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PARENT EDUCATION: THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S EDUCATIONAL CRISIS The solution to today’s educational crisis is
the effective education of parents. Parents can be taught
proven techniques for increasing children’s intelligence, character and
social responsibility. National implementation of parent education courses is suggested, to develop a generation of children better
prepared to realize their potential and help solve global concerns. Linda Guinn The Stelle Group 106 Sun Street _______________________________ PARENT EDUCATION: THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S EDUCATIONAL CRISIS We
are in the midst of a massive crisis in education. An increasing number of
children are dropping out of school, and are unab1e to read and write at a lev& which allows them to hold a
productive jab. Furthermore, juvenile delinquency is on the rise. Both
behaviorally and academically, many children are failing to meet the challenges
of contemporary life. This is of critical concern to the world, for the
children of today are the citizens of tomorrow. If the children of today are
lacking in intelligence, problem-solving ability, and social responsibility,
then the future is indeed bleak. What is needed is an
effective tool for helping children develop those skills which are so
necessary to the future of the world. To
meet this problem, a great number of varied educational programs and
approaches are continually being proposed. Books and
articles of the “Why Johnny Can’t Read” variety abound. Schools are blamed for the problem, and informed they must change their
methods in order to solve the increasing educational challenges children
present. But all of the proposed solutions
have one fatal flaw. They address the problem too late. Psychologists and educators alike agree that
children’s basic intelligence, ability to learn, and character are primarily formed during the first six years of life,
in the home. And throughout later years, despite the
growing importance of school and friends, the home and family remain the
dominant force in children’s lives. Changing the curricula and methods of the
schools can only, at best, address the symptoms of
the problem. To attack the root causes, the home itself must develop and
foster high intelligence and responsible behavior in children throughout
life. This premise is commonly accepted. Indeed,
editorials exhorting parents to “do a better job” regularly appear in
newspapers. Yet parents are not trained, so they do
not know how to ‘do a better job.” Dorothy Corkille Briggs, psychologist and
author of the acclaimed Your Child’s Self-Esteem, points out, “Vast sums are spent to teach academic and vocational
skills, but the art of becoming a nurturing parent is left to chance... arid
yet, paradoxically, we regard children as our most important national
resource!... parenthood is too important for the by-guess-and-by-golly
approach... The fact is that we now have proven
techniques for increasing intelligence, capability for learning, and
responsible social behavior in children. Research shows that intelligence,
rather than being determined by heredity, is largely
dependent upon a child’s early experiences. The pioneers in this area include
Dr. Benjamin Bloom and Dr. J. McVicker Hunt, Professor Emeritus of the “ …
it is reasonable to hope to find ways of raising the level of intellectual
capacity in a majority of the population … promoting optimum intellectual
development would mean also self-directing interest and curiosity and genuine
pleasure in intellectual activity... our technological culture … demands an
ever larger proportion of the population with intellectual capacity at the
higher levels.” Information is also available on ways to
develop social effectiveness and responsibility in children. The popular
P.E.T. (Parent Effectiveness Training) and S.T.E.P. (Systematic Training for
Effective Parenting) courses, authored by Dr. Thomas Gordon and Dr. Don
Dinkmeyer respectively, present simple, effective ways to increase both
emotional health and social skills in children. The S.T.E.P. program is of
particular interest, as it teaches parents to prepare their children to
function effectively in a democratic society. The effective parenting courses, while
readily available, deal with discipline alone, which is but half of the
parenting picture. Research on improving children’s ability to learn is not
easily accessible to parents, nor is it presented clearly enough for parents
to apply it immediately. Because a wholistic, integrated program, including
both the basics of intellectual stimulation and healthy social relating is needed, The Stelle Group began publishing the
“Parenting for Excellence Newsletter” in 1981, which led to the development
of Parenting For Excellence Seminars. These seminars include an overview of child
development principles which are vital for all parents
to understand. Specific techniques for raising intelligence and developing
greater self-esteem and interpersonal skill in children are
thoroughly presented and discussed. The course draws on significant
research into child development, translating the discoveries and
recommendations of such research into terms parents can understand and apply
immediately with their children. This seminar has been made
available to parents all over the country in a two-day format. While we
believe this seminar in its present format has the potential to meet the
needs of middle-to-upper income level parents, there is still a critical need
to provide parenting education for the masses of lower-to-middle income
parents of the To
this end, we have brainstormed possibilities for making such education
available with government or foundation funding. Some of our ideas have included: distilling the essence of the parenting course
into a one-day experience of six to eight hours which could be offered
through Head Start centers, public schools, federally-funded public housing
projects, and programs for aid to dependent children. We believe the
potential of parent education for solving world problems is so great that
serious consideration must be given to finding means
to make this vital information available to all parents of the world.
Although a one-day course would only offer an overview, it could stimulate
improved parenting for all, and would encourage many parents to pursue more
advanced and in-depth courses on helping children develop more fully. We
solicit any further suggestions for ways of making parent education available
on a worldwide 1evel. Our children are the world’s greatest
untapped treasure. Through massive education in parenting excellence, we
believe that we can develop this human resource into a new generation of
responsible world citizens, with higher intelligence and better learning and
thinking skills, who could help solve the problems
of the world. _______________________________ THE STELLE GROUP’S EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE Members of The Stelle Group have devoted
the last twenty years to intensive research seeking ways to help individuals
realize more of their inherent potential. This research resulted in the
conclusion that excellent education is the key to maximizing human potential,
particularly in the first six years of life when an individual’s basic
intelligence and character are largely formed. This
conclusion led to the establishment and operation of two highly-regarded
private schools for accelerated learning: Stelle Motherschool, for parents of
children from birth to age six, and the The Stelle Group also publishes the
“Parenting For Excellence Newsletter” and offers the Parenting For Excellence
Seminar to help parents all over the nation learn how to give their children
the best start in life. Linda S. Guinn, Administrator of Stelle
Motherschool, holds an American Montessori Society Teacher’s Certificate and
has worked in Stelle’s unique and innovative school system for over four
years. She is the co-founder and coordinator of the Parenting For Excellence
Seminars. |
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