“As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.”

                                                                                       Solomon

“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”

              James Allen

“If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

                                                                                            Henry Ford

ath classes can be dominated by negativity.

If a vote was taken to elect the two most negative words in the world I feel pretty sure that ‘wrong’ and ‘no’ would be streets ahead. Everyone hates to be told they’re wrong and nobody likes to be said ‘no’ to. Yet the traditional math lesson is a breeding ground for these two words.

How many times does a child have to be told they’re wrong or how many sums have to be marked with  ‘x’ before the thought filters down deep into the subconscious and the child says to himself, “I’m useless at this”!”

Highly successful internet businessman Ted Nicholas places the importance of self-talk in a wider context in his book ‘Billion Dollar Marketing’. “As we think in words, the real key to success and happiness lies within the words you choose for your “self-talk.” The implications of this personal dialogue are enormous.”

ords affect the way we think and act.

Words spoken by someone perceived to be an authority figure carry even more weight. Children are particularly vulnerable to the shaping power of words. Words affect the way we think and act. They influence our emotional state, the most important state for learning. Many children’s lives have been blighted by a thoughtless or careless remark they have secretly carried with them all their lives.

It is a sobering thought that we are indeed the authors of our own destiny. Many of our actions are based on habits that spring from deep within our sub-conscious mind. How do they get there? We put them there ourselves or allow others to do so. Everyone who is responsible for or who has authority over children should consider their words very carefully. Our sub-conscious accepts what it is told uncritically. We need to be very careful what seeds of self-talk we sow in our children’s minds.

ut math is all about right or wrong, right?

Wrong!

As French philosopher Bachelard once said, “There are no first truths, only errors.” Edison was someone who would have agreed wholeheartedly with that statement. It has been said he engaged in over 1000 unsuccessful experiments before finally inventing the electric light bulb. It is this spirit of enquiry and persistence that is the key to achieving anything worthwhile. This is no less true of math.

Children freed to explore and discover for themselves will inevitably adopt the scientific approach of trial and error. Self-discovery is the most effective kind of learning and children will delight in the process. Computations will hold no fear for them and they will adapt easily to different processes as and when required.

Children introduced to math through the program Ensure Your Child Succeeds At Math will be guided by these principles and this will also allow you the opportunity to encourage and praise their efforts every step of the way.

eed your child a diet of positive talk!

There are words we can use to activate our child’s abilities. We can, by use of specific words, choose which abilities to activate. If we model positive talk our children will unconsciously copy it. Your child will reap the emotional, physical and spiritual development.

Phrases that have a powerful and positive impact include:

“Yes!”

“Yes but . . !”

“Yes when. . !”

“That’s wonderful!”

“That’s interesting!”

“Imagine.”

“Imagine you are . . .”

“That’s unusual . . .”

“I admire the way you . . .”

“Ah yes!”

“I am feeling . . .”

“Feel . . . “

This is a whole learning area in itself, but if we can teach our children to feel good about themselves, even in the math class, if we can show them how to talk themselves up, then they will be better equipped to handle the inevitable put-downs life throws our way.  People’s lives often turn on a thoughtless, callous or ignorant remark that is allowed to penetrate deep into their being. That’s tragic.

Thanks for listening.

There is one more email. Yes, I know that makes six!

It deals with the most common objections people have raised for not adopting the program – really there isn’t a valid one.

Thank you for you company.

Phil Rowlands

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