Category Archive:
Teaching and learning principles

Liberty, Freedom and Responsibility

liberty, freedom responsibility

“Freedom is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why […]


Seek First to Understand, and Then to Be Understood

Seek first to understand

One is none. Two is ten. ~Icelandic proverb about children For a while, this parenting stuff can seem like you’ve got it under control. Then comes the second child. As Uncle Norm told me years ago, “Before I had children I had ten theories about raising children. Now I have ten children and no theories.” […]


Helping Your Child Be Better Organized

helping your child be better organized

“A place for everything, and everything in its place.” What a wonderful dream. When I was six years old, my toys would fit in one drawer of my dresser. Jacks and balls, jump rope, coloring books, crayons, checkers and a deck of cards. A shelf in the closet held all the toys for five children; […]


Increasing Your Child’s Active Working Memory

Increase your child's active working memory

“Is there something wrong with Henry?” Dee inquired about her four-and-a-half-year-old son. “Henry can only accomplish one task at a time. When I ask him to brush his teeth and put on his pajamas, he can do one or the other, but not both.” Dee was describing Henry’s “active working memory.” Henry was having difficulty […]


Finding the Teachable Moment

Finding the teachable moment

Children make us into adults, goes an old saying. “That’s because,” Monica added, “they give us our most embarrassing moments.” “For example, at gymnastics class the other day, Danielle, my three-year old, told the instructor she wasn’t going to get off the mat. She smarted off and told her instructor she was going to somersault […]


Begin with the End in Mind

begin with the end in mind

Finis origina pendet. The end depends on the beginning. ~From the movie, The Emperor’s Club A favorite book is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. One habit that I encourage parents to develop is, “Begin with the end in mind.” What kind of person do you want your child to become? […]


What’s Your Sentence?

What's your sentence?

Clare Booth Luce told John F. Kennedy that “a great man is one sentence.” Abraham Lincoln: He preserved the union and freed the slaves. FDR: He lifted us out of a great depression and helped us win a world war. Luce cautioned Kennedy about keeping his focus and purpose easy to remember; otherwise his life […]


Taking Responsibility for Our Children’s Success

Taing responsibility for our children's success

Our new education needs to be exponential education to meet the exponential change on our planet. We need every person on our Earth to have opportunities to realize their potential through self-directed meaningful activity in specially designed learning environments that passionately engage children and adults. As our children develop mastery they will, in turn, create […]


Educating the Whole Person

attachment to reality

As we look towards the new education, we see that our constant testing for facts and measuring academic skills have robbed our children of rich and meaningful learning experiences. For deep learning, we need to involve the whole person–mind, body, heart, and spirit. Human potential cannot be quantified. As we study history and explore human […]


Understanding How Learning Takes Place

understanding how learning takes place

In our model of exponential education, our methods of teaching and learning will be scientific in approach and execution. We’ll understand how children learn, and we will teach using principles, methods and techniques based on observable ways that children and adults learn best. Our schools will focus on helping children and adults have the tools […]