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At Home with.....Perserverance
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"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer". Albert Einstein

 

As Albert Einstein states, it's often not the smarts that makes a difference in an individual's success, it's his perserverance.  Perserverance - the steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state - especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement - is something we can model for our children, as well as deliberately build into their lives.

 

Engaging with resources, like those we recommend at Thinking To Learn, can create the platform for practice with problem-solving as well as perserverance in the face of challenging academic work.   Children lean on us to supply either the approach or the answer when faced with new learning or a new problem.  Hold firm in requiring your students to do the mental weight lifting on their own, while you acknowledge the effort.   Coach them toward the possibilities, the strategies, or work one activity together, analyzing different approaches. Then, turn them loose.  I've found that requiring a certain amount of effort, measured either in attempts or time, is a way to overcome easy quitting.  Keep a child in the game for long enough, coach and suggest possibilities, and then see the light bulb go off and the confidence build, when she gets to the end either with the right answer or one that is close.  The second attempt should not be met with as much resistance.  Build these experiences over time to erase the "I can't do these", "I'm no good at ....",  "I don't know how" excuses.

 

Not able to solve the entire problem independently? Great!  This is where the learning is.   It is never too soon to teach your children that failure helps us grow more than instant success.  How important this lesson is for bright children, who may need practice with facing challenging work, and with understanding that failure is an event, not a person.   

 

Parents can model their perserverance to their children by talking about challenging situations that they are working through.  Talk about the goals, the worthiness of the goal, the benefits of sticking it out, and be sure to reflect back on times in your life when you achieved far more than you thought you could because you didn't quit in the face of adversity.  Find other adults, leaders and historical figures like Einstein and Edison - tremendous examples of perservering individuals who achieved amazing things.  Make their biographies required reading. 

 

Ready to get started?  For quick, inexpensive activities to challenge children's thinking this summer, look to these:

 

Think A Minutes series.  For only $6.99 per book, these resources contain collections from a variety of the most popular quick, fun thinking puzzles and games.  They develop a variety of critical and creative thinking skills. Each book includes language development, math, writing, visual, spatial, and perceptual skills activities that build deductive, inductive, and logical reasoning.  The best part is they can be attempted and solved in just a few, quick minutes - making them a great source for morning brain start activities, quick car fun - and my favorite - 'hanging around at Boy Scout camp fun."  Ever seen a group of male teens working thinking puzzles in the middle of the summer, talking through possible solutions, sharing challenging puzzles they seen, and even creating some of their own?  Grab a book, find a group and give it a go!

• State of Florida Legislature fails to pass legislation to improve gifted education. "One of just two states to lump gifted pupils with all other special-education programs, Florida doesn't even know that gifted students are getting the funds due to them".  Read editorial.

• Manchester, CT revising gifted identification to include behavior and classroom work with hopes to diversify the gifted talented program. Fifth-graders have been identified as gifted based on test scores in previous years. But starting next school year, teachers will begin nominating their students for the gifted and talented program based on a number of characteristics, including test scores, classroom work and behavior and grades.. Read article here. 
  
• State of Indiana new public law changes reference from 'gifted and talented' to 'high ability'. New law sets out new process for identifying high ability students. Read article here.
  

 

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• Place your online order using this code:  available only to newsletter members [JOIN HERE]  and receive 10% off your total purchase - regardless of order size.
  
• Place an order over $150 and receive free shipping.  Our free shipping offer ends at the end of July - so don't miss it!   Free shipping is our choice of best way: UPS Ground, Media Mail, or USPS Priority.
• Discount Offer is good until Friday, July 25, 2008.  Orders can be entered online.    Please call if you have any difficulty or would rather speak with someone before placing your order.
  

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Note:  Book bundles, already discounted 20%, are not eligible for the special offer discount.