Striving to reach our goals and Sharing Success

Today I was in a rather wet Whakatane watching my son, Marek compete in the BOP/Waikato Cross Country Champs. He ran a fantastic race and finished third. He informed Jason and I that he could hear us down the home straight...hard to restrain yourself as a parent sometimes. LOL!

The reason I am sharing this piece of news with you, aside from being a very proud parent, is that during the holidays Abby, Ally and I attended an interesting course on learning dispositions. It outlined 16 critical learning habits that children need to develop in order to thrive as successful life time learners. These 'Habits of the Mind' (developed by Art Costa) are skills that help our children continue to adapt, access and acquire new learning and ways of thinking in a world of constant and accelerating change.

Seeing Marek run today reminded me of this because I know that he has shown incredible persistence, determination, and flexibility. He has also taken risks, problem solved and used gathered information to find ways to improve his performances. Karen Boyes, our presenter, referred to these attributes as she recalled to us a conversation she had had with Corey Hutchins about what attributes he had needed to become such a successful athlete.

If you are interested in learning more about 'The Habits of Mind' ask the staff or see the web link listed on the side bar. Go to Foster the Habits of Mind in Your Children link. The article link has a fuller description for anyone wanting further reading.