Part 3 of a 10-part series on Parents as Leaders Research shows that it takes a minimum of 10,000 hours of focused practice to become a master musician, artist, dancer…parent or leader. One of the first steps in becoming a leader is realizing that proficiency requires a significant amount of time, commitment and dedication. How […]
Part 2 of a 10-part series on Parents as Leaders Making small adjustments in our lives in terms of vision, discipline, passion and conscience provide big payback on our leadership growth and abilities. Vision requires our mental skills of using imagination and curiosity. Discipline in turn uses our mind to control our physical challenges. Passion […]
Part 1 of a 10-part series on Parents as Leaders As we move forward into 2012 – a year for our presidential election – we will be deluged with daily details about various candidates for a variety of offices. Our minds may turn to the idea of leadership, or the lack of leadership, as the […]
“Ever since Jill started first grade, she’s become louder, messier, and not as kind as she was in kindergarten. I think her first grade classroom must be the reason she is the way she is,” said Jill’s mother, Paula. Susan, a former kindergarten and first-grade teacher, smiled. “Paula, I heard this every year. What’s happening […]
Reading. Writing. Arithmetic. These are the basic academic skills. There are also three R’s that are important to our leadership abilities: Respect, Responsibility and Resourcefulness. I would like to give credit to the person who initiated this phrase, but when I did a search for these 3R’s on the educational research data base (ERIC), I […]
“Idleness, indifference, irresponsibility are healthy responses to absurd work.”—Frederick Herzberg “Marjorie is lazy. That’s all. You need to push her to get things done,” said Ms. Busch. We were in a parent/teacher conference and I felt uncomfortable with the word “lazy” as a descriptor for five-year-old Marjorie. Lazy seemed derogatory. Marjorie’s teacher, Ms. Busch, had […]
“Humans would degenerate without the child to help him rise. If the adult does not waken little by little, a hard crust will form around him and make him insensible.” ~ Dr. Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood, page 106 Being in the city is interesting, to say the least. Surrounded by world-class restaurants with […]
“Concentration and distractibility are particular sensitive indicators of a variety of conditions affecting children. Highly concentrated activity suggests that the child’s finding satisfaction and challenge in a task. Distractibility suggests trouble of some kind, social, psychological or whatnot.” –Jerome Bruner, Under Five in Britain Zach began the 18th hole of miniature golf. Twelve-year-old Zach was […]
“The manager’s job, then, is not to motivate people to get them to achieve; instead, the manager should provide opportunities for people to achieve so they will become motivated.” – Frederick Herzberg Charlie walked over with the teaching clock. “I’ve learned to tell time. Do any time and I can tell you.” Five-year-old Charlie sat […]
A fishbowl full of candy sat on the third grade teacher’s desk. “When you’ve finished your math assignment you can choose a piece of candy,” Ms. Marsh said as she handed out worksheets. All but two of the students went to work. Tamika and Jennifer looked out the window, math sheets untouched. Tamika began her […]