July 07, 2018

Quote of the Week

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." -- John Quincy Adams

Kids On Leadership

"Kids have a lot of traits commonly identified in good leaders–brilliantly perceptive, brutally honest, ruthlessly observant, steadily curious.

So when we saw the The New York Times article reporting that executives–regardless of their own gender–generally drew a man when asked to draw a leader, we wondered when that bias starts and what lessons we could gain from asking kids the same questions.

After all, a child’s brain hasn’t been wired to years of bias, assumptions, and mental associations the way an adult’s brain has, so do the same kind of unconscious assumptions influence a child’s idea of leadership?

We asked 10 kids between the ages of 3 and 12 to “draw a leader.” Below are the results:" [read more]

Reading Corner

Title: Imogene's Last Stand

By: Candace Fleming

Ages: 4-8 years

Meet Imogene Tripp, a plucky girl with a passion for history. As a baby, her first words were “Four score and seven years ago.” In preschool, she finger-painted a map of the Oregon Trail. So it’s not surprising that when the mayor wants to tear down the long-neglected Liddleville Historical Society to make room for a shoelace factory, Imogene is desperate to convince the town how important its history is. But even though she rides through the streets in her Paul Revere costume shouting, “The bulldozers are coming, the bulldozers are coming!” the townspeople won’t budge. What’s a history-loving kid to do? - Publishers
 

Be the Change

Leadership in today's context is an interesting topic to discuss and get a peak into the minds of our kids. Here's a few examples of questions and ideas you could share to start a conversation with your children around leadership.

What opportunities do you have every day to practice leadership?
Talk about someone you know who is a great leader. What is it about them that makes them so?
What is one thing you can do to become a better leader?
Volunteer to help others or take a leadership position in your class
Listen more and be more helpful and home and with your siblings