Your Child's Strengths: A Movement I Can Get Behind

As an educator, I always believed that every child and student should have the opportunity to achieve great things. Unfortuntely, our educational system just isn't set up that way. For the most part, kids are taught using one or maybe two techniques. They're assessed using one or maybe two types of methods.

And a lot of brilliant kids are slipping through the cracks.

My methods were a bit unconventional, particularly when it came to undergraduate education. But I had my students create their own rubrics. I provided a variety of opportunities from which I graded them -- presentations, papers, tests, participation, etc. And, if students didn't do well on a test, they had an opportunity to earn credit by going back, fixing their answers, and turning in their redone test.

It was my way of making sure I reached every single student.

Jenifer Fox's new book "Your Child's Strengths" is part of an amazing educational movement that is calling parents and teachers to see find what their children do well and utilizing that to help them learn.

If you think for one second that it's about inflating egos, then you have totally missed the point. It's about observing yourself and your child and figuring out how you can capitalize on their talents to help them work on things they might need help with.

To be honest, it's not a new field of thought. But it is new in that we've been bogged down by "No Child Left Behind" that when we read it, the concept is almost shocking.

Fox's education and experience are evident in her writing, however the book is not all about theory. She provides case examples and practical information. No doubt, it's a hefty book that you will not complete at one sitting. But, you can flip through to find the information that is most relevant for you currently, and then return back when you require more information.

My daughter will most likely be entering some type of preschool program this Fall. And you can be certain I'll be observing how they capitalize on her strengths. She's not perfect -- no one is. And we all have areas of need.

But I've heard way too many of children getting lost in the shuffle just because they don't fit in with our so-called "tried and true" methods. And damned if that is going to happen to my kids.

You can read more reviews of Jenifer's book, as well as check out this movement at Parent Bloggers Network.