In Search of Air: Growing Up Dyslexic

A week ago, I volunteered at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre to usher for an unknown—to me—visiting speaker, and I was blown away by her message and performance. Below is an excerpt from that message and performance.

"Dyslexic Lida Winfield is an innovative and accomplished dancer, choreographer, spoken word artist and educator. Her artistic practice is inextricably linked to her role as an educator. Lida is dedicated to using the performing arts to move herself and others forward intellectually, developmentally" . . . [more at TEDx website]

History - A Special Glance Into the Past

If you want to give your children/students—and yourself—a sample of what radio used to be like, click over to Heirloom Radio.  John Lovering has captured over 50,000 radio plays. Personally, I am always impressed at the evolution of audio and video production over the years.

The Road to Character

I just finished reading NYTimes columnist David Brook's book The Road to Character. Check it out of your local library and at least read Chapter 10—the last chapter. It has such a wonderful outlook on the past, generational changes, and how to live your life. Here are a few precious quotes from that chapter:

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“The things that lead us astray are short-term—lust, fear, vanity, gluttony. The things we call character endure over the long-term—courage, honesty, humility.”

“First there was the Greatest Generation, those members were self-sacrificing, self-effacing, and community-minded. Then along came the 1960s and the Baby Boomers, who were narcissistic, self-expressive, selfish, and morally lax.”

“Some parents unconsciously regard their children as something like an art project, to be crafted through mental and emotional engineering. There is some parental narcissism here, the insistence that your children go to colleges and lead lives that will give the parents status and pleasure. Children who are uncertain of their parents’ love develop a voracious hunger for it. This conditional love is like acid that dissolves children’s internal criteria, their capacity to make their own decisions about their own interests, careers, marriages, and life in general.”

“Humility is an awareness that your individual talents alone are inadequate to the tasks that have been assigned to you. Humility reminds you that you are not the center of the universe, but you serve a larger order.”

“Joy is not produced because others praise you. Joy emanates unbidden and unforced. Joy comes as a gift when you least expect it. At those fleeting moments you know why you were put here and what truth you serve.”

Sapiens

The book Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari has been on the NYTimes BestSellers List for 72 weeks, and if you read it, you will understand why. It is now on my top best read list. The video below gives a quick, excellent introduction to the book.

Parents Who Do 5 Things – Most Successful Kids

1.     They role model volunteering

2.     They teach kids how to cook

3.     They steer teens away from caffeine

4.     They help their kids become strong readers and writers

5.     They don't give up on exposing kids to the right things

   To learn more, read the Inc.article “The Most Successful Kids Have Parents Who do These 5Things,Researchers Say” by Christina DesMarais

Montessori Applied to Children at Risk

Children with learning differences have always held a special place in my heart. It is partly what makes Dr. Joyce Pickering's new book Montessori Strategies forChildren with Learning Differences so special. I highly recommend this book to all educators and parents who want to learn more about Montessori education and working with children who learn  differently.

In 1990 Dr. Pickering—a dear friend and colleague of mine—became the Executive Director of the Shelton School and Evaluation Center in Dallas, TX. At that time, the school had an enrollment of 170 children. Dr. Pickering directed the school for 20 years, and in 2010, when the school was serving 700 children, she transitioned to the Shelton Outreach Department with a focus on the School’s Montessori Applied to Children At Risk (MACAR) teacher-training program. Shelton now has an enrollment of over 900 children and is the largest school in the world for children with dyslexia and other learning differences.