Head of School Blog from Shaharazad Hamidi Spring Hill Montessori Petaluma Know Thyself Helps You Manage Yourself – Lesson One from Peter Drucker “Managing Oneself,” a Harvard Business Review article by Peter Drucker, elegantly guides us to the roots of our success and an engaging life carrier based on our strengths and capabilities. He invites us to “cultivate a deep understanding” of ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, but also how we learn the best, how we connect and work with others the best, and how we contribute the best! In his opinion we can only achieve “excellence” if we operate from “strengths.” At Spring Hill School we share Drucker’s perspective, but we believe that such deep knowledge of “self, place, and others” should start at much younger ages, when our children are the most impressionable, adaptable, flexible, curious and courageous, when they are excited about learning and not limited by life necessities and obligations. This perspective is the core foundation of Spring Hill education. In our classrooms, this approach translates into hands-on and intuitive instruction, which meets and supports each child by encouraging them to approach learning through their natural strengths and interests, beyond limited age and grade standards. At Spring Hill it’s not uncommon for a three year old to read, a four year old to do critical computing, a kindergarten student to organize and lead group activities or solve complex social problems, or for a second grader to participate in fifth grade science with much pride, motivation, and joy. Our low student to teacher ratio allows our trained teachers to build strong and trusting relationships with each of their students. Every day they have the time and the opportunity to observe each student, and keep track of their academic, social and emotional learning and progress. It allows them to get to know them and how they learn the best. This knowledge guides them to prioritize an achievable set of goals and create appropriate daily individual and group lesson plans, and engaging projects and activities. Supporting our children to achieve “excellence” by operating from “strengths” guides them to become clear, self-confident, in love with continuous learning, self-directed, responsible, and ambitious. They not only develop a deep understanding of who they are, but also their power and their potential, setting them up to succeed, and for the team to win. Warmly, Shaharazad
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 01:00:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015