Siblings as mentors
As much as it is a challenge having several children at home, there can also be considerable advantages as well. Each individual brings his or her own skills to the table and might be happy to share these with others if given encouragement.
It might seem like siblings in the same space all the time are constantly bickering and unable to get along, but possibly their relationship just needs to be reframed. An emphasis on teamwork, how a family is one big team and introducing the idea of being a mentor to one another can help with this.
One pitfall that you need to avoid is only letting one, usually older, child be the mentor. Every child should take a turn at sharing whatever skills they have with the others. You might need to give each child a pep talk about skills that you have observed that they could bring to the table. Don't just focus on academic skills.
One of my children is excellent at making friends with others both older and younger than him. His sibling now knows that he can follow his brother's lead if he gets stuck in a social situation and isn't sure what to do. The mentee in this situation knows that his brother sees him as a mentor in many other scenarios and so their relationship remains balanced, with neither holding constant sway over the other.
The most marvellous thing about having my children mentor one another is that Mummy isn't always called upon to listen to reading, read out loud, answer 101 questions or anything else really. If children can rely on one another, it gives parents a bit of break to get on with housework, plan the next activity or even get a much-needed cuppa occasionally.
It might seem like siblings in the same space all the time are constantly bickering and unable to get along, but possibly their relationship just needs to be reframed. An emphasis on teamwork, how a family is one big team and introducing the idea of being a mentor to one another can help with this.
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One pitfall that you need to avoid is only letting one, usually older, child be the mentor. Every child should take a turn at sharing whatever skills they have with the others. You might need to give each child a pep talk about skills that you have observed that they could bring to the table. Don't just focus on academic skills.
One of my children is excellent at making friends with others both older and younger than him. His sibling now knows that he can follow his brother's lead if he gets stuck in a social situation and isn't sure what to do. The mentee in this situation knows that his brother sees him as a mentor in many other scenarios and so their relationship remains balanced, with neither holding constant sway over the other.
The most marvellous thing about having my children mentor one another is that Mummy isn't always called upon to listen to reading, read out loud, answer 101 questions or anything else really. If children can rely on one another, it gives parents a bit of break to get on with housework, plan the next activity or even get a much-needed cuppa occasionally.
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