Life Lessons of a Failed Belt Test

September 21, 2010 By Dr. K Leave a Comment

Yesterday I wrote about Luke, a precocious 7 year-old who is struggling in school because other kids are noisy and disruptive in class.  I want to give you more background on Luke….as a reminder to all of us that we face different types of challenges each day.  Learning how to deal with challenges in life, including a group of kids in your classes who bug the heck out of you, is what the staff teach and model at my family’s Martial Arts Academy….as this story will tell. Luke failed his first belt test at the Academy in January 2009.  His mom Jennifer e-mailed my husband (the Head of School) that evening thanking him for holding Luke to high standards.  She wrote: “Thank you for helping us to teach Luke that there are times that he will have to work for something.  Until today he has never struggled to achieve anything.  Everything has always come very easily to him.  It … [Read more...]

Filed Under: A Mom's Job, Character, Martial Arts

“But Mom, I Want to Learn!”

September 20, 2010 By Dr. K 1 Comment

Jennifer, a mom of a self-described “super smart, super geek” 7 year-old asked for advice last week about supporting her son through a terrible time at school.  Her son Luke is having a hard time dealing with the fact that he, in his own words, “wants to learn” but is not able to because he’s stuck in a class with kids who talk all the time and disrupt the teacher.  He can’t stand the fact that these kids “goof off” and, worse, share a table with him.  Jennifer feels lost.  When she was growing up, she was the “goof” who talked out of turn all the time.  She had never put herself in the shoes of the student who wanted – and needed – to be around others who were quiet and respectful of the teacher and the class rules.  Now, it's her son in those shoes. Luke’s a great kid.   Super smart, as his mother glowingly attests to, respectful and focused.  He reads … [Read more...]

Filed Under: A Mom's Job, Character, Parent Teacher Conferences

Positive Self Talk: Honor It, Reinforce It

August 4, 2010 By Dr. K Leave a Comment

Here’s a powerful video for you…from none other than my darling Siena Rose.  We were hiking up a canyon in Eldorado Springs in South Boulder this past weekend.   Somehow, this spirited two year-old figured out a way to make it up the mountain all the way on her own – through self-talk.  I’ll let you view the video on your own, and will share a few scholarly comments of my own.  You may just want to watch first - sit back and enjoy. Awesome Self Talk: Identities are formed though multiple interactions that we have with other people as well as the ways that we talk and think about ourselves.  Siena started calling herself a “mountain climber.”  This very identity carries with it certain responsibilities, one of which is to go up a mountain. Siena prompted herself to “be” who she said she was – and that meant she had to do what mountain climbers do, climb mountains. Next, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Character, Commitment, Identity Development

I am a Mountain Climber!

August 3, 2010 By Dr. K Leave a Comment

Self-initiated "I-statements" from spirited Siena.  Her way to make it through the heat & up Towhee trail at Eldorado Springs in South Boulder. When you go to bed tonight, or wake up tomorrow morning, perhaps ask yourself the same question Siena answered for herself:  I am a ...... what do I want to be today?!?! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Character, Identity Development

One Heck of a Speech

June 4, 2010 By Dr. K Leave a Comment

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, addressed the Princeton graduating class last weekend.  He starts the speech with scenes from his childhood summers at his grandparents' ranch in Texas.  The boy Bezos was the epitome of a curious, learned child, tinkering with inventions and creating mathematical challenges out of everyday chores like going to the grocery story.  Here were examples of the types of summers we want our children to have...of creativity, an eagerness to exercise the brain, and time outside with the family.  Yet, neither of those things were the magic bullets.  Neither of those activities gave him the wisdom to live a life of integrity; instead, it was a remark by his grandfather told to him at what turned out to be the right time and the right place.  The remark surprised him...it wasn't what he expected.  We all, after all, have visions in our head of what is supposed to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Character, Summer Learning
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