July 2010

Submitted by robin on Sun, 09/05/2010 - 15:23.
in
News Letter
In this edition…
  1. Synergy making a difference in the community. We had 50 teachers lined up to do the first coaching workshop (next one September Holiday 2010).
  2. Article: Teachers as coaches in the classroom. The future of Schooling?
  3. Workshop: Nurturing of Self Esteem in Hout Bay. Start Wed 28th July (see below)
  4. Workshop: Siblings with Success workshop: 4 sessions. Start Fri 20th Aug.
  5. Parent Sharing: When travelling takes you away from home!
  6. Skill sharing: The skill of Fantasy. Distraction or Authentic?
  7. Skill sharing. Keeping connected while you travel away from home.
  8. Parent Coaching. One session could shift your perspective and empower you even more!

Making a difference in the community?

We had 50 teachers lined up to do a 4 day coaching workshop in June (and we have another one lined up in the September Holiday so if you are a teacher make sure you contact us!) We believe that all teachers can radically transform their classrooms by supporting the transformation of themselves first. We believe that teachers need to now the difference between the words that empower, and those that shut a child down. They need to know the difference between the words that open up cooperation and responsibility opposed to blame and incompetence.

And if you click here, you will see some of the video of the Synergy School Teachers as they went through this workshop.


Article: Teachers as coaches? Future Schooling?

Where does traditional schooling fail the requirements of a modern developed society?

A modern society is differentiated by it’s dependence on being inter-dependent on each and every other thing. Therefore the core needs of this society shift from external measurement of products and success to internal human values of discerning thinking, community, empowerment and team work. Traditional schools are still functions of an industrial era where it is believed that the core static academic skills are the most important. A modern society no longer needs people who can just read and write: we need critical thinkers who know how to make value based decisions, work with vision and self discipline. Traditional schooling is authoritarian and dogmatic. It creates dependent people who are apathetic, complacent and don’t think for themselves (because they are never really asked what they actually think. They are only asked what they think about a poem, or about a book. But ask them what they think about the world, or what they really want to learn about and that is another education entirely)

What will be the core attributes of the "school of the future"? How does it differ from Waldorf, Montessori etc?

A modern society sees its people as its bigger resource. Yet traditional schooling sees its…


Read More
 

When I was 15 years old, I said to my dad I wanted to make a difference to people’s lives. I wished for them to unleash their potential and to become these dynamic and competent people we all know ourselves to be so deep inside. A decade later on in my life, I realised that through a career of teaching, I may be able to make such a difference. I was wrong in that it wasn’t the role of being a teacher that would make the difference, but my skills in empowering learners and knowing when to ask the right questions.

A conscious teacher is therefore someone who is able to engage a learner and class in such a way that leaves those learners feeling empowered and in action of academic excellence, meaningful relationships and being part of an international community of people.

upcoming workshops parent sharing

Nurturing Of Self Esteem

Starting Wednesday the 28th July 2010 and continuing for the following 6 Wednesdays.

Venue: Hout Bay Montessori.

Times: 18:45 – 21:15

Parents and teachers need to join forces and form working partnerships. Both need to know the difference between words that demoralise and those that give courage, between the words that trigger confrontation and those that invite co-operation; between the words that make it impossible for the child to think or concentrate and the words that free the natural desire to learn. Here is an opportunity for you to learn and understand how to help your children believe in who they are and who they can become. You will be able to help create an emotional environment that makes it safe for your children to open themselves up to what is new and unfamiliar. You will be able to help your children take responsibility and exercise self-control.

contact me See website page brochure  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sibling Rivalry into Success Workshop

When: 4 Friday mornings, starting Friday the 20th August 2010 and continuing for the following 3 Fridays.

Venue: Synergy School.

Times: 08:30 – 11:00

The Siblings with Success workshop is a powerful process to become skilled in dealing with the challenges of having more than one child. In fact, even having one child with friends over for a play date feels like the same thing. How do you get them to stop fighting over toys? Whose turn is it now? And the constant comparing of which one is better than the other?

contact me see brochure interview  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skill Sharing
The skill of Fantasy. Distraction or Authentic?

The ‘fantasy skill’ is often used in two kinds of scenarios. Parents may use it to distract a child from what they are experiencing. (ie making a fantasy story that distracts them from what they are experiencing, “oh look. I am sure I hear fairies in the garden, let’s go look.”) or the fantasy is used to deepen their feelings and perhaps give them that wish/ acknowledgement in the fantasy story. “It sure would be great if some of those fairies could come and help us clean our room.” In the first situation, the fantasy can come across as denying the feeling and although the result may still seem positive, it doesn’t tap into their need. The fantasy of working with their feelings in the fantasy is more likely to work both in the short term and the long term.

If you travel a lot. Keep connected . Some suggestions from a maestro!

I was had a fantastic conversation with a Dad who spent long weeks away from his children as he traveled the world following our National sports team. He gave me a few tips on how to keep the connection with his children back home.

  1. Write small messages for them by hand to be left in their lunch boxes while he was away. So in this way, his children got something personal from him every few days.
  2. Pre-Record stories so they can listen to your voice reading them stories before their bed time. Before he left, he would pre-record countless books that he would have read to them if we was in town. So now, when he is away, his children still can hear his voice as they are read their favourite stories.
  3. Recording your thoughts and things you may wish to share with them and send it via e-mail. In this way, they can hear your voice sharing your experiences. This really helps when time differences impact Skype or phone calls.
 
When travelling takes you away from home!

My husband travels overseas quite a lot and has done since my first daughter Leila (now 6 going on 7) was a born. Maybe as a result of my anxiety about it, she finds this quite hard and over the years has cried terribly when he leaves. Last week he was away again for 4 days, came home for 4 and left again for a week.

When she heard he was going she started crying and saying, I wish daddy wasn't going away again etc. Often this would mean a bad few nights also until she settled again. I guess in the past I've sympathised but also done a lot of explaining, eg that dad has to go away for work, and while its sad, if he didn't go he wouldn’t be able to get his job done. All of which I now see didn't help her much. So this time I just tried to acknowledge, and reminded my husband to do the same. He was reading her a story at bedtime when this occurred. I said, you seem really upset that dad is going away, I guess you must really miss him. I didn't try and elaborate with explanations or excuses or 'fix it' answers such as, he'll be back soon and he'll bring you a present etc. I just reiterated that I could see she really missed him. I also used a bit of the wish fulfilment fantasy option. In fact, she initiated it by saying, I wish daddy didn't have a boss and you could just tell him dad was never going away again, that he was going to stay and work at home forever. I said wouldn't it be great if there were no bosses and no work in the world and that I thought it was a great idea to tell his boss that from now on he was going to be at home all the time and never go anywhere again. There was a short silence while she digested this and then she happily moved on, asking him to carry on reading the story. And that was it! She even slept alright and has only brought it up a few more times since, each time, I've just acknowledged that she feels sad that dad's away and she's happily accepted that and not turned the event into a major trauma.

Here are some more stories from the last two weeks. Enjoy!

parenting quote

It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself.

~Joyce Maynard
parenting coaching
We are experiencing more and more Parents asking for individual support in resolving certain challenges with their children. Even if it's just for a one hour session it seems to just shift what was getting stuck. Why not find out how you can be supported?

more info
workshops
Other schools also ask Robin to run workshops for their Parent group and if you feel this may be an option for you, please contact us. He also works with both Educational and Corporate Teams in facilitating their Team Communication skills. He is currently working with schools in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. Contact him to design a programme for you and your team!

contact robin
robin booth
robin@robinbooth.co.za www.robinbooth.co.za

Email robin

Synergy School
Tel: 021 785 5500 www.synergyschool.co.za synergy@synergyschool.co.za

watch video


SAFM radio interview
Robin is the Founder of the SynEDgy Schooling Approach and the current Synergy School Principal. He is a qualified Life Coach, has degrees in languages, psychology and Pre-Primary Education. He is also a national and international conference speaker and his articles have been published both locally and nationally in diverse magazines. He has appeared on E-TV discussing the skills for developing Emotional Intelligence in children and been interviewed on numerous National Radio Stations.
The goal of the newsletter is to make a difference in your life and not clutter your in-box. This should be something you feel you want to keep so you can review it later. If you feel it does clutter your inbox, go to the bottom of the e-mail and click on the unsubscribe link. At the same time, anyone can subscribe to this newsletter. So forward it on to your friends or suggest they go to www.robinbooth.co.za and enter their e-mail address.