By Karen Fogle

Book: Your Child’s Strengths

Big Idea:

You make your greatest progress in an area of strength, not an area of weakness.

Notes:

One idea we can’t seem to get out of our heads is that school and education is about pointing out errors and spending time working on improving our weaknesses. There is extensive research supporting the concept that we will be happier and have a higher level of performance if we focus on developing our natural abilities and strengths. It doesn’t mean weaknesses aren’t addressed. It just means that weaknesses need to be put in the background and minimized. This book goes into great detail about how you can help your child discover their areas of strength as well as the activities and relationships that strengthen them. It details how you can help your child identify their strengths and achieve their greatest potential.

Quote:

“The setting most responsible for the proliferation of the term learning disability is the traditional school. If all public and private schools are working off the same model of teaching and learning the student will be disabled in every school that uses that model. Therefore, schools must be willing to depart from the traditional methods used to teach and assess performance. Better schools will create programs that meet students where they are and take them where they have faith they can go.” (Fox)

For more research on this topic and an adult survey to help you discover your strengths, see Marcus Buckingham’s book Now, Discover Your Strengths