"I Give Up"

Hi whyaskq~ I found an activity which involved writing his ABC's, capital letters and small, and sounding out each letter as we go along, playing word games associated with each letter and he was really getting into it and having lots of fun (he even said so too!). There is a section where he gets to cut words out or pictures from magazines and paste them on the activity and was excited about using the scissors and glue. As soon as he started cutting, he got frustrated because he would accidently cut through a letter or a picture. Of course I told him that is was ok, and he was doing well for the first time and that it takes a little practice to get use to using the scissors etc, but he wasn't satisfied with it and wanted to give up. The way I see it is, I think he wanted to make a perfect cut the first time round and because he didn't, he then started to put himself down. The more I think about it the more I think he is a lot like his Daddy LOL a perfectionist! I know its sounds a bit too far fetched but thats what I'm thinking is happening and thats why he is behaving the way he is. I just don't know how to make him feel that it is ok to make mistakes and things may not be perfect at the first instance, and that telling himself he is stupid is just not good. You know, he does like computer games especially games on Noggin, NickJr, 4kidstv.net, pbskids and others. He's actually quite good navigating his way around a computer, turning it on, signing in, opening up the internet, finding his bookmarks under his name, and selecting a game to play. Very clever I say for a 4 year old aye? hehe anyways thanks for the response and sorry for my novel of a reply :)

Thanks for the idea. It is a pretty good one. And your boy, yes, he is bright. Give him so patience. Have fun with him :)

Thanks again Amy, its just upsetting to hear him say those things you know?!? cause he's actually a clever little lad but I think he expects too much of himself when he tries things out for the first time. I always make a point to praise him when he does achieve or complete the activities, even when he doesn't, I tell him he's doing really well and to keep trying. Thanks again for your comments.

No, problem. My daughter says things like you hate me. I have never said that to her and in the begining i would get really upset but we have come to realize now that it's her was of getting more attention from me. I give her attention but apparently not enough, so we are working on it.She also gets really frustrated easily too, especially when it comes to homework, she thinks I should do it for her, so she will yell and get mad and say she can't do it, then she calms downs reads what she has to do and realizes it wasen't even hard and that maybe she should read the problem before she gets all bent out of shape..They sure can be a handful at times but I believe she will grow out of it, she is already better by far than she was a few years back. I really had hard time with her then.

Thanks Charms for your comment. I was teaching him at the time how to write the alphabet, cutting pictures and words out and pasting them onto the activities and he got very frustrated because he couldn't do it. He was enjoying the activity until he first tried to cut out pictures using scissors. I am in the process of preparing him for Kindergarten later in the year.

Thanks again Wizard! thats exactly what I'm working on. It's just upsetting that he thinks/feels this way. I'll keep encouraging him and find ways to help him learn especially things that he enjoys and finds comfortable in doing.

Hi there, my son is 4 1/2 and will be 5 in July. You make a good point about not doing too many activities at once with him, so thanks for the comment.