“Readers are Leaders!” ……. (Or is it, Leaders are Readers?)
This week is without a doubt one of our most powerful training themes – “I love reading!”
If you want to know the one skill that most directly correlates to a child’s success in life it is – READING!
It is easy to see why. If a child struggles at reading they will probably struggle at school. If they struggle at school they will probably struggle with life.
But, small things now, have huge payoffs later. If a child loves reading they will probably excel in school and love school. If they excel in school they will probably excel in life.
Why? I think for a couple reasons. First is knowledge. In order to be successful and a leader you really have to be a life-long learner. Reading is learning. And, especially in this information age, information and knowledge is so plentiful and easy to access. In the old days you used to make a good living with your back or hands. Now you have to do that with your mind.
The second reason reading is so important when you are young is it teaches you a strong work habit. The habit of working hard on something that is not easy at first then, as importantly, to keep working on it and getting better.
So what is your child doing over the summer? Well we are here to help. You do not have to tell your child to read…..we will. We will be the bad guys so you do not have to!
This program was developed with the help of one of our karate moms that was an elementary school teacher. It just requires every karate student to read at least 10 minutes a day. The good news is they can read anything they want and can even read to siblings! We will come out with more details shortly.
We will also be using two extra “cues” at the dojo with your child to reinforce the theme: When we ask the class “What are you doing over the summer?” they will respond “Reading, Sir!” But when we ask a student directly “What are you doing over the summer?” They will name something they really are doing over the summer then end it with “……and reading, Sir!”
So “What is your child doing over the summer?!”
‘Till next time!
Yours for Rock Solid (and reading) Kids,
Sensei