Teaching children life skills in a deliberate and systematic manner from as young and early as possible prepares them not only for the future, but equips them with the skills to succeed even today in their school work, family responsibilities and relationships with others. Children who do well in school, family and life at a younger age, tend to be more focused, confident and successful than those who struggle. So, an investment in life skills education makes a lot of difference.
This story about Fadil and his colleagues at Cairo Montessori School in Egypt, and the various lessons it teaches will certainly help your young children improve on their self awareness and effectiveness. A few key lessons and themes emerge from the story that are reflective of the first of the five pillars of the BE BETTER Model - Self Awareness:
Self-Control: When pushed to the wall by a bully, the young Zeyad, and his sister, Selma are able to restrain themselves from fighting back. Self-control is an important skill that we all need to learn, and is an important part of the emotional intelligence that we all need to succeed, because people will always "push our buttons".
Self-Confidence: Zeyad was very assured about what was right and wrong. He also did not hesitate to act on his values and report "Fadil the Great" to the school authorities. Children need to learn early to be confident about their values and hold each other accountable for their behaviours.
Self-Appraisal: Garai was struggling with his academics, but he was very good at sports. He used the successes in sports to endear himself to others and then leveraged those relationships to improve on his school work. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and working to optimize them require a degree of self-appraisal.
Self-Reflection: When Fadil reflected on his results for the term and compared himself to Garai, it was clear that he could do better and that he needed to. Effective people are brutally honest in assessing themselves and spend time reflecting each day, learning important lessons and strategizing to get better. This is what Fadil eventually came around to.
Self-Determination: Fadil eventually apologized to his parents for his bad behaviour and made a commitment to do BETTER and be BETTER. When people show contrition and make a commitment, they begin the journey to transforming their fortunes and the fortunes of those around them.
Don't just rely on our synopsis of this story from "My Big Book of Leadership Stories", instead, go ahead and order copies of the book for your children from ages 7-12 or other children around you (neighbours, family friends, nephews, nieces and grandchildren too). You may call 08095368967 to order or click the link below to order online.