If you were fortunate enough to hear author Ellen Galinsky speak in March at the Van Wezel, then you are already excited about Mind in the Making and what knowledge of its Seven Essential Skills means to everyone who interacts with young children.
Mind in the Making was developed by Families and Work Institute (FWI) to share the science of how young children learn. Galinsky is the president and co-founder of FWI and wrote “Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs.” In short, the skills include focus and self-control, perspective taking, communicating, making connections, critical thinking, taking on challenges, and self-directed engaged learning.
The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is introducing Mind in the Making’s Community Facilitator Institute to our region. Community leaders will attend the Institute to become Community Facilitators, learning about the seven essential life skills and then going out in the community to teach these to others.
Candidates have attended information sessions and filled out applications. Those selected will attend the Institute May 10-12 and will provide community trainings between May 2016 and May 2017, reaching as many as 1,200 trainees.
What do we expect these Community Facilitators to have in common? They will:
– Think flexibly (focus and self control)
– Understand others’ perspectives (perspective taking)
– Communicate and realize how their communications might be understood by others (communications)
– Figure out what is the same and what is different and sort these into categories (making connections)
– Search for valid and reliable knowledge to guide their thinking (critical thinking)
– Take on challenges without avoiding them (taking on challenges)
– Love to learn and engage others in learning (self-directed engaged learning)
We are building a team of adult thinkers who are excited about learning and want to model and teach the behaviors essential to every child’s growth and learning. All of this will be accomplished in an atmosphere of involvement, respect, and connection—where the richness of ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives are harnessed to create lasting value.
Stay tuned as we share more.
