Thursday, February 17, 2011

Suitcase for Time




Week 3 Missions:
1.  Write down one fun thing you want to do after school and plan when you are going to do it
2.  Do one of your chores or responsibilities before school so you can do something you want to do after school
3.  With your parents, plan out your chores, responsibilities, and the coolest weekend ever!
4.  Organize your room and your homework study area
5.  Write down the hours you spend on the phone and computer, then compare it to the hours you spend reading and studying (gotta have balance!)


Any students who complete the 5 missions - post the successful week on Facebook for everyone to see and congratulate!

Monday, February 7, 2011

What do you do?

The circle of success for a child is threefold:  the student needs to be willing to get better at something, there needs to be positive parents that support the child, and positive role models or life coaches like martial arts instructors that help them along the way.  What happens when the parents are positive and supporting, the instructors try their best, but the student is just unwilling to learn?  If everything that you've tried doesn't work and you feel like you just want to give up. 

My mom used to say, "I don't know how a parent can just kick their kid out of the house.  No matter what you did I wouldn't kick you out."  Well, lucky for her I never did anything that bad.  But is that what happens when parents give up?  I thought I was really good at getting into the head of kids and teenagers and could relate to them pretty well.  Recently I worked with a teenager that, it seems, just can't be reached anymore.  His mom is at her wits-end because he's abusing her with angry words and sometimes even tries to hit her.  He picks on his little brother too, who is almost half his age.  What do you do when you're faced with such a challenge?

I guess usually, on this blog I post tips and information that I have to share but this time maybe I'm asking for some opinions and comments.  What do you do when your only option is to kick a kid out or call the police?