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...]
I am a Mountain Climber!
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...]
The #1 School Supply That’s Not (Yet) on Your Child’s School List
The sales began long ago – colored highlighters, notecards, binders with fun pictures and twirls. But the one school supply that I have yet to see on any of the lists from the kids’ school at our Martial Arts Academy is a big, open space for our kids to brainstorm, take notes, and prioritize. We can create those spaces in our home, no matter how cramped or spacious, in a variety of ways. Here are a few to get you started. Dry Erase Board paint. Mind you, I do not get any celebrity endorsements from IdeaPaint, or any other company. Just hear me out….this is some cool stuff! Worthwhile, too…as who really wants our kids to lock their wonderful thoughts away in their own brains. Okay, maybe you don’t want to hear every one of your child’s new inventions, but why not give them a space to explore (and splatter thoughts all around) on their own? With dry erase board … [Read more...]
Doing Your Homework on Facebook?
There’s a new experiment underway in American homes, and it’s bound to leave lasting repercussions for America’s youth. Researchers at the University of Arizona in Tuscon are building…and about to launch…a new Facebook program on a mission to help middle school and high school students help each other – and themselves – succeed in school. Students will earn points for doing their homework, editing a peer’s writing project, and helping friends solve math problems. Students can also create electronic flash cards and web-based study guides. The project offers an interesting use of the virtual “friend” world of Facebook - and time will tell how, specifically, students engage in it. Will it be the scholarly tool of support that the creators intend it to be? Or will it merely reflect the part of schooling – the lesson plans, the teacher intentions, the grades … [Read more...]
What do Parents of “Fit Scholars” DO?
I’m curious about a world without adjectives. Descriptors via action statements, instead of vague terms about what something might look like, feel like, sound like. I remember my high school English teacher drilling into our heads that the sign of good writing is the use of VERBS, not adjectives, as we were fooled into believing from our middle school days. Verbs. What do we DO, then, as parents? As parents of “Fit Scholars?” As parents of Martial Artists? Trust the Process Reach Out Have the Guts to Say “No” Parent with Intention That’s still a lot of adjectives. How about….when all else fails: Do a jumping jack, grab a glass of wine & laugh at the absurdity of it all … [Read more...]
