Parents and teachers: Do you have a Whole Body Learner in your life?

 

Whole Body Learners need to use their whole bodies in order to learn.

That means movement, but movement in a learning situation is usually interpreted as disruptive or disobedient rather than intelligent. So it can take some doing for parents and teachers to change their minds about the importance of movement for these learners. Often these kids are labeled hyperactive or ADD.

 

The ideal learning situation for these students includes “doing” as much as possible: going on field trips, acting out lessons, presenting demonstrations, walking around while listening or thinking. These learners need to “feel” the learning taking place in their bodies. So, instead of reading or listening to a lesson about bridges, they need to build bridges...or make a model of the pyramids, or plant an actual garden, or design a city, or set up a store to learn about money...In other words, they learn by doing.

 

In the Classroom

Teachers can encourage these learners by suggesting these types of assignments: make a movie, do a presentation, put on a play, present the lesson through dance, build or make something. Be aware that these learners need to get up and stretch often, especially if they are required to sit at a desk doing book work: a few exercises or a walk around the room can do wonders (why do you think some kids “need” to sharpen their pencils so often?!).

 

These learners can also be encouraged to use whole body movements to learn new concepts or skills. Examples: learning to tell time by using their arms as hands of the clock; walking a number line to learn the concepts of adding and subtracting; walking on large maps to learn geography. And this isn’t just for preschool or kindergarten, but for college students as well!

 

Homework

Encourage Whole Body Learners to take frequent breaks when doing book work. As often as possible, coach them to learn through movement. For example, if they are memorizing facts they can try bouncing a ball while saying “Columbus discovered America,” or throw a bean bag back and forth while reviewing with someone, or jump-rope or jump on the trampoline while reciting a lesson or poem. These movement activities also work for listening: e.g. jump-rope while listening to a book on tape.

 

By the way, the more these kinds of activities are incorporated in the learning, the fewer “breaks” will need to be taken. The movement is what’s needed so if these students are learning through movement, their needs are being met.

 

Adult Whole Body Learners

Students who are Whole Body Learners grow up to be adults who are Whole Body Learners! If someone teaches them about learning styles and the Whole Body Modality, they will learn how to use this strength in their everyday lives and on the job. But most adults who are Whole Body Learners often have trouble acknowledging this need for themselves, because growing up they learned that it was “wrong” or “bad.”

 

These are the people who need to work out while they mull things over, or need to wake up in the morning by dancing around, or need to walk when working on the solution to a problem.

 

People who are Whole Body Learners and are aware of it can use this information to help them find a workplace or career that suits this need. Some obvious careers include actor, dancer, builder, and tour guide.

 

Recognizing Learning Styles

Whenever you recognize and acknowledge your learning styles you are a step closer to fulfilling your unique mission in the world. Using your strengths and doing what you love fills up your spirit—and that affects your relationships, your finances, and your whole life in wond

erful ways!

 

If you think you might be a Whole Body Learner, give some thought to how you are using this gift.

 

If you have a child or student who is a Whole Body Learner, help that child to discern what part this gift will play in fulfilling his or her mission in the world.

©2012 by M.P.Willis, m@mariaemmawillis.com, 805-648-1739

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten!

For a school option that customizes for each child's learning needs, visit www.solimaracademy.com

You can find out your child's learning style profile now by going to learningstyleprofile.com - special $5.00 off each profile for Motivational Whisperer members, use discount code LSMotWhisp

To find out your styles, go to personalsuccessprofile.com - use discount code PSMotWhisp for $5.00 off.

The profile is also in our book, Discover Your Child’s Learning Style – it is available in any bookstore or online. Go to www.discoveryourchildslearningstyle.com

How would you like a stress free school program that focuses on your child's strengths!

Is school stress affecting your family or someone you know?
Does your child struggle in school? Experience depression or anxiety?
Is your child getting good grades, but paying the high price of being stressed out?
Is your teenager wasting time with useless busy work and irrelevant courses?

Has your child been labeled dyslexic, ADD, ADHD, or other learning disability?
Does your child lack confidence in his/her own abilities or believe he/she is not smart?
Does your child appear to be “unmotivated” or just “average”?

Wishing for another option?
Imagine a school experience that:

• begins designing your child’s future NOW!
• is built around your child’s deep interests, strengths and talents
• is a launch pad for internships, job opportunities, or even college NOW (for older students)!
• brings success to EVERY student!

Re-think everything about school…
Did you know that your child can have a program that is customized for his/her learning styles and interests? Even high school can be all about exploring career goals and how to get there, whether it be a vocational program, starting a business, or going to a community college or university.

Students DO NOT have to follow a regimented program full of yearly requirements and credits. You can create an independent study program that meets your specific students’ needs and interests.

And, yes, your student can still go to college if that is the goal. But there are lots of other options to explore!

Here is an example of a student program:

Career Exploration
Text: Cool Careers for Dummies by Nemko

Arts
Dance, voice, piano, and acting/drama lessons

Fitness
Dance
Other options: horseback riding, walk in morning, fitness center

Personal Development
Learning Style Course for Students

World History
Choose videos, books of interest, internet research
Create scrapbook

Depending on their interests students focus on fashion, cooking, engineering, drama, the arts, and many other areas. Their programs can include internships, work experience, volunteering, or even starting a business. Skills in areas such as writing or math can be included as needed and in ways that work for their learning styles. Life skills, fitness, and financial literacy can also be included. In other words, school can really be what it was meant to be: preparation for life!

Watch this video of a student who experienced this type of schooling and is now a graduate:
http://www.youtube.com/learningsuccessinst#p/u/7/l1RNxeXSoD0

Thousand and thousands of families have embraced this stress-free and invaluable approach to educating their children. You can do it, too! You can find information and resources about independent study and homeschooling at our website: www.learningsuccesscoach.com

Or, if you don’t want to do it by yourself, enroll in our worldwide program, www.solimaracademy.com and watch your children thrive!

Recently I attended a presentation about gardening by Oscar Carmona of Healing Grounds Nursery. So what does gardening have to do with learning and school?

 

Here is the one thing he said that I can't get out of my head:

 

If a plant becomes diseased or is infested with pests, your first question should NOT be, what kind of pesticide should I use? Your first question should be, is this environment appropriate for this plant?

 

Wow - that is so simple and yet so profound!

 

Immediately, my thoughts went to education. What happens when a student is struggling in school? Normally, the first questions that are asked have to do with getting the student to fit in. Unfortunately, that often means, what medication should we use?

 

Instead, the first question ought to be, is this environment appropriate for this student? And if it is not appropriate, then please, let's not medicate to force the student to adapt!

 

Every person, every child learns in different ways. We need to begin acknowledging and honoring each student's strengths and focus on those. In order to be successful in sports, coaches capitalize on a star player's strengths. What they DON'T do is force that player to spend hundreds of hours trying to build up a weakness.

 

But in the traditional school system, students are told they need to work on their weaknesses and bring these up to at least average. What a waste of time!

 

The secret lies in focusing on strengths - then watch the magic happen.

 

If you know a student who is struggling with school, I hope you will take Oscar's advice and make this your first question: Is this program appropriate for this student?

 

And, if it isn't, search for an alternative that will bring success to that child.

 

©2011 by M.P.Willis, m@learningsuccesscoach.com, 805-648-1739

 

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten!

For a school option that customizes for each child's learning needs, visit www.solimaracademy.com 

You can find out your child's learning style profile now by going to learningstyleprofile.com - special $5.00 off each profile for Motivational Whisperer members, use discount code LSMotWhisp

To find out your styles, go to personalsuccessprofile.com - use discount code PSMotWhisp for $5.00 off.

The profile is also in our book, Discover Your Child’s Learning Style – it is available in any bookstore or online. Go to www.discoveryourchildslearningstyle.com

Just about everyone has heard of ADD or ADHD—what do those labels mean to you? What have you heard? Do you know anyone who has been diagnosed ADD or ADHD? You probably know that ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder, and ADHD means Attention Deficit with Hyperactive Disorder.

Boring, repetitive tasks?
I have an article that I ran across in 1997 that I’ve been quoting from ever since. Here’s the gist of it: First it states that ADD is a neurological problem and often present at birth, but may go undiagnosed until the elementary years because the symptoms go unnoticed at home. “We intuitively adapt to the needs of our children,” it says. Then it goes on to say: “But when sustained attention is required for boring, repetitive tasks in distracting settings like classrooms, the symptoms become easier to see.”

I have read this line hundreds of times over the years, at conferences, workshops, trainings, in individual consultations—and still I am blown away whenever I read it again. Are they kidding? What does that mean? In order to NOT have ADD a child is supposed to be able and willing to perform boring, repetitive tasks in distracting settings like classrooms? I don’t even know how to respond to this!

Did Ben Franklin have ADD?
Now here’s another article—this one is titled “Did Ben Franklin have ADD?” And the tag line says: “People who have it are creative, expert says.” It then goes on to say, “Benjamin Franklin might have had attention deficit disorder. Why else would a man go out into a rainstorm with a key on a kite hoping for lightning to strike it?”

Again, are they kidding? What does that mean? Are they saying that being a brilliant scientist or creative person equals ADD?

This article also quotes a psychiatrist who believes that at least half of the American population could have some form of genetically based attention deficit: The American gene pool is loaded with ADD, he says! He also says that people who have “the disorder” tend to be creative.

Yikes, again—I am almost speechless. Does all this sound bizarre to you, too? Half of the population? Doesn’t that mean, then, that these are the average students by definition?

Here’s what I know.
People who score high in Inventing or Thinking/Creating Dispositions are the ones who are labeled ADD. And those who have a combination of one of these plus the Performing Disposition are labeled ADHD. And guess what—these Dispositions together make up 50-60% of the population.

What’s the point of the labels?
Why can’t we just say this person is gifted in inventing, discovering, creating, etc? Or, this is the style that is outgoing, seeks adventure, is on the move, makes a great entrepreneur?

Once again we have a great example of how perfectly legitimate learning styles are characterized as learning problems!

At LearningSuccess™ Institute we prefer to encourage strengths and that is why we don’t use labels. They really serve no purpose. However, if we were to use the initials ADD, they would have a completely different meaning: Attention to Dreams and Discoveries!

These are not disorders – they are signs of intelligence.

People who have these Dispositions are the potential artists, inventors, writers, musicians, entrepreneurs, and creative thinkers—if we don’t crush their spirits and convince them that they are defective!

When you know your child’s (or your) learning styles – and you acknowledge them and make use of them - you can move forward in confidence knowing that you are now guiding that child (or yourself) on the path to success.

What do you need to know about your children that will lead them to success?

©2009-2011 by M.P.Willis, m@mariaemmawillis.com, 805-648-1739

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten!

For a school option that customizes for each child's learning needs, visit www.solimaracademy.com

You can find out your child's learning style profile now by going to learningstyleprofile.com - special $5.00 off each profile for Motivational Whisperer members, use discount code LSMotWhisp

To find out your styles, go to personalsuccessprofile.com - use discount code PSMotWhisp for $5.00 off.

The profile is also in our book, Discover Your Child’s Learning Style – it is available in any bookstore or online. Go to www.discoveryourchildslearningstyle.com

I love this story. It goes like this...

A bricklayer has a brother who is a gifted and famous violinist. One day the head of the construction company he works for says to him: "It must be find to have such a renowned man for a brother." Then, afraid he might offend the worker's pride he adds, "Of course we must accept the fact that talent isn't evenly distributed - even in the same family."

The bricklayer responds: "That's the truth. Why, my brother doesn't know the first thing about bricklaying. It's a good thing he can afford to pay others to build his house for him."
(excerpted from The Best of Three Minutes a Day - A Christopher Book)

Yes!!! Cheers for the bricklayer!

Every single person has an amazing talent or gift that is valuable and needs to shared with the world.

It is our job as Parents, Teachers, and Leaders across the globe to coach each child to discover his or her amazing gift - and to encourage them to follow their interests and passions. It is our responsibility to ensure that all kids grow up believing that they are smart and capable, and confident about the value of their contributions.

copyright 2011 by Willis & Hodson, Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

Subscribe to our email newsletter and receive a gift: the eBook version of Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten!

We customize K-12 programs to meet individual student learning style needs - at home, across the globe:
www.solimaracademy.com


To find out your child's learning style: www.learningstyleprofile.com
To find out your personal success style: www.personalsuccessprofile.com

'Blessed are they who thirst after knowledge of how to direct rather than suppress spontaneous activities of children,' Miss Dakim commented."

Thank you, Miss Dakim, for the many years you have given to bringing out the star in every child you've taught.

We customize for each student’s learning style needs:

www.solimaracademy.com
copyright 2011 by Willis & Hodson, Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

Do learning disabilities exist?

Yes, they do, but true learning disabilities are rare.  I believe that our education system is too quick to blame “learning disabilities” and to label students as dyslexic, ADD, or any of the other familiar labels, instead of noting differences in learning styles and using some common sense: if the student can’t get it this way, try a different way!

Even if the label is appropriate, so what?  No label has ever “fixed” the problem or helped a teacher or parent devise effective teaching methods.

However, a descriptive statement, such as “the student has trouble sequencing two-letter sounds,” defines a specific issue and allows for developing an appropriate strategy.

In other words, the bottom line is:  each student is unique, having different strengths and weaknesses, as well as different learning styles. All too often kids are labeled because someone is confusing the need for a different teaching method with a “learning problem.”

I strongly believe that many “learning problems” are actually created because we don’t take into account an individual child’s unique learning timetable:  all students "should" learn the alphabet in preschool, start reading in kindergarten and first grade, do fractions in third, start cursive in second, and so on.

Why?  They don’t all begin to walk and talk at the same time!

Some students need more time. Some students need a different program.

The book, In Their Own Way, by Thomas Armstrong discusses this issue:  “It’s time for the schools, and parents as well, to start focusing their attention on the inner capabilities of each and every child . . . the schools persist in labeling hundreds of thousands of children with perfectly normal brains as ‘minimally brain damaged’ or ‘neurologically handicapped,’ when in fact teachers simply have not found a way of teaching them on their own terms, according to their own unique patterns of neurological functioning . . .

“The part of the brain that thrives on worksheets and teacher lectures probably takes up less than one percent of the total available for learning.  More likely, these stale methods of learning are actually what educator Leslie Hart refers to as ‘brain-antagonistic’ - they shut down potentials rather than open them up . . . It will end when parents decide to toss aside all of these labels and begin the task of understanding and nurturing their children’s personal learning styles so that they can begin to learn in their own way.”

Most kids who are thought to have a learning disability do not. A student might be having a “problem” learning something in particular, but this is not the same as a “disability.”

For example, a 12-year-old student is very artistic and creative, reads adequately for her grade level, is physically active and is a great swimmer and runner, holds appropriate conversations, loves animals, is alert and friendly and enthusiastic, is good at math, and needs to work on spelling and punctuation which are not her strengths.

Notice I said AND, not but!  The AND gives a very different perspective. The AND means that the latter phrase is one more part of the description about what she is like.

If we had said BUT, that would have basically discounted all the previous statements about her.  That is usually what happens:  Ann or Bill can do this and this and this, BUT  -  meaning, all of that hardly counts because she has such a deficiency in this or that area, and this deficiency is the only thing we are going to notice about her.  And then we label this deficiency a learning disability or learning handicap of some sort.

How dare we think of Ann or Bill as disabled! - this eager, bright and intelligent person who has many talents that you and I do not possess.  We have done such a good job convincing people of this that those adults who grew up not knowing why they had problems in school are thrilled when they learn that they actually were, and are, “disabled,” because this gives them a good reason for not having done well, as opposed to thinking that they are merely stupid.

There must be more to good education than this!

I believe that good education fosters:
    respect and awe for the uniqueness of each individual . . .
    excitement in discovering learning styles and teaching techniques . . .
    a different kind of education program that
        frees the spirit,
        combines fun with learning,
        views students as capable rather than disabled!

©2009-2011 by M.P.Willis, m@mariaemmawillis.com, 805-648-1739

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten!


You can find out your child's learning style profile now by going to learningstyleprofile.com - special $5.00 off each profile for Motivational Whisperer members, use discount code LSMotWhisp

To find out YOUR styles, go to personalsuccessprofile.com - use discount code PSMotWhisp for $5.00 off.

The profile is also in our book, Discover Your Child’s Learning Style – it is available in any bookstore or online. Go to
www.discoveryourchildslearningstyle.com

For a school option that customizes for each child's learning needs, visit www.solimaracademy.com

Do you know your child’s success blueprint (or yours)? Here are 5 ways to turn “what’s wrong with you” into “what’s right with you”…

Recently a mom called for information and asked me what is the difference between other educational consultants and what we do at LearningSuccess Institute and our school, Solimar Academy.

I replied, Almost all of them follow a dysfunction model, “We have to find out what’s WRONG with you.” At LearningSuccess we follow the success model – “Let’s find out what’s RIGHT with you.” I could hear her sigh of relief. “That’s just what we’re looking for,” she said.

So…how do you discover what’s RIGHT with your child (or you)? You need learning style information!

Teaching or parenting or planning a career without learning style information is like trying to build houses without blueprints!

This is true for all ages - whether the student is in kindergarten or college, or an adult taking a class or needing to learn something on the job. 

The fact is, blueprints or maps are important guides to getting us where we want to go. If you want a sturdy, comfortable house, you wouldn’t try to build it without a blueprint. If you want to take an enjoyable trip, you wouldn’t go across the country without using a map. If a coach wants to bring out an athlete’s best, he wouldn’t recommend a training program for her without knowing her strengths and weaknesses.

Learning style assessment results are a student’s blueprint for success. Those learning style results tell us what’s right with that student. Our profile provides 5 ways to turn “what’s wrong with you” into “what’s right with you”: Dispositions, Modalities, Interests, Talents, and Best Environment.

 

Dispositions are our basic learning personalities and are like the hardwiring in a computer. The Dispositions are: Performing, Producing, Inventing, Relating-Inspiring, and Thinking-Creating.

Modalities tell us what is the best way for your brain to bring in information – visually, auditorily, or tactile-kinesthetically. Note there are sub-categories: visual print or visual picture, auditory listening or auditory verbal, tactile-kinesthetic hands-on, whole body, sketching or writing. 

Interests are our #1 motivators. They include those things that you are passionate about.

Talents are a person’s natural skills and abilities, and we look at 12 of them. 

Environment is important because it can affect your mood, ability to concentrate, and productivity. So we look at different aspects of your surroundings and what works best for you. 

Here are some examples of how learning style results can provide useful information: 

If a student has a Thinking/Creating learning disposition, you can begin to understand why all of those workbooks and fill-in-the-blank worksheets don’t work, and why that student needs extra time to daydream and wonder. If your child has a Visual-Picture and Kinesthetic-Sketching learning modality you can get a roll of butcher paper and lots of drawing tools for doing math and reading comprehension exercises. If a child has an Interactive-Nature talent you can make sure there are plenty of opportunities to explore this talent. 

Finding out a child’s learning style will show the route to take to ensure that child’s success – in school and in life! In other words, if you want to grow an “individual,” you need to know the “bent” of that individual, and customize the program to bring out the best in that person, rather than implementing the “one-size-fits-all” production-line system of education that we currently have. 

We believe that learning styles assessment is the first step to your child’s success.

When you know your child’s (or your) learning styles – and you acknowledge them and make use of them - you can move forward in confidence knowing that you are now guiding that child (or yourself) on the path to success.

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten!

You can find out your child's learning style profile now by going to learningstyleprofile.com - special $5.00 off each profile for Motivational Whisperer members, use discount code LSMotWhisp

To find out your styles, go to personalsuccessprofile.com - use discount code PSMotWhisp for $5.00 off.

The profile is also in our book, Discover Your Child’s Learning Style – it is available in any bookstore or online. Go to discoveryourchildslearningstyle.com for more information

For a school option that customizes for each child's learning needs, visit www.solimaracademy.com

©2009-2011 by M.P.Willis, m@mariaemmawillis.com, 805-648-1739

...with labels such as ADD, ADHD, slow, dyslexic, learning disabled, just average, and even gifted!

Did you know that midlife crisis begins in kindergarten? Yes, it's true! It is in kindergarten (and sometimes in preschool!) that our society begins the process of teaching children that they are not smart enough, not quick enough, not working to potential, not high enough on the bell curve, not as good as the next guy...just plain not measuring up!

Midlife Crisis is the term we use to indicate a trauma experienced in the middle years —usually having to do with the question, “What am I doing with my life?” There are stories of extreme reactions that all of us have heard: like the guy who is a doctor, quits one day, and goes to live in the woods; as well as less dramatic cases like the financial consultant who enters the ministry.

There is nothing wrong with changing careers. But we don’t say midlife celebration, we say midlife crisis!  Crisis, because this time is often associated with feelings of unhappiness and confusion. Some people choose to “run away.” Others are afraid to change anything, then believe for the rest of their lives that they have been short changed. These are the people who say in later years, If only . . . , I missed my chance to . . .

And, so, we have books such as Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow by Marsha Sinetar, How To Find Your Mission In Life by Richard Bolles, Life Launch by Hudson and McLean . . . the theme being that if you knew what you were meant to do in the world, you would have a purpose, which leads to fulfillment, happiness, and good relationships.

How do we figure out our purpose? Look at your natural talents and interests, the books say. Many include self-assessments to help you figure out what you love, just in case you don’t know anymore.

When children start school they bring their natural talents and gifts with them. Instead of encouraging these, the first thing we do is teach them to put their interests on hold. We begin early the process of hiding the clues, the keys to our adult lives. We begin attaching labels: slow, average, ADD, LD . . . Years later the potential scientists or artists or teachers have the seeds buried so deeply they can no longer remember what set them on fire. And they need a book or a therapist to help them rediscover who they are.

I have a sign in my office that reads, “It is better to build children than repair adults.”

We need to pay attention to the child who needs to drum on the desk, the one who memorizes better when shooting baskets, the one who is interested in rocks. We need to stop labeling children as dysfunctional and start labeling the positives: keeps excellent rhythm, very coordinated, a whiz at the computer, great rapport with animals, natural comedian! Children who grow up learning about their own talents and styles become confident adults who achieve dreams and are enthusiastic about lifelong learning.

Remember the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? We can give children the right start by respecting each one’s unique learning needs. For those of us who are already grown up, see you at the bookstore!

For a school option that customizes for each child's learning needs, visit www.solimaracademy.com

For our book and YouTube video:

Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten

Learn more:
LearningSuccess Institute
The Power of You NOW

Take the profiles - special $5.00 off each profile for Motivational Whisperer members:

A Self-Portrait™ Learning Style Profile - use discount code LSMotWhisp

(for students of all ages)

A Self-Portrait™ Personal Success Profile - use discountn code PSMotWhisp
(for adults for work and life success)

©2005-2011 by M.P.Willis, m@mariaemmawillis.com, 805-648-1739

Would you force a child to wear shoes that don’t fit? Then why force an education that doesn’t fit!

Well, that’s what is happening to hundreds of thousands of school children every day. And those in private schools or homeschooling programs are not automatically better off. As long as children are forced to use a traditional textbook/workbook curriculum without any concern for their learning styles, they might as well be wearing shoes that are too tight, or so loose that they trip over them.

An education that doesn’t fit is as painful, or perhaps even more painful, than ill-fitting shoes—after all, an ill-fitting education can scar a child for life.

Some readers might think I’m going off the deep end here. After all, the traditional school system has been in place for a pretty long time, and most people come through it just fine, don’t they?

Do they? Did you know that most adults are held back from what they could be doing or would love to do because of their school experiences? Did you know that being labeled slow, lazy, learning disabled, dyslexic, ADD, or even average or gifted stays with you forever, and affects what you believe about yourself and your abilities? Did you know that people in their forties, fifties and sixties, no matter what they’ve accomplished, are still controlled by messages they received in school?

I’m thinking of a woman who didn’t think she could advance in her business because when she was in school she got the message that she wasn’t very capable. What was the problem in school? She kept tapping her foot and wiggling in her chair because she is kinesthetic and needs to move to learn. Another adult comes to mind who spent years in a career she disliked because she didn’t think she was smart enough to do what she really wanted to do—teach. Others are held back because they are not great spellers or reading is not a strength or memorizing is difficult for them. So what? These things really have nothing to do with success!

The most powerful determiner of success is the belief that you are capable and can succeed. Yet, for thirteen of the most formative years of our children’s lives we emphasize mistakes, failures, and a narrow definition of what it means to be “smart.” These children grow up to be adults who settle for less.

Studies done several years ago revealed that 95% of kindergartners feel good about themselves and are eager to learn, and fewer than 2% of seniors in high school feel good about themselves. Pedro Garcia, then superintendent of the Corona-Norco Unified School District, commented on these results: “What happens to children between the ages of 5 and 18 that they lose that creative, inquisitive spirit...Children need to feel safe...We need to create a safe home and a safe classroom for them...Children need to be frequently validated, encouraged, supported...They need to know they have talents and abilities they have not yet discovered. Above all, they need to know they can be successful...”

Far too many pay a very high price in our one-size-fits-all education and testing system. Yet there is a very simple answer and the powers to be are not listening. Children learn differently—what works for some does not work for others. This is not rocket science! How long will it be before educators recognize this simple truth and act on it?

As long as we force all kids to start reading at 4 or 5 years old, force everyone to use textbooks and workbooks, and force all students to learn and be tested in the same way, No Child Left Behind will never come to be. Many, many children will continue to be left behind, along with countless adults who are not able to reverse the damage done to them as students.

What are the alternatives?

• Respect developmental timetables—realize that kids are ready for concepts at different ages, not when the State says they must be!

• Provide various ways for kids to learn and do assignments, such as games, books on tape, art supplies, building activities, scrapbooks, experiments, demonstrations, etc.

• Instead of using destructive labels, look at learning styles...for example, Picture and Hands-on learners are often labeled dyslexic, Inventing and/or Thinking/Creating learners most often end up being labeled ADD.

Impossible, you say, with a roomful of students? Not impossible at all. The best teachers have figured out how to do it even with all the constraints put on them. And for homeschoolers, customizing to a child’s learning style is a snap!

Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a grandparent, or a friend - if your goal is learning success for EVERY child, you can do it. You can be a Success Coach for the children in your life!

For a school option that customizes for each child's learning needs, visit www.solimaracademy.com

©2009-2011 by M.P.Willis, m@mariaemmawillis.com, 805-648-1739