What I Learned from the French Braid Fiasco

Long Locks

Fast forward to 2012-Lia was then 3 and she had lovely locks that would tangle so easily. She asked me several times for "Princess Hair." but that was out of my skill set of hair styles (hello, pony tails and regular braids).

During the bast 3 years I have watched endless YouTube tutorials, had friends try to teach me, and even paid a child's hair stylist for lessons. I gave up. It was too hard, and I was failure in the hair department. Lia was going to have to survive her preschool and elementary years in a pony tail. Oh well!

But then-two things happened. We went on vacation with some friends, and Carrie showed me how to do a fishtail braid (yet another hair style I had deemed impossible). She broke it down into simpler steps, stood by my side while trying, and guided me to success. What worked best for me, was the mantra she created, "Crossover, combine, crossover combine." I still repeat these words in my head when I do this braid.

My fishtail success was off the hook. (Pun intended.) My confidence increased, and I began experimenting with the braid-doing different things to see what would happen. I still have to think about what I'm doing, but I can finally do something different.

Today, I scoured YouTube for a french braid tutorial. I wanted to choose one that was different than the ones I watched before-maybe I could find someone who would teach me differently like Carrie did. And I found it!

My Recent Attempt

This mom in the video even says, "Some people add hair before they cross it (the hair), I think it's easier to hold when it's already crossed." A-ha moment! I didn't know there was more than one technique to create a French braid. That one tip led to me trying one more time on Lia. And.....voila!

How do we teach grit in our classroom or in our homes? If I didn't keep trying, Lia's hair would remain in Ponytail Land. How do we recognize how we learn best, and use that information to help our students?