Other Ways to Say No When Your Child Gets Answers Wrong

35 Other Ways to Say No When Your Child [Consistently] Gets Answers Wrong

Does your child get a lot of answers or intentions wrong the first time around? In the special needs world, this could be due to many things: motor planning, processing problems, cognitive problems, ADHD and so on. Hearing, “No. Do this,” or “No, it’s this one,” can be very discouraging to our children who struggle. I know that when my daughter hears, “No,” she immediately gives up. That gave birth to my thinking about different ways to say no without actually using the word.

Here are 35 ways to say, “No. You got that wrong,” in a more positive way:

1. That’s close, but have you considered this?
2. This part needs work. Let me clarify that for you.
3. I see where the confusion might be, but…
4. That’s good, but how about if we take it a little further?
5. I appreciate your ideas, but that’s not quite how it works.
6. Let’s take another look at that.
7. I understand what you said, but there’s more to consider.
8. You’re not quite there. Let’s reimagine how this works.
9. There’s a small problem in your answer. Let’s go over the steps again and see if you can spot where you got off track.
10. You’ve done a great job so far, but I noticed something that might need adjusting.
11. Let’s look at this part together.
12. That’s close, but did you consider ____________ in your answer?
13. I can see you put a lot of effort into this. Let’s tweak a few things to make it even better.
14. I can see you are struggling. What if we tried this approach instead?
15. Do you want to see a better/faster/easier way to do this?
16. That’s a creative answer. Maybe a little too creative. Let’s review what the question is really asking.
17. Can you walk me through your thought process?
18. That’s a good start. Now let’s build on it.
19. You’re on the right track. Keep going, but keep this in mind.
20. Your answer showed some interesting insight, but it’s a little cloudy. Let’s explore this part a little more.
21. That’s so close! You just need to adjust this part here.
22. This one’s tricky. Let’s work as a team and find the solution together.
23. Let me give you my answer and see what you think.
24. That’s an interesting answer, but I was looking for something a little different.
25. That’s a pretty good answer. Let’s see if we can add to it and make it a little clearer.
26. You have a solid understanding of the topic. Let’s expand this a little.
27. I love how you approached this assignment. A little more work/detail in this section will make it even stronger.
28. You’re really close. Can you find what you might need to adjust in this part?
29. Mistakes are great teachers. Let’s see what we can learn from this one.
30. Can you think of another example that might fit better?
31. You’ve made some good points here. Let’s check the logic to see if it makes sense.
32. What if you tried saying it this way instead?
33. You’re thinking along the right lines. Let’s take it a little further.
34. You did a great job tackling this problem. Now let’s see if we can refine it.
35. Your creativity in this project is awesome. Let’s consider how to make it all come together.

It’s not just about what you say. It’s also how you say it and what you focus on. Here are some teaching tips when using these alternatives to no:

• Stay positive. Try to encourage by recognizing the effort, even if the answers are not right.
• Use a neutral tone. One advantage to using apps for teaching is they never show frustration or anger if your child gets it wrong. Try to keep your voice even as you correct.
• Separate the child from the work. Focus your comments on the work at hand, not the student’s behavior or abilities or past efforts.
• Provide explanations for your corrections. Give examples or reasons for your corrections.
• Give students a chance to self-correct. Instead of giving the answer, guide your student to reason the answer himself. Give him time to think.
• Correct at the appropriate time. If the moment is heated, that is not the best time to correct. Wait until the situation has cooled off to work through the problems.
• If your student has many struggles, focus on correcting only one type of problem at a time. For example, don’t correct spelling and grammar at the same time. Teach one, then the other.
• Use comparison as a teaching tool. Write out a different answer so the student can see his mistakes.
• Give choices for what needs to be corrected instead of leaving it open-ended.
• If things are going poorly, reteach the material before asking for corrections.
• Use full or partial prompts to help your student have success. This is particularly important because you don’t want to reinforce poor patterns.

I’m sure our kids get tired of hearing no all the time when they get something wrong. These alternatives will not only provide a more positive teaching environment, they are constructive ways to build thinking skills. You will often need to model the thinking for them, especially when they are younger. You want them to fail forward, meaning they learn from mistakes and get better. If they are failing backwards, constantly defeated, you will need to give them more support or break their lessons into smaller and smaller steps until they achieve success somewhat independently.

Happy teaching!