Yesterday I had a full day with the executive management of the TCI Sports Commission. Participants appreciated diving deep into the ideas of equity and conclusion. They also appreciated learning about generational gaps and pairing that with a discussion about the history of the TCI and how a countries history and defining moments can shift generational characteristics. 

This week were excited for the re-launch of Lit for Birth which was a program started by Jamell and me in 2017. As owners of Learn and Lead, and as parents us, we saw how easily language development and early literacy could fall through the cracks. We wanted to raise awareness on the importance of early steps that you can take to ensure your child has the best start possible.

Literacy from Birth, which we referred to as Lit from Birth, was a program that was launched in conjunction with InterHealth Canada. The nurses and midwives at IHC were trained on how to explain early language and literacy concepts to moms and provide them with a board book and a list of tips at the time of discharge. This program ran from June 2017 (the period of birth of our youngest) until April 2020 when we had to adjust to the challenges of COVID 19. In that period hundreds of books were given to moms and little ones in Providenciales and Grand Turk.

The Youth Help Foundation and United Way, with a little support from us, has taken over the reins of this program. We are grateful to see this program come to life again and want to encourage parents and caregivers to be intentional about stimulating language and literacy from birth.  90% of brain development occurs in the first 5 years of life, and we want to make sure we are creating environments where our little ones can thrive to their potential.

For more about the program, contact the Youth Help Organization. info@youthhelpfoundation.org

"My advice for young people is, study what you love and intern in what you want to do. And I think it’s okay to pivot as many times as you need to." - Eva Chen

Earlier this week we made a quick trip over to Grand Turk to work with some of the students taking part in the National Internship Program. The goal of this workshop was to address some of the concerns raised in the National Skills Audit…particularly, critical thinking.

In ‘The Analytical Mind,’ participants are encouraged to be intentional about the way they are team players, the way they learn information, the way they apply critical thinking to their work surroundings, and how to reach their personal and professional potential.
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"Inclusivity means not ‘just we’re allowed to be there,’ but we are valued. I’ve always said: smart teams will do amazing things, but truly diverse teams will do impossible things."
~ Claudia Brind-Woody

On Friday we continued our DEI training with the Royal Turks and Caicos Police force. We had great learning, great discussion and great debate. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training challenges participants to look inward before looking outward. 

Congrats to these two employees from British Caribbean Bank for completing 'The Business Writer.' This coaching program provides an opportunity for employees to brush up on their writing skills and increase their confidence in everyday business writing.

I have taught many of children in my career and have met so many different personalities. Every child really is unique. I have always been extremely fascinated with strong willed children. Their confidence, their decisiveness, their sense of justice and their ability to stand alone! I know that parenting strong willed children can be exhausting, but I also know that strong willed children also grow up to not only do great things, but to make incredible contributions to our society.

Compliance is something that we like to see as adults. Some children are naturally more compliant than others, and although we can shape compliance in many ways, we do need to take the personalities of our children into consideration.

Strong willed children are generally spirited and courageous. The don’t fit well into the ‘seen’ but not ‘heard’ box. They thrive on independence. They are experiential learners that excel when they feel as though they are in charge of themselves. This sometimes creates power struggles in the household. Especially if your child has their heart set on something and needs to switch gears. Power struggles, as simple as which pajamas need to be worn, can create frustration for parents, and therefore it’s important to take your child’s personality into account when parenting.

Before I give you some strategies for strong willed children, I want to remind you parents, that there are some amazing long-term benefits for our strong-willed children. As they mature, they are often driven and extremely self-motivated. They are less likely to give into peer pressure and they are not afraid to stand up for their rights or the rights of others. In my books, these are important reasons to be intentional about the way you parent your strong-willed children, and to be mindful of the impulse to 'put them in their place' or show them who is the boss.
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Here are some tips when parenting strong-willed children:

1. Have predictable routines and rituals. This is important during school time and when your children are on weekends and holidays. Stick to your routines. When brushing teeth occurs at the same spot in the routine nightly, it’s a lot less likely to create a challenge.
2. Give Choices. Strong willed children thrive on independence. Give simple choices such as … “You can either wear this or that.” This avoids opening the entire closet to them, but still gives them to choose of one or the other. You can do your reading time at 6 pm or 7 pm. What is your preference?
3. Solve problems together. Strong willed children are often motivated by mastery. When a challenge or problem occurs, take it to them for their opinion and consideration.
4. Reframe obedience. I don’t think there is a parent in this word that doesn’t want their child to comply to their demands or instructions. Power struggles with strong willed children can get ugly. But wouldn’t you rather your child behaves because he or she trusts what you are saying. One of your relationship goals with your child should be that they understand that you cannot always say yes, but that you have their best interest at heart.  This type of relationship takes time to build. It takes intentional efforts and often takes more willingness to discuss matters with your child.

The techniques described above would be described as 'Positive Parenting Techniques.' Positive parenting techniques often sound fabulous but are not always the easier choice. Just remember, that the groundwork laid for our children in childhood creates the pathway for their behaviors and the way they interact with you and others in adolescence and adulthood.

Earlier this week we continued our DEI training with the Royal Turks and Caicos Police Force. DEI training is about awareness and provides an opportunity for teams to dive deep into how to manage the complexities that can arise with a diverse staff. Diversity, goes beyond race, ethnicity, nationality and culture, and includes aspects such as age, generations, education, experiences etc. We look forward to our continued training in this area with RTCPF.

Over the last little while I have had the opportunity to work with the Health Professionals Authority.  We had such a great time learning and growing personally and professionally. Soft Skills development is essential in today's workplace and in order to truly improve, the principles must be embodied in all areas of your life. The Essential Soft Skills that HPA decided to work on are:

• Building Our Team Dynamic
• Customer Service
• Reaching Your Potential as a Leader
• Personal Productivity

I look forward to working with HPA in the future!

Writing is a key method of communication for most people, and it's one that many people struggle with. The Business Writer provides a great opportunity for professionals to brush up on their skills and review the basic concepts that make someone a confident and effective business writer. For more on The Business Writer Coaching Program, visit our Coaching Page.

Just about every summer learning post will discuss the importance of summer reading. This one will as well! Summer reading is not only fun but yields great benefits for our children. However, to provide a twist, I want to highlight the benefits of audiobooks.

I’m often asked, “Do audiobooks really have much benefit?” My answer: Yes! Yes! Yes! Audiobooks are a great way to boost your child’s literacy skills. Many children don’t have an interest in regular reading, so it makes summer reading a challenge. Audiobooks provide way to have your child to engage with stories in a different way. This allows for the listener’s imagination to step in, picture the scenes, picture the characters, and connect with the story.

Here are my Top 5 benefits for listening to audio books.

1. Audiobooks improve attention and focus. When your child is listening to audiobooks there are a lot of details to remember. There are the characters, the plot lines and the little details required to have a full picture of what is occurring. The narrators voice often captivates the listener and it helps to shape their attention and focus.
2. Audiobooks build critical thinking and comprehension skills. There is a lot of processing going on with audiobooks. Especially as we get into young adult literature. The listener has to be listening and simultaneously processing details in order to make a mental picture and gain a proper understanding of what is occurring.
3. Audiobooks improve vocabulary. Audiobooks, especially those that are above a child’s reading level, but not their level of understanding, introduce them to more mature vocabulary that can then be added to their speaking and writing vocabulary.
4. Audiobooks help in the understanding of emotions. When narrators read audiobooks, you can sense the emotion in their tones. Whether it be their depiction of empathy or humor, it adds meaning for our young ones, and helps them to understand and in future recognize emotion and mood in literature.
5. Audiobooks are fun and great for the mood. Audiobooks can be calming and reduce stress in our children and in us! They provide an opportunity to get lost in another world, to have a laugh, to learn something new, or just enjoy a good story.

​Children can listen to audiobooks everywhere. Facilitate your child’s listening by adding an audiobook player to their tablet or phone. Happy Listening!
 

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” - Brad Henry

This year we had a staggered start to our Summer Enrichment Program. We are excited to function at full force this week and look forward to seeing awesome growth in our students this summer! Don't forget to check out this space for Summer Learning Tips!

Whether you call it ‘The Summer Slide’ or ‘Summer Brain Drain,’ we know that when our children take 2 months off school, we risk some learning loss. Spending just 15 minutes daily and being intentional about highlighting the learning around them can reduce the likelihood of learning loss tremendously!

As you plan what your summer learning will look like, don’t forget to include math! It’s not uncommon to have more learning loss in math than it is in literacy. We certainly hear about bedtime reading routines more often than bedtime math routines!

The summertime is a great time to improve math skill, confidence, and success. These three concepts are strongly linked. As a child begins to improve their skill in math, they start to feel more confident. This increased confidence will bring more success, and the success then drives the desire to learn more skill and gain more confidence and so on. It is a beautiful cycle to see.
Math curriculums can move quickly during the academic year, and reviewing concepts already learned or getting a sneak peek at concepts to come allow your children to enter the new math year with greater confidence and ease.
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Here are my top 5 tips to remember about Summer Math Learning.

1. Math is everywhere. Look for opportunities to highlight math in your environment. Numbers are everywhere. Point them out and look for opportunities to find patterns, such as even number on one side of the street and odd on the other. Cooking provides a great opportunity to gain a deeper and real life understanding of topics such as capacity and fractions.
2. Play games. Puzzles, blocks, and board games all have their part to play in math learning. Whether counting, strategizing, categorizing, or following patterns, games provide a fun way for children to expand their special knowledge, their computation skills, their reasoning skills, and more. Ex. Monopoly, Yahtzee, Battleship, Dominoes etc.
3. Understand and Use Money. Understanding and using money is an essential skill. Deciding what to purchase on a menu with a specific budget or making decisions in the grocery store based on cost per quantity are two activities that make math come alive.
4. Develop an Awareness of Numbers. Look for things to count and to estimate. This is especially important with your little ones. Try discussing how many steps you think it is from your house to your car. Check your estimation by counting the number of steps.
5. Research. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. A quick google search of ‘summer math fun,’ or ‘summer math activities,’ will provide you with tons of activities, everyday math ideas, virtual resources and printable. You can also refine your search by including your child’s grade level.

In conclusion, it’s helpful to think of the time you spend on math as ‘priming the math brain.’ Math is easier when the brain is ready for it. Look for opportunities throughout the summer to increase math readiness, regardless of age or grade level.