We Listen And We Do Not Judge...But We Do Make Note

One of the times I love the most with the children at Girls And Boys of Character is during our Check In time. 

During this time, we ask about their day.  They share with us, we listen and we don't judge. 

Oh but we do make note!

Observation

We can learn so much about each other simply by observation.

I had noticed that some of the children avoid making eye contact with us while we speak with them. 

They either turn their heads or put their heads down and begin to speak in a lower tone. This concerned me, no, let me raise my transparent hand and say, "This bothered me."

As fate or faith would have it, the topic of eye contact came up during our check in. 

I asked each individual child if they had a problem with looking someone in their eye while talking with them.  

All of them said yes. Even, two of our most outspoken children acknowledged having a problem doing so. 

This kind of took me by surprise. 

Why Do You Have A Problem Making Eye Contact? 

As I asked why they had a problem making eye contact, some answers were , "I'm shy', "It feels weird", but I was waiting for one specific answer-it finally came, "It's like they are looking through my body, or reading my mind."

I could also discern that some of the children had an issue with having eye contact because they were afraid of rejection. 

Rejection is a horrible feeling and not only avoided by children but adults as well. 

Others have a low level of confidence. 

We Listen and We Don't Judge...But We Do Make Note

We have created some curriculum that will help them build their confidence level, helping them to not avoid eye contact.  

This curriculum allows all of the children to learn from each other as they research their personal areas of career interest. 

We will make weekly library visits to help us with the project.  This is an effort to increase their desire to read. 

When they present their project we will assist them and encourage them to form eye contact with us. 

We believe that this endeavor will help them in the future. 

Yes, we listen and we don't judge...but we do make note and do something about it.

Picture credit: Anh-tuan @Unsplash.com