Recipe for success

Back in my childhood - perhaps even in yours - the intended outcome of an elementary school education was a solid foundation in “the three Rs.”  We still give kids that basic foundation for success in academics and in life, but now, in addition to teaching the academic codes of reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic,”  we are charged with developing portable skills for a more complex future. So our contemporary curriculum is also marked by “rigor and relevance.”  These are the qualities of learning experiences that foster high order thinking, enduring knowledge, and skills that will allow our graduates to solve complex problems across disciplinary boundaries.

Remarkably, ninety percent of brain development occurs before school age, but the elementary school years are a critical period for developing “habits of mind:”  those dispositions for thinking, relating, and behaving that are critical for success in any endeavor.  Neuroscience has proven that rich experiences provided in a relational fashion are the single most influential determinants of this intellectual development.  In other words, DNA is not destiny; experiences are.

Specifically, environment, nutrition, and relational interaction are the most powerful sources of stimulation to a child’s growing brain - pointing to the simple fact that even the most rigorous and relevant schools will never be sufficient for optimal development. It will always be parents who have the most influence in shaping the outcomes of education. I would like to suggest that you can partner most effectively with your children’s school in nurturing intelligence, social competence, and effective habits of mind by providing an intentional diet of four additional “Rs” during these formative elementary school years: rhythm, routine, ritual, and religion.

Children who do best in school enjoy consistent expectations and routines for mealtimes, chores, and homework; for starting the day and for ending it. Moreover, children will develop most optimally with daily routines that are respectful of their natural neurological rhythms. This means they need time for active play and time for quiet dreaming; time indoors and time in fresh air and sunshine (and rain and snow!); time for structure and time for self-directed exploration and problem-solving.

Rituals are also critical to healthy development; rituals for coming and going; rituals for blessing and praying and celebrating - not only big occasions, but small accomplishments, too.  Despite how chaotic our own days may be, we need to slow for rituals that give meaning to all of it, because simple compliance will never lead to the accomplishments that authentic intrinsic motivation can drive.  

And what higher purpose is there than faith in something eternal?  For this reason, children who come from homes that practice a lived faith identity come to understand all work in the context of a higher purpose. There is, quite simply, no better way to achieve in school or in life.

There are a lot of Rs in this ingredient list...but no worries!  We can stir them all together and serve them up as a one-pot meal called love, for it is only in a loving context that children - or adults for that matter - are free enough to risk, to care, to dream, and to expect great things (Bisell).

I am honored to partner with you in accomplishing great things in the year ahead.