General Douglas MacArthur's Mom, Pinky, moved with him to West Point and took an apartment near campus so she could watch him with a telescope...

In "The Backlash Against Over-Parenting"
Time magazine takes on

helicopter parents,

hyper-parenting,

perfectionism,

and fear of failure.




Mistakes are good...
so is boredom...
and so are fewer toys.

(Thanks, Stephan, for sending me this article!)

"They're Montessori Kids"

I visited the Montessori High School in Cleveland with two parent-trustees from my school. We were inspired by what we saw. Those little 3-year olds do grow up.

One of my companions said of the high school students, "They're Montessori kids."

I asked what she meant.

"They aren't trying to impress each other. They're comfortable in their own skin. They are kind to each other and respectful of the adults. They're engaged in their work."

That doesn't just happen.

But it happens consistently in Montessori schools. Magic? No,design.

relentless positivity

Coach,

Thanks so much. "Positivity Reconsidered" (scroll down to find it on p.3) is very powerful and very subtle – and not so coincidentally (because it is one of our relentless themes…and a spirit that we aspire to) ties in perfectly with my lead story in this week’s newsletter.



Relentless positivity does not mean that you ignore errors, just that you avoid “going negative”. I loved this sentence: “A coach who can have hard conversations with kids while remaining positive and optimistic will be more likely to get them to change their behavior.”



And it contains humbling reminders for me as a leader, and for all of us as leaders of kids. Thanks for sending me this,

John

...and sat down beside her.

Jimmy came over and hugged his teacher.

Jimmy?

Quite out of character.

A nine-year-old boy? Also out of character.

Hugged his teacher?

It seems she had given the class as a special Halloween treat zoology lessons on "The parts of a bat" and "The parts of a spider."

Montessori kids are different.

Get down on the floor

Baby Einstein?

Build IQ through video. Or computer use.

Not!


Check it out. Get your refund.

"...getting down on the floor to play with your child is the most educational thing you can do."

Real engagement.

Real experience.

Three dimensional.

Tactile.

Personal.

13 ways of looking at a blackbird

You Tube:

Watch this short video.

The comments remind me that there are 13 ways of looking at a blackbird.

What grabs you from this video?

I love the collaboration that went into this project, the students working together. The creativity. And the engagement.

Not everyone responds to the same ideas.

Some may think that technology is the solution. Of course the video addresses that:

"The inventor of this system deserves to be ranked among the best contributors to learning and science, if not the greatest benefactors of mankind."

What system?

The chalkboard. Go figure.

Technology alone is not the answer. Active engagement in your own education is the key.

Think diffferent

Innovators think different, act different, (even talk different).

And many went to Montessori school. Check out this story in the Harvard Business Review.