Dear Families,
As I greet our students each morning and Mr. Shear greets our moms and dads in the car loop, we both agree we are so fortunate to have such pleasant parents and children. Our children start their day with a big smile, which tells me they are happy to be here. They are all wearing their NLP uniform, which tells me they are ready to learn and are proud to be a part of our NLP team. Most of them come with their homework completed, the supplies they need for the day, and always a good book to read. This tells me they are taking school seriously and want to achieve their goals in life.
Our theme for this year is “Dream, Believe, and Achieve.” Each day we remind our children to dream about their future. They need to set goals each day. This can be daily goals related to academics, work habits or behavior. They also need to set longer term goals and plan how they will “achieve” their mission. Parents play an important part in helping children dream, believe and achieve. We need to give our kids the independence to grow and learn from their mistakes. We guide them by talking to them, listening to them, supporting them and modeling for them. Then we step back and let them take those steps by themselves. Sometimes that means our kids will stumble but we let them figure out how to pick themselves up and carry on or to accept the consequences of making poor choices. Often times this is tough because we want to come to their rescue. By doing this we are giving them the message that we do not believe they can handle things themselves or we are enabling them to continue with the same poor choices by always bailing them out.
As parents we share with our children the endless possibilities that wait for them as adults. There are a multitude of careers available; we just need to expose our kids to them. The internet is a great place to learn about what we can be when we grow up. We teach them that the only barrier obstructing their path is themselves. We are fortunate in America to have resources for anyone who wants to attend college or attend a vocational school. All it takes is ambition and someone who believes in them to give that extra push.
These are reasons why we need to set our kids up for success by providing them with love and guidance at home and at school while they are young. You show them you take their education seriously by providing a quiet place to do their homework after school, reviewing their homework with them, talking to them about what they learned in school each day and giving them structure and routine. Read to and with your kids so they can see you also enjoy reading. Kids should be given chores at home to learn about responsibilities and contributing to the family instead of thinking everything is just handed to them for free.
Another factor in achieving a goal and being successful
in life is learning to do the right thing. Parents need to be involved
in helping their children learn how to deal with all types of situations
the right way. This can include teaching them how to manage their
anger when they don’t get their way, or knowing that the way they treat
others is how they will be treated. If they look for the good in
others and are nice to everyone, they will get the same in return and make
many new friends.
We all are responsible for raising our children
to achieve their goals in life. It is a long road but working with
each other and letting the children know that no one at home or at school
is going to let them fall behind, they will succeed.
Thanks you for all your support and sharing your
babies with us at NLP.
Yours Truly,
Wendy Wagner
Principal
