Health and Education

Bullying is something that you never want your child to engage in, as the bully or the victim or an accomplice. But that doesn’t stop bullying or conflict from happening. So, how can you teach your child the  difference between being mean, being rude, and being a bully ? Let’s define the terms. Conflict can include being rude or mean. Being  rude  is when someone is not trying to intentionally hurt the other person. It isn’t a repetitive behavior, and there is not an imbalance of power. For example, Judy asked Martha if she could borrow a pencil. But Martha explained that it wasn’t her pencil, she borrowed it from another friend, so she didn’t want to let Judy use it. Being  mean  is when someone is trying to intentionally hurt the other person but they are usually nice, and there is no imbalance of power. For example, if Kyle told Mark that he was a terrible baseball player who should never try out for the baseball team, then Kyle is being mean to ...

How are you motivated? D o you like to be told what to do? Neither do I. In fact; I hate it. I become rebellious. That said, I love for people to expose me to new concepts and methods of accomplishing tasks and reaching my goals. At my core I want to be better than what I think I can be, I need to be better than what others think I can be, and I want to know ways to be better, do better, etc...I just need people to show/talk to me in a way that intrigues me. I might have issues with authority and rebellion and…well, that’s another blog post. Which of the following statements would motivate you? 1. “You need to quit eating cupcakes and exercise to get rid of your jiggly butt.” - husband to wife 2. “Playing video games all day is a waste of time, and you are getting fat!” - parent to child 3. “I would like you to be able to play with your grandkids and enjoy activities with them when you are older. Isn't that important to you?” - child to parent 4. “How can I support y...

Progressive schools are scary. They are a bit like deciding to take a   road trip   but instead of going directly from Point A to Point   B,   you decide to take your own route. When kids get to decide the route, parents bite their lip and wonder: "Is this wise? Will my kid end up lost? If I just give him/her the keys to his/her own education and a vehicle (the school), won't the   freedom   go to his/her head? How   will s /he   turn   out?" The good news is, this isn't a new experiment. There has been much  research  in the past thirty years that shows a majority of students turn out  smarter, more adaptable, and happier  than their public school counterparts.  They learn to take their own roads and develop the  essential skills  that often can't be formed in a public school setting.  Here are five that make the biggest difference. Autonomy Toddlers have amazing autonomy.  They explo...

When I went off to a private, liberal arts college at 19, I was required to take a course on study skills. Why? The university model of education requires students to do the majority of the learning on their own, and most don’t know how. They’ve spent four years spending 35 hours a week in a classroom where the teacher tells them what is important and what will be on the test. Then they go home and cram to remember that information long enough to pass. Then they go to college and take 4-5 classes about 3 hours long. They think it will be a breeze (12-15 hours), but those courses are condensed. Instead of a year, they are learning the same amount of material in a semester. Professors don’t ‘teach’ the material, they use class time to reinforce what students studied on their own in textbooks and videos the prior week and answer questions to clarify understanding and show correlations between different pieces. The university model shifts the responsibility for learning from t...