things I've learned from [teaching] a 5 year old

• Stick to your guns. Make decisions carefully, but once decided, commit to that decision.
• That being said, listen for what is trying to be said. A 5-year old is a person, too. Perhaps not the most articulate or rational, but there are ideas and thoughts there, and they should be affirmed.
• Don't be afraid to say you're sorry, you were wrong.
• Model the character you desire to instill. Character trumps book smarts.
• Sometimes bad attitudes and uncooperative behavior comes from a deep-rooted fear of failure.
• But in those times, the external assurance of another imparted through praise and encouragement is the best motivator and the best cultivator self-confidence.
• Learn by doing.
• Sometimes homemade play-dough is a little too messy for more refined tastes.
• When in doubt, make cookies.
• Spelling by "sounding out" is doubly hard when the only other English that is used to being heard is pronounced with a foreign accent.
• In an educational culture of serious book-study, imagination and hands-on can be an unequaled mollification.