October 13, 2018

Quote of the Week

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal, It is the courage to continue that counts." -- Winston S. Churchill

Why We Should Let Our Children Fail

"I became a parent and a secondary school teacher in the same year. During my first decade raising two boys and teaching hundreds of children, I began to feel a creeping sense of unease, a suspicion that something was rotten. But it was only when my elder child started secondary school that my worlds collided and the source of the problem became clear to me: today’s overprotective, failure-avoiding parenting has undermined the competence, independence and academic potential of an entire generation. [...]

We’ve ended up teaching our kids to fear failure – and, in doing so, we have blocked the surest path to their success. Out of love and a desire to protect our children’s self-esteem, we have bulldozed every uncomfortable bump and obstacle out of their way, depriving our children of the most important lesson of childhood: that setbacks, mistakes and failures are the very experiences that will teach them how to be resourceful, persistent, innovative and resilient.

I didn’t intend to teach my children to be helpless. On the contrary, I thought my kids would grow up brave, in the sort of wild, free idyll I experienced as a child. I wanted them to explore the woods with a pocket knife and a couple of cookies shoved in their pockets, build tree houses, shoot handmade arrows at imaginary enemies. I wanted them to have the time and the courage to try new things, explore their boundaries and climb one branch beyond their comfort zones.

But somehow, somewhere, that idyllic version of childhood morphed into something else: a high-stakes, cut-throat race to the top." [read more]

Reading Corner

Title: What Do You Do With A Chance
By: Kobi Yamada
Ages: 4-7 years

"It is a story about a child who isn't sure what to make of a chance encounter and then discovers that when you have courage, take chances, and say yes to new experiences, amazing things can happen.

In this story, a child is visited by his first chance and unsure what to do with it, he lets it go. Later on, when a new chance arrives he reaches for it, but this time he misses and falls. Embarrassed and afraid, he begins ignoring each new chance that comes by, even though he still wants to take them. Then one day he realizes that he doesn't need to be brave all the time, just at the right time, to find out what amazing things can happen when he takes a chanceÂ…

What Do You Do With a Chance? inspires kids of all ages and parents alike to find the courage to go for the opportunities that come their way. Because you never know when a chance, once taken, might be the one to change everything" - Publishers

Be the Change

Reflect on your own failures and the moments in which you took a chance when least expected. Where did it take you and how did you grow from it? Celebrate failure this week and see what that brings up for you and your kids in the process.