Last week I was in Ohio visiting my childhood preschool which “gets it right.” Above the office door was a sign entitled “Personal Qualities Not Measured by Tests.”
It reminded me of the many articulate comments left on my blog last week, including this one: “You don’t learn SELF discipline from other people making you do things.”
As an author, I’m always thinking about human character traits so I can develop rich characters. As a mother, I’m trying to guide development of good traits. We can guide, but so much of it comes from the child herself, based on “what’s inside” and her own experiences.
I’m still overwhelmed by the sheer volume of visitors who stopped by to read my “no homework” post (20,000+ and counting). You are all welcome here. Since the post generated such rich discussion, I thought I’d share this list with you. It serves as a simple reminder of what lessons are not necessarily taught or measured in school.
PERSONAL QUALITIES NOT MEASURED BY TESTS
- CREATIVITY
- RESILIENCE
- MOTIVATION
- PERSISTENCE
- CURIOSITY
- HUMOR
- ENDURANCE
- RELIABILITY
- ENTHUSIASM
- SELF-AWARENESS
- SELF-DISCIPLINE
- EMPATHY
- LEADERSHIP
- COURAGE
- COMPASSION
- SENSE OF BEAUTY
- SENSE OF WONDER
- HUMILITY
- RESOURCEFULNESS
- SPONTANEITY
How do we foster these traits? Where do we foster them? For me, some of this self-discovery came from books. How did you discover your own character traits?
