Leadership education

Good morning and what a glorious day! A new day is always such a gift from God, since its coming is never guaranteed!!  I have wonderful plans in mind for the week! For organizing and getting systems in place for our learning; for planning and dreaming; for reading and studying, and yes, even a little bit of sewing!!

Anyway, they are all in my mind so far.

But they are BIG plans!!  And I can't wait to share with you!!  It will have to wait though.  Right now:

I am so incredibly struck by the following excerpt from Leadership Education The Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille, 


because the statements so eloquently confirm what I believe to be true!


"Childhood is when a child's assumptions of basic truths are formed and acquired - not through pedagogy, but through experience. ... here is what many, if not most, children learn:


1. Learning is what I am forced to do by others when I'd rather be enjoying what I discover myself.


2. I will not learn unless I am subject to being put on the spot and made to feel stressed, annoyed, stupid or at least vulnerable because I am out of my comfort zone.


3. Learning is so complicated that full-time teachers are needed to walk me through it (or a homeschool equivalent: Mom has to neglect the younger children/house/personal grooming, etc. and give me her full attention and line-by-line directions or I am incapable of learning).


4. I do not know anything unless someone certifies to me that I do.


5. I am probably wrong about a lot of the stuff I think I know.


6. I have to master this stuff now or I will be behind for the rest of my life.


7. The things I am really interested in are not very important.


8. Learning is one thing and what I feel and experience is another.


9. When I am a Mom/Dad I will worry and "beat myself up" about what I am not doing and wonder if I should be doing what I am doing.


10. When I am a Mom/Dad I will say I know something is the "right" thing and then constantly second-guess my decisions."


And on the flip side, the DeMilles suggest that even if children don't have a negative experience with early academics, it can still be harmful if they become negatively scripted on the hearts of children:

"1. I am really great because I know how to read (subtle lesson: self-worth and comparison evaluation is based on academic achievement and timing rather than truth, right choices, service, repentence, etc.).


2. ______ is dumb because he/she cannot read.


3. I'm cooler than ______ because I am reading before him/her.


4. We work hard on my reading/math/??? because Mom and Dad want to prove to Grandma/neighbor/etc. that they are "good" parents.


5. The most important thing I can learn right now is skills (displaces the more crucial moral childhood lessons of good-bad, right-wrong, true-false).


6. The faster I grow up, the better (this is a huge one, overlooked by most educational analysts with long-lasting implications and impact on young lives)."


the list goes on you will have to grab a copy of the book download it to your handy dandy kindle you won't be able to put it down i highly recommend it




Embrace the day and God bless your week!!