Continuing to learn

Wow, what a response!

I went away for three days on family business and when I got back the comments on my last post about what we should be teaching our children massively outweighed my original post.

This is just what I had hoped for!

This sort of response gives me so much to ‘get my teeth into’ and so many things to learn.

I have now come back to writing this post which I started a few days ago. I have so much more information buzzing around in my head that I need to order it all so that it will make sense!

Well my first response HAS to be to Nikki Stephen’s rant. Thank you so much, Nikki, for being honest here about issues that affect you personally. I have to say that I agree with you about so many of the inequalities to be found in our system in the UK and the resulting mindset.

I caught part of a TV trailer last night for a programme set in a school where one of the girls was pregnant and the boyfriend referred to the fact that baby = house and money, kerching! What example is this setting? I admit that I didn’t see the programme so I don’t know how it was played out, but…

Children need to be taught the basic values of honesty and integrity, and that hard work pays off.

I really couldn’t agree more Nikki, and that is really behind what I am looking at here. We as parents should be teaching our children these things, but I know from the experiences I have had working with my students that many of them have not had that parental input, sometimes because the parents do not understand these things themselves.

We can moan about this, or we can get on and do something about it and help those who have not had a chance to learn so far. Surely this will help future generations, even if the current generations do not understand these principles?

I know what it feels like when a student I have been working with tells me that they bunked off school, but now realise that they have to work hard at their literacy / numeracy etc if they want to be able to move forward in their lives.

I know the encouragement that I am able to give them and the sense of achievement when they say to me “I finally understand that now”. I want to be able to help young people like that, who perhaps have not had the best start in some of these matters.

But I also want to be able to provide help and resources for young people like my own children and others who have good, positive parental or other support but would like somewhere to go for resources and other information. I believe that these two areas can cross over, but it is something that needs to be worked on and that has given me a goal to work towards.

Other ideas to come out of the comments on my last post include:

Internet safety – I couldn’t agree more and I know that I have perhaps made the odd comment that should not have been made, so I will need to go back and cover my tracks there.

Thom Swartwood made a great observation:

I think it is great they want to get out there and blog, just remember there is nothing better in this world than a concerned parent, a parent that watches over what their children are doing. Communication is the key.

Other commenters also expressed the same concerns and I agree that we must do our utmost to make sure of the security of our young people on the internet.

I was particularly interested by Stephen Bray’s comments:

In my work as a family therapist, lately consulting almost exclusively to business owning families I found:

Children of successful business owners frequently are cared for by a host of au-pairs or nannys, go on to boarding school, and may well develop a dislike for their entrepreneurial parents and their enterprises.

The parents frequently cannot understand that the time and effort that they put into their businesses is no substitute for regular quality time at home. Indeed they believed that the long hours and work they undertook to build a better future was an act of love.

Obviously this is a situation that we want to avoid wherever possible and must be borne in mind – and I think that this applies not only to entrepreneurs. However if we can teach about the balance between working and living, that is a really important step forward.

I have just read a Quick Reads book (106 pages) by Richard Branson called “Screw It, Let’s Do It – lessons in life” (ISBN 0-7535-1099-5) which has some wonderful short thoughts at the beginning of each chapter as well as the information he gives about his philosophy in life.

In Chapter 7. Value Family and Friends he says:

Whatever you might think of him, Richard Branson has built up and run a very successful empire and his views towards the making of money are refreshing.

So if you want a quick morale boosting read, I really would suggest reading this book – I read it in just over an hour, but will be returning to it regularly.

I have been doing some other researching since I made my last post and I have discovered that there is some excellent information out there already for young people. Some of it has to be paid for, but much of it is free.

As I have gone about this research, I have realised that I do not want to be reinventing what is currently available, especially when some of it is already so well researched and tested.

I have decided at the moment that I am going to follow one of the available programmes with Lizzie and hopefully also my son, so that I can have a better understanding of how this works.

The programme is run by Chris and Jenny Ford whose three girls have all started their own businesses whilst at elementary school.

You may have heard of “That Internet Girl” on YouTube – their 12 year old daughter:

Anyway if you want to check out the free information they have and the programme they offer parents and children do have a look at www.cash-smart-kids.com. I will try to make regular posts about how this programme is going for us so that you can follow us and see if it will work for you too.

I have already found a number of really useful sites, blogs and other information. I have decided to put this together in the form of an ebook, so I shall be working on this in the next couple of weeks.

If you have any other information, websites, blog, links etc that you have not yet sent me please let me know so that I can add it onto the list and I will acknowledge you as the contributer of a link or information. I will also be emailing the commenters on my last post to request permission to use quotations from those comments, where appropriate.

At last I feel like I am getting my teeth into something that I feel passionate about!

There is a long way to go, but learning begins early in life and should continue throughout it.

Important – What do we tell the children?

Or more importantly what should we be teaching our young people?

You may have seen the comments on Gary Simpson’s blog about both the educational system and also whether we are teaching our young people the things that they need to know to survive and flourish as they grow.

This was partly prompted by a comment that my daughter Lizzie left on Gazz-Man’s blog about the motivational moments video he had produced (go and take a look if you haven’t seen it yet!).

Lizzie has been following my journey with Alex Jeffreys with interest and has started her own blog. Initially it was a free one where she had to have adverts, but now I have bought her own domain name and sorted out hosting for her. Do have a look at http://lizziedickinson.com (there is also a link to her blog under ‘Blog Links’ on the sidebar) and leave her a message.

The upshot of this comment and Gazz-Man’s replies including:

and:

is that I have been thinking about this issue of helping our young people.

Both Garry Parkes and Denis Caron have children in the same age bracket who want to follow their parents and have their own blogs.

In general the responses have been to encourage them to do so, but with the proviso of some overseeing by us as responsible adults. In this way we can teach them the things they really need to learn.

So what I would like to ask you all is:

Do you think it is a good idea to allow our children to follow us in what we are doing and to have their own blog?

What do you think we should be teaching them, both on and off line that is not taught at school?

Do you think it would be a good idea to have a junior community supported or encouraged by the adults in initally the F500, but could be further extended? Are there enough young people interested?

I had been thinking about a niche of my own and am still definitely thinking down another line. I had started drafting another post about that, but I felt that this was even more important at the moment.

As many of you know I teach at a Further Education College with students of 16+. Many of them come in with poor literacy and numeracy skills as well as often non existent study skills. It is my job to help these young people to learn these skills which will help them in their daily life as adults.

The more I have thought about this over the weekend, the more I have been wondering if this is the route I should take at the moment, to be someone who could oversee the development of our young people whilst they learn alongside us.

Perhaps they could have their own version of Garry Parkes’ excellent Profit Pulling Newsletter with articles written both by them and by adults to help them on this road including information on how to balance a cheque book etc.

What do you think? I would really love to have your opinions about whether you think this is something we should be doing and if it is possible to do.

I haven’t really thought it through fully yet, so your ideas would be really useful to me.

I felt the need to post this whilst the issue was still fairly recent. However I do apologise that I will not be able to answer you for a couple of days as I shall be going to the Midlands early tomorrow and will be without internet access (unless I can sneak off somewhere!).

We moved my elderly aunt into a sheltered flat near to us last August and I shall be spending the next couple of days with my sisters sorting out the house ready for sale. It has been a big job already and we are hoping to complete it soon.

However I really hope that when I return there will be lots of comments and my email box will be overflowing with your replies and thoughts.

Our children are our future. Many of us, including me, have taken this course so that we can be at home more with our children, whilst earning enough to allow us to live more easily. We really cannot afford to ignore them and their whole education as they grow.

Thank you for your help.

25 things you did (or didn’t) know about Hilary

I’ve been tagged!

Yes Gary Simpson got me on his blog This is an idea that he picked up from Michel Fortin’s blog and the Gazz-Man has come up with an interesting (!) list, so I’d suggest you hop over and have a look at his post too. Come back to mine though if you want to find out about me!

Here are the rules.

Alex Jeffreys has urged us to make ourselves known to those reading our blogs and other communications so this is a good way to start.

So how did I get to my own list?

Well I thought of things myself, but I also asked my family, who came up with some interesting ideas. They also didn’t want to say some of them though. I wonder why?! I don’t know that these are necessarily strange, weird or bizarre, but they’ll do.

So here goes – a mixture of who I am, what I have done and what I am like. Maybe it will give you more of an insight into why I am taking this journey.

Oh and watch out! As the rules of this game say that I have to tag five other people to do the same – it could be you!

1. I am the middle of three daughters. My dad used to complain that even the budgie was female as our family is so full of females. When my son was born he was the first male in my maternal line for over 100 years!

2. I was (am sometimetimes still am) something of a tomboy. If there was anyone climbing the trees, getting into scrapes, willing to have a go at ‘interesting’ things, that was likely to be me (though not exclusively so).

3. I’ll usually try to do most things. This follows on from no 2 – I’m not worried about breaking a fingernail or helping to shift heavy objects. I’m fairly handy practically with DIY – much of it taught me by my dad.

4. Much of my working life has been in a male dominated environment. A reaction to no 1 perhaps?! I currently work in a college for 16+ learners where I work mainly with construction and engineering students.

5. I spent 11 years as an Air Traffic Controller. Perhaps I enjoy telling people where to go!

6. I once interrupted an after dinner speech dressed as a cleaning lady. We did clear it with the speaker’s PA first and made sure that he was in a good mood, otherwise it could have cut my career short! I got a few drinks out of that one.

7. I enjoy a glass of the Irish black stuff. Despite growing up in a nearly tee-total household, my parents wondered how they managed to bring up 3 Guiness-drinking daughters.

8. I flew over the school in which my sister was teaching in a Red Arrows aircraft. I worked with the Red Arrows aerobatic team for nearly 2 years (yes I told them where to go as well!). I was the passenger on a training flight – not an aerobatic one though.

9. I played the violin and bassoon. Sadly I rarely play either now, though I did take part in a makeshift band’s one-off performance at work just over a year ago.

10. I completed a course in organic horticulture. I love gardening, though I don’t do as much as I would like to at the moment and I believe in growing things as naturally as possible.

11. I love words and language. I usually win when we play Scrabble and like to spend time reading the dictionary. I have a degree in English Language and Medieval Literature.

12. I have always loved books and reading. Ever since learning to read I have always been able to lose myself in a book and I read as often as I can.

13. I sell second hand books on Amazon. Follows on from my love of books I suppose. The trouble is I have boxes of books everywhere which cause problems with no 14.

14. I love things to be tidy. But it doesn’t always happen! I keep trying to get sorted out but… (I’m sure that a lot of parents will know what I mean. lol!)

15. I like routines. I think that this helps to get things done more quickly so that I can get on with doing the things that I enjoy. I’m quite capable of being flexible though!

16. I have an interest in dyslexia. Follows on again from words and routines. I started a dyslexia course this year, but circumstances meant that it has had to go on hold for a while.

17. I like being outdoors. I enjoy walking, though certain members of my family are not so keen.

18. I don’t enjoy shopping and only have about 6 pairs of shoes. It is not a favourite pastime of all women – honestly! You’re more likely to find trainers, wellies and walking boots in my cupboards.

19. I like animals. We currently have two young cats, two guinea pigs and tropical fish in our home.

20. I once played the part of ‘Little Buttercup’. She is a red, round and rosy bumboat woman in Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘HMS Pinafore’. I was rather the opposite and had to be well padded out!

21. I love singing and have sung in cathedrals, the open air, theatres (and in the shower!).
This is a great way of relaxing and I have sung in church choirs and an African township choir with lots of other styles in between.

22. I have lived outside the UK. I have lived in Cyprus and Germany and think the experiences will always stay with me – especially as I met my husband in Cyprus.

23. I make an amazing pasta dish. I wouldn’t class myself as a brilliant cook, but I do basic things fairly well and this seems to go down well with my family. My daughter added (yumm….) after she put this comment down.

24. I have run 2 half-marathons. This was a while ago, but I would still like to run the London marathon. Trouble is I don’t do enough exercise at the moment…

I thought that I would add a special one for the Gazz-Man because I know how much he likes Slade:

25. I was born and brought up in the next town to Slade’s hometown.

If I were to summarise all of this in one it would be:

My family and friends are most important to me which is why honesty, integrity and trust must always come first.

Well, are you enlightened, intrigued, puzzled? Let me know what you think. You can ask me further questions if you want, but I might not answer them all – yet.

So tagging. Well a quick look through my commenters would give Becky Carter, Gaielle Sharp, Ken Douglas, Dean Holland and Valerie Davies.

Don’t worry if you can’t do it immediately as you have other things going on, but do let me know when you have done it so that we can all come and take a look.

It’s a great way for us to get to know one another better and also to tell our story to others.

Mission Completed Well Done!
Becky Carter
Ken Douglas