Waiting to Be Supportive

In her blog posting, "Reflecting on Fred's First NAEYC Keynote," Hedda Sharapan commented on a number of quotes from Fred Rogers' 1983 keynote, including this one on being supportive:

"And being supportive often means waiting and listening... and more waiting...  until you're better able to understand the drama that a certain child is living through at the moment."  I think Fred was reminding us that we humans are very complicated, even when we're young.  Sometimes it takes a lot of patience and a lot of listening and a lot of hard work to understand what a child may be dealing with.  I can't help but think that curiosity is one of your greatest assets because it helps you keep on searching for "why is that child behaving that way?"  All of the things that you do — as you observe... listen... and work on learning about the inner drama of a child — all of those things strengthen your relationship with the child and the child's family.  And that's what's most supportive of all.

With permission from Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College.

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