Let’s Get Ready with Cedar Valley Publishing

‘Saturday Morning Success’ is Kristi Frank’s informative, motivating, inspiring and fun series of calls designed to help you with your success - in getting you closer to YOUR DREAMS. It features FREE tele-seminar calls with the countries’ TOP Women experts, CEO’s and entrepreneurs who share their best tips & advice for doing and having it all, from starting a new goal, to completing a passionate journey; from managing your family and career at once to following your passion.

Learn how to: 1) Create a fun & profitable business from home that makes you money with your existing knowledge and your passion! 2) Use our experts’ easy, step-by-step advice and skyrocket your goals & desires. 3) Learn the quickest way to staying sexy and fit all while connecting with other women…4) And much more. These award-winning calls are valued at $497, but they’re yours FREE when you subscribe today below.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO SIGN UP

I freak out a bit before every teacher presentation.  I am not a teacher, so will they listen to me?  And then, many times, I start my workshop with:  “I am not a teacher.” 

I stop, look around and repeat it.

Whew, the first time I ever gave this workshop, about four years ago, I said that statement and had three teachers head for the door in disgust.  I am not kidding!!!  If you were at that session, by the time the door shut you would have known I was furious!!!

Here is what I said: 

Oh my…we have a serious problem with education if YOU as a teacher can’t listen to ME, a parent, for a short workshop!!!  You expect my child to listen to you all day and I expect you to listen to the thoughts of a parent for this session!

This is what is wrong with education — teachers who (think they) know everything and are not willing to listen to a parent’s point of view.

Should I repeat that?  Read it again.

Parents are part of the educational process and in order for education to change for the better, you need parents like me who are not afraid to stand up here and give teachers NEW ways to think about education — from the parent-and-child perspective. 

So you have to ask yourself, are teachers truly ready to change education for the better?  Then they need to open up their minds and prepare to view education from the parent-and-child’s perspective!

I received a roar of approval from the teachers left sitting in the room, who were just as horrified that these teachers left the session.  And that burning issue is a debate that continues today:  how can parents, kids and teachers all work together to change education for the better?

When I said this at my last keynote presentation, I had a teacher say that I was like the Jerry Seinfeld of education - I am taking topics that teachers brush off as nothing, and turn them into something!

Are YOU with me???

I was speaking at a PreK/Kindergarten conference in Illinois last week, among an amazing group of Preschool and Kindergarten teachers. 

I started quite the hot debate. 

Let’s just say, I had a wonderful tall, strong and capable male teacher come to my second session after a teacher referred him from my first session, to “act as my bouncer” (his words).  He had heard that my Preschool teachers were upset by my pop quiz.  Once again, I asked my Preschool teachers to name the 7 things that kids are tested on, at that first Kindergarten assessment test; and had my Kindergarten teachers provide the answers.  Again the usual response – less than a handful of Preschool teachers got it correct and after hearing what Illinois tests on for their assessment, my answers were much easier that their actual test!  My Kindergarten teachers were horrified!

I will send copy of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! to the first person who leaves a comment with the 7 things I was looking for:  hint – see a prior post from last week!

Okay, now to Fuel the Fire…

I do understand that teachers are worried about pushing children before they are ready to learn. But, recent studies show that SO much learning takes place between 0-5!!!  AND, I get this more and more, so how would you respond to this comment from a teacher in my first session:

I would never give this list (the 7 things that teachers test on for Kindergarten assessment) to parents!  I want these kids to come to me as a blank slate so I can teach them in a fun way.  I mean, if I gave that information to my brother, he would just push his kids before they are ready and take the fun right out of education for them for the future.” – Teacher from Illinois

I was so shocked that I am honestly, unsure what I actually said in response!  But, I am ready the next time and here is what I wish I would have said:

And then when your niece or nephew is 20 ask them who they would have rather practiced counting with, you or their Daddy?

Well, what would you say?

I was so excited to meet Lyn St. James at the Marketing2Women Conference in Chicago.  I was in “awe” meeting her as I grew up watching her race and was so excited when she became the first woman to race with the men in the Indy 500.   I was one of those people that asked her when she was going to open her own, “Women Only Racing Experience.”  She told me she was thinking about it and would let me know when she was ready!  Well, she’s ready!! She sent me the following email on Valentine’s Day, perfect timing for me to hit up Mike!

Check it out and let me know if you are planning to go!!!  Can you say ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM!

Hello,

So many women have asked me about doing a “women only racing experience” and I’ve finally been able to put one together.  Attached is an invitation to attend my 1st “Need for Speed Experience” (for women only I might add) in Phoenix, AZ on September 24-27, 2009.  This experience will not only be an opportunity to suit up and get in a race car, you will also learn car control skills that will make you a better driver, you will develop mental focus and concentration skills that you never knew were possible, and all of this will take place at two world class facilities:  The Bondurant High Performance School of Driving and the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, both just a short distance from the Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, AZ.   

You will also get to “warm up” your body with fitness expert Kathy Smith and hear from performance expert Dr. Jacques Dallaire of Performance Prime.  I’ve known both Kathy and Dr. Jacques for many years and they will inspire you and prepare your mind and body for this extraordinary experience.  You will also get a chance to work with some of the most interesting women race car drivers in the world as your instructors on the track, get pampered at the Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, and meet some other amazing women who are gathered to share this experience together. 

So come and be a part of my world - a world where the Need for Speed may be in my DNA, but where you’ll see that it’s in all of you to some degree.  And if you can’t make it, please feel free to share this info with other women you know.  I promise you it will be a blast!  And a portion of the revenue generated from this event will benefit our initiatives for women in racing, so you’ll be helping advance the opportunities for women racers.  To sign up just go to my website: www.lynstjames.com

See you there!!   

Lyn St. James
Indianapolis 500 Driver / Motivational Speaker / Author
317.244.9790 (Indianapolis) 602.952.9243 (Phoenix)
check out our brand new website:
www.lynstjames.com

 Click Here for the Invitation in PDF

Ashley at Forever & Always Ashley is hosting a contest giveaway for my Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready for First Grade! books! 

Rush on over to Ashley’s blog and follow her instructions for this contest!  CLICK HERE

Education needs to change, and it needs to start at preschool and Kindergarten Roundup.  Kindergarten Roundup is happening all cross the country in February.  Schools say that they are testing our children at Kindergarten Roundup.  They are not testing Kindergarten concepts but are testing fine motor skills to determine if there are any learning issues, but parents are not aware of that!! Kindergarten roundup is where parents should be told about the Kindergarten assessment testing on the Kindergarten curriculum during the first few weeks of school in fall. 

This is not happening!  WHY?

Milwaukee Public Schools has a billion dollar budget and spent $20 million dollars on consultants last year.  That money is not filtering into the classroom.  I could walk into any classroom at MPS and ask the students what is wrong with education and I am sure they would nail it. I asked my second- and fourth-grader that same question about their public school in Random Lake, WI and here is what they said:

1. Mom, in fourth-grade, we only get one recess for 20 minutes…and they wonder why we are obese.  Note: Our school just received a huge grant to combat childhood obesity at our school.
2. It was 60 degrees outside last week, and on that day, our elementary principal made an announcement that if you did not wear your heavy winter jacket with hats and gloves you would be allowed to play outside but had to stay against the wall outside.  My kids had to stand against the wall because I put them in a shirt with a heavy long sleeved sweatshirt under a sleeveless down jacket, no hat or gloves.  I personally did not wear a jacket that day because it was 60.  My kids were not allowed to run around on that day and half of their classmates had to stand against the wall because their parents dressed them inappropriately for the weather.  Are you kidding me?  It was 60!
3. Mom, we only have 10 minutes to eat.  This is a problem that comes up during my workshops.  Many teachers and parents complain that we have a problem with our allotted time for school lunch.  Note to educators, it takes 10-15 minutes to get through the line, leaving only 10 minutes to eat and that is simply not long enough and think of all the food that is being wasted!!!
4. State testing begins in third-grade.  My daughter tells me in fourth-grade, for the entire month of October she is talking a test twice a day.  No one ever goes through the test with her to tell her if her answer is right or wrong.  So, she wants to know how these tests help her learn, especially since they ask the same question over and over and she isn’t sure if she is answering it correctly over and over.  If she takes a spelling test, she gets the answers back so she learns from her mistake!  Her question is, how is she learning from all these tests?  Good question, Heidi!  Mom does not know the answer!  Do you?
5. In Wisconsin, we have Sage Funding, meaning schools get money from the state to guarantee that we have a 15-to-1 student/teacher ratio.  Unfortunately, the money was given to schools but schools were not enforcing the sage requirements until last year.  Might this be happening in Illinois?
6. Education will never change until we start empowering parents and kids into the process.  Case Study:  Harvard, Illinois, Washington Elementary School.  I did a presentation last year to 40 families of which 38 could NOT speak English.  With the help of one of their bilingual Kindergarten teachers, we shared with the kids and the parents what they would need to know for Kindergarten and the school could see a definite improvement in this group.  Some of these families even joined the PTO and became active in their school.  If you teach a child to wear their seat belt they will teach everyone or remind mom when she is not wearing it to buckle up - so if you teach a child what they need to know, like their shapes and colors or count to 100, they will keep reminding their to parents over and over that they need to practice!!  It’s about empowering parents, kids and teachers to all work together to embrace education!

Education needs to change and this story needs to be told! Please share it with all your friends.  How would you change education?

I have uncovered an alarming trend in my preschool and head start workshops nationwide: the majority of preschool and head start teachers that come to my workshops do not know what children are tested on for their first Kindergarten assessment tests!!!  In fact, I started testing the preschool and head start teachers in my workshops.  I wanted them to feel what it feels like to be a five year-old; these little kids come to school expecting to be taught but instead we expect them to take a test - cold, without studying. 

So that’s what I did at the National Association of Head Start Conference in Atlanta in December, and again last week at the Wisconsin Head Start Association Conference in the Wisconsin Dells.  I challenged these teachers to list the seven things that kids are tested on for that first Kindergarten assessment test.  Guess what?  Only FOUR of 250 in Atlanta, from teachers all cross the country (including Illinois); got it correct and not one teacher in 75, in Wisconsin, got it right!! 

That is what is wrong with education!!! And I am not even a teacher, just a mom, inspired by Oprah, to empower parents, kids and teachers to work together in education! 

If our preschool and head start teachers do not know this information how can we expect parents and kids to know it?  AND where are the public service announcements telling parents the seven things they need to know for Kindergarten testing:  the alphabet all mixed up, number to 10 all mixed up, basic shapes, colors, coins, counting objects to 10 and how far they can count to 100?

So, when parents come to that first parent teacher conference and they are told that their child only knew five of 26 letters all mixed up, or was only able to count to 35 on the way to 100, parents feel frustrated and at that point, many feel if they can’t help their child in Kindergarten how are they suppose to help in First Grade, Second Grade and beyond? 

If a family is not involved at day one, they are less likely to be involved later on in the process.  They don’t wake up and say, Let’s Get Ready for Sixth Grade or High School?  They are already out of the loop by then! 

At the Kindergarten conference, many families that I talked to nationwide, opt-out and let the “teachers” teach their children and become disengaged in the educational process.   They feel if they couldn’t help their child with Kindergarten how are they supposed to help in the later years?  It was only 10 years ago that our Kindergarten teachers would teach what kids needed to know for kindergarten in Kindergarten, but that has changed; and sadly no one is telling our preschool and head start teachers how advanced Kindergarten has become!

A Journey with Destiny

I am a huge Jim Stovall fan!  I love Today’s the Day and The Ultimate Gift - but Keeper of the Flame, his newest book; is according to an email from Jim, “much deeper and more literary than anything I have written to date.” 

I agree!  I was humbled by the intensity of this book and read Keeper of the Flame three times!  It’s a quick-read that is moving and masterful that speaks to my soul and reaffirms my own flame! 

The one-line gems in this book are wise beyond wisdom and some of my favorites are listed on the inside jacket flap: 

Only when all knowledge is available to all people can we reach our destiny.   Some create for money or to please the eye, but a true artist labors to touch the hearts and souls of generations yet to be born.

Powerful!

Please CLICK HERE for more information on this superb Jim Stovall book.

It usually happens in February or early March, the 100th day of school - only 80 days until summer vacation!!

When my youngest, Megan, was in Kindergarten and they celebrated the 100th day of school she came home upset.  “Mom, I thought when we reached the 100th day we were done with school for the year,” she exclaimed.  It was a bit of a let down for her!!  In the Kannenberg house we make it a celebration!  When they were younger we would practice counting to 100.

Our 5 favorite activities to celebrate the 100th day of school:

1. Have each child count out 100 food items to make a trail mix snack.  Our favorites are raisins, dry cereal, pretzels, marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, m & m’s, popcorn and peanuts.  Thankfully we don’t have any peanut allergies!
2. Make a picture, gluing 100 items on the page using buttons, dry pasta or our favorite, a snowman using 100 mini marshmallows!
3. Do 100 jumping jacks!
4. Read for 100 minutes!
5. Walk for 100 minutes!

What will you do?

I am a part of Inspire Me Today, and wanted to share this information with you, because I think it’s something many people will want to be involved in:

Hello,

Thank you for being a part of the InspireMeToday.com family. I am so excited to write to you today to invite you to play with us on the Global Hug Tour.

What we’re doing
Two people in a small prop plane, on an global adventure, flying 31,000 miles around the world to gather inspiration from the far reaches of the planet, deliver at least 2,000 hugs per location to literally wrap the world with 100,000 hugs and share more than $1,000,000 with important causes… connecting the world through inspiration and love.

We leave from Boulder on September 9th and return in January 2010 - check out our full itinerary here. As this is a project of InspireMeToday.com, it is your project as much as it is ours and we want you to be a part of it.

How you can help
Many of you have already asked how you can help, so we brainstormed a variety of ways that you can be involved.

• Send a personal email out to your list asking folks to check out GlobalHugTour.com
• Put a badge on your site to help us sell hug sponsorships (the sponsorship money goes directly to our non-profit and NGO partners around the world)
• Blog about the tour - on your site or do a guest post on our tour blog
•  Share any international contacts that you may have in the cities we are visiting. We’re looking for Inspirational Luminaries and global non-profit causes to support. Our donation must make a direct tangible difference (i.e. 2 hugs in Cambodia will educate a child for a year)
• Share media and publicity contacts (US and International)
• Share contacts at large corporations that will buy hugs or promote this within their firm
• Make introductions for corporate sponsors to help offset the tour operations so that all hug sponsorship donations can go directly to the global causes
• Call and leave a verbal testimonial for the Global Hug Tour or send an email testimonial that we can include on the site (I’ll send you the # if you’re interested)
• Give us your permission to include your name on the”I support the Global Hug Tour” list soon to be posted on the site
• Make a donation of any amount to help us offset the costs of the tour operation
• Invite me to speak about the Global Hug Tour live or from a video feed at your upcoming events and teleseminars
• Introduce us to any sources or connections that may be able to assist with the project
• Pass this email along to any other influencers who may be able to help
• Join us at the New York, Dallas, or Los Angeles send offs, or at the Welcome Home events in Washington, DC, Chicago and/or Boulder
• Please share your celebrity contacts with us. (We’re planning to auction off a hug with several celebrities, but we welcome your introductions to add more!)

For those that want to play BIG with us, we invite you to join us on the tour!
Meet us in one city, ride with us on our small plane to the next city, then get off and help us hug 2000 people. We’d also like to invite you to write a guest chapter about your experience for my book about the Global Hug Tour.

As you can see, we have many ways for you to be involved. We sincerely welcome your support in whatever way feels right for you. Please be in touch with me at your earliest convenience and let’s talk very soon. I’m excited to hear from you and have you as a part of this global project.

Also, because of this global outreach to international luminaries and the economic downturn, we’ve made a decision to make Inspire Me Today a totally FREE site. Therefore, we are changing our model to ensure that your inspiration is delivered to the greatest number of people worldwide. We will have joint product sales opportunities that we will be ready to discuss with you very soon.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email or call me at your convenience. I personally appreciate your being a part of the InspireMeToday.com family. We love you and greatly appreciate you!

With gratitude and hugs,

Gail

Gail Lynne Goodwin, Ambassador of Inspiration
InspireMeToday.com & GlobalHugTour.com

gail@inspiremetoday.com
720-346-4476 cell, 720-379-5137 office
twitter.com/inspiremetoday
linkedin.com/in/inspiremetoday

p.s.  For more than a decade, I have signed all of my e-mails with “Hugs”. This comes with a high degree of personal respect for you, but also from my belief that we are all connected and need a lot of hugs each day for optimal health. So, just in case you haven’t had your daily dose of hugs yet today, I’m sending a “virtual” one to you, with appreciation for who you are and what you do to make this world a better place. Please check out our upcoming Global Hug Tour at GlobalHugTour.com.