I love finding ways to make my children happy! Recently I have been remodeling my kitchen and have been organizing everything. My son has been struggling in school so I decided to surprise him by bringing down my old desk that my grandfather made for me as a way to encourage learning. The desk has been through all three of my children and is in desperate need of a makeover. However, refinishing the desk will be another post. I could’ve just gave him the desk and he would have been happy, but instead I tried to create a special learning space for him.
My husband brought home several full size filing cabinets, and I had to take everything off the wall to accommodate them. Then I had to find a new place for the items I took off the walls. I placed the pallet organizer I made for my husband above my son’s desk, and then placed the bulletin board above the organizer. Along with struggling with school my son is also struggling with being afraid of the dark. I added stick on lights to the bottom of his pallet organizer to give him more night lights by his bed. Last night was the first night he went to bed without a fight. He turned on every small light he has in his room, but spent the entire night in his bed. No midnight visitors!!
To encourage him to read more I added books to his pallet organizer. Then I added notebooks, pencils, workbooks, crayons, colored pencils, and markers to encourage him to write. Along with all the filing cabinets my husband brought home, he also brought a swivel desk chair to replace the ratty old chair I had. For the past couple of days all my son wants to do is go to his room when I pick him up from school. Fingers crossed my idea works . . . he’s even been taking his practice spelling tests at his desk. It’s crazy how we can encourage our children to do things just by doing something special for them. I didn’t spend any money on this project except for batteries, and he could’ve cared less.
What have you done lately to encourage your child?
That sounds like a great way to encourage your child to sleep in his bed and to learn. All my kids are grown, but I would have tried anything to get my daughter to sleep in her own bed.