes we don’t know what’s really going on in our kids lives or in their heads. We’re so busy. They’re so busy. We don’t always connect as we should. This is one way to do it.
It can be expanded to adult children too. I wrote a note to one of my adult sons. This was his response:
His response gave me pause, and a chance to have a heart to heart talk about his challenges.
Our children can ask us to complete the sentence for them:
“I wish my son knew”…
“I wish my daughter knew…”
Spouses and significant others can participate:
“I wish my husband knew”…
“I wish my wife knew”… And so on.
This simple exercise could be the catalyst for change in perceptions.
We must be careful. This is an exercise to give insight not insult. The ones completing the sentence need to know they can trust us with their honesty.
If you do try the exercise I would be thrilled to read your responses, please share your writings with me, and with your permission, I’ll post them on my blog.
Let’s start now…
I wish my ______knew…
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Filed under: Family, Inspiration, parenting, Uncategorized, urban, Youth
