someone sent this to another of my subscription loops, so I thought I'd pass it along.
--Glenna


http://mailman.wolfe.net/pipermail/wcn/2011-September/002032.html
 
Winner’s Circle Network with Lou Tice - 9/6/11 - “Everyone Can Learn”
 
Do you know people who talk about kids who can learn and kids who can’t? Or, kids who can be helped and kids who can’t? Well, they are wrong, and I’ll tell you why.
 
Some 30-odd years ago, the great Japanese teacher, Dr. Suzuki, who taught over 20,000 children to understand and play the violin like virtuosi, had some words of wisdom to share with us. He said, “People today are like gardeners who look sadly at ruined saplings and shake their heads, saying the seeds must have been bad to start with - not realizing that the seed was all right, and that it was their method of cultivation that was wrong. They go on their mistaken way, ruining plant after plant. It is imperative that the human race escape from this vicious circle.”  These words have value even today.
 
You see, Dr. Suzuki did not believe that some children were gifted while others were not. He believed that every child could be superior, and that every child could be educated. Talent, he believed, was no accident of birth, but a purposeful effort, a powerful creation.
 
Let’s teach our children to understand that when they see someone of ability, they see a person who has been carefully taught, and who has worked hard to realize their unlimited potential. Let’s teach them that they have the same unlimited potential. And let’s teach them to believe in sustained effort, self-discipline and self-determination.
 
We have the opportunity and the ability to raise an entire generation of superstars every day. Why would we settle for less?
 
Lou Tice
The Pacific Institute, Inc.
www.thepacificinstitute.com