Category Archives: children

Nurturing Potential

2 Comments

“It helps us to all work together, because its the parent and the teacher and the child – its that triangle..”

Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools has stated that the potential is there for students to become super men and super women, if given the opportunity for a great education. Our children’s inability to progress is due to the educators ineffectiveness in fulfilling the needs of the children in the classroom. It is the adults who are failing the children. This is a blanket statement, however, we all know that there are as many good teachers as there are inadequate teachers.

Every child deserves and needs a great education. They are the future of our country and students need to be taught in a way that recognizes and builds upon their strengths and gifts,so they can become global leaders as adults.

David Guggenheim’s new film “Waiting for Superman” will be premiering in New York and L.A. on September 24. This documentary film provides an inside look at education in America, our need for equal opportunity, America’s teachers and some answers to saving schools.

As highlighted in the film, the opportunity to obtain an excellent education should not be dependent upon the chance of winning a lottery to be admitted into one of the new high performing charter public schools.

Obviously, educational institutions can not be entirely held responsible for the success of a child. Parents need to do their part, too. Expose your child to the arts, to museums, to athletics, to faith and to groups of empowering people. A child has the potential to achieve what is set before them – so set the bar high! That way, your child will know you have confidence in their abililities and that you know they can succeed! It is all about nuturing potential.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Sharing the Word!

Leave a comment

“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”                 ~Mark Twain 

How coincidental is that? Today, I had planned to write a blog on the man who is known as our first American novelist – Mark Twain. He is one of the most well-known essayists and moralists in our country’s history! This morning, I had a few minutes to spare before my dentist appointment, and took the opportunity to take a little drive into an area of Steamboat Springs, CO that I had not previously taken the time to explore before. There the name was, on a street sign, Mark Twain. Was it an Avenue or Road or Lane? ! I dont know! I was so thrown off guard by this odd coincidence of having just composed, on paper, last night a blog based on  Mr. Twain that I can not remember which!   

Seeing this sign has changed the content of my blog. I was going to go on and on about the man who was born in 1835 and died in 1915 AKA Samuel Langhorne Clemens. His speculative ventures included silver mining, business and publishing.  His writings had appeal to young and old, alike. Although in he is known for his humor and wit, many of the essays he wrote in his final years were filled with his “venting” against power, corruption and greed.

Why his name should appear on a street sign in a place like Steamboat Springs, CO, I wonder. Perhaps it is just a subtle reminder to all that as we travel down the road of life  “to do the right thing.”

 

 This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

Devilish Distractions

Leave a comment

“Patience and fortitude conquer all things.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

My computer, the little devil, has really gotten under my skin! It has even become the cause of writer’s cramp. I’ve got writer’s block – of all things! I have begun to write not out of desire but out of will.  My will to test my fortitude over a machine. Imagine that!

Having to work on what has become an antiquated, slow computer that freezes up, coughs and chokes every time I turn it on has been the bane of my existance all summer long. I have put off getting a new transmitter of digital information for far too long. My limits of being a fiscally conservative business owner have been reached, that is for sure!

I have learned alot from this adversarial relationship between my old computer and me –

  1. Write out of desire, not out of will!
  2. Recognize when it is time to let go of the old old and bring in the new.
  3. If a relationship becomes too overwhelming, get out of it!
  4. To write and think clearly and succinctly, you must clear out the clutter.

I need to have patience for a few more days. Then, I will be in a new relationship – one that will not be detrimental to my mental health.  As readers of this blogsite, you’ve got to be tired of hearing about this relationship with my old computer that I have found hard to forget! The relationship with my new electronic transmission device will be positive and filled with all good things! It will be more aligned with the way I like to live.  I will look forward to sharing all things fulfilling, once again!

This blog brought to you by www.cornerstonefulfillmentservice.com.

Do Another Nice Thing!

Leave a comment

“A library of all wisdom is more precious than all wealth…” ~ Unknown

All children need to learn the virtues of compassion and sharing. Teach your child to be a book angel, by donating their gently used (or new) books to inner city children, homeless shelters, youth centers and family literacy centers through www.bookends.org.

The founder of this non-profit is a 8 year old boy. The focus of  this  organization is kids helping other kids for the sake of literacy. Since this organization was founded in 1998, 1.9 million books have landed in the hands of 478,000 at risk childrens hands. Imagine how many smiles this gesture of kindness has brought to the faces of children who needed it the most!

Keep the momentum going from yesterday’s cleaning out of kid flicks to give to children in hospitals. Have your child make room for new books by donating those they no longer need!

Teaching your children to be involved with doing good things sure beats the alternative, doesn’t it?

This blog brought to you by www.cornerstonefulfillmentservice.com.

Do a Nice Thing!

Leave a comment

“It is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception and compassion and hope.” ~ Ursula K LeGuin

How would you like to fulfill a dream of a child who is sick and in the hospital? Well, you can, in a very easy way! If you are a parent whose kids have grown, and you have no longer used children’s DVDs sitting in boxes, or in your basement or garage, you can donate your kid’s flicks to children’s hospitals and pediatric medical units, all over the United States.

This idea came about when four sisters visited a young friend being treated for leukemia in the hospital. Children are distracted and pain is eased when they can watch colorful, fun DVDs from the comfort of their hospital beds.

Rather than selling your children’s  idle DVDs in garage sales and the like, give them away to children who will value them the most. Send them to –

Kid flicks/Barta, 11755 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1450, Los Angeles, CA  90025

This blog brought to you by www.cornerstonefulfillmentservice.com.

Saved by the Book

Leave a comment

“We need to be pro-children and pro-literacy of all kinds.” ~ David Booth

Saved! By former First Lady, Laura Bush! All was not lost when my wishes for a weekend full of literary enjoyment began with a bomb of a book that did nothing to fulfill my expectations. Determined to immerse myself in some good reading, I switched gears and delved into a wonderful  journey that was entitled “Spoken from the Heart.”

From the time Laura Bush was a little girl, literature has been an all encompassing part of her life. As an only child, she found a treasure trove of good times with characters and places to escape to all by herself.  Later on in her life, her positions as a mother, teacher, librarian and First Lady allowed her to share her passion of reading with her twin daughters, students and  others, around the globe. She made stories come alive for children in disadvantaged areas so they could also escape into worlds beyond their own environments,.  She taught students how to make handmade books and  former students became subjects of her own first published book “Read All About It.”

As first lady of the United States, she traveled to many countries, like Zanzabar to spread the good news that private and American funds would place 20,000 books in 16 schools for underserved children.

Laura Bush has always been at the top of my list for favorite First Ladies.  Her book “Spoken from the Heart” gave me even more insight into the wholesome Texas values she was raised with, the fact that she is deeply aware of how blessed we are to have children in our lives and our responsibility to do all that we can to spread the value of literacy around the world.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

You are Worth it!

Leave a comment

“The best thing you can do is be a teacher to young people” ~ Rick Pitino 

Have you ever asked any kind of volunteer “if it is worth it?” In my experience, many will respond “YES,  that volunteer work is both fulfilling and satisfying, and that is payment enough.” 

Last week at our Kiwanis meeting, www.kiwanis.org, three mentors from the Partners in Routt County Program, a program associated with AmeriCorp., visited and spoke with the Kiwanians about the admirable work they do in mentoring children at risk.

The program pairs mentors with children, at local schools, who have been identified as being “at risk” for a number of reasons – perhaps poor family dynamics, drug or alcohol addiction problems, low self -esteem or kids who struggle socially or educationally. The mentors develop comfortable relationships with the at-risk children and they become someone the kids will confide in when things get rough. 

Did you ever wonder what your time is worth, as a volunteer? On average $20.58 per hour! However, it does to vary from State to State. To see what value your state of residence puts on volunteering, please visit http://bit.ly/cxvboF. 

I was glad to hear that these valuable volunteers from Partners in Routt County are compensated by way of a small stipend and the benefits include being able to “pay back” educational debt. It makes volunteering even more worthwhile. However, what the volunteers are paid does not fully compensate for what these volunteers are worth according to the statistics given by the www.volunteeringinamerica.gov  chart. 

By donating their time, volunteers from Partners in Routt County are saying to each and every child they mentor “YOU ARE WORTH  IT!”  And that is like music to children’s ears!! 

Thank you, Volunteers – you are worth it, too!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

A Strong Foundation

Leave a comment

“The reward of one duty done is the power to fulfill another” ~ George Eliot 

Last week, the kids started back to school after summer break.  On the first morning of school, I walked by groups of children standing at the bus stops, all up and down the road. I began to think back on the fulfilling and glorious days of raising my child…. 

The days were filled with trying to figure out what made my child tick and what set off temper tantrums, what he was passionate about and how to channel the energy he had. My one child has the energy of 20. Moms with two or three kids would shake their heads and say to me “I don’t know how you do it!” He has always been hard to keep up with, I will admit! 

My daily “to-do” list, was no different than every parent’s list – fixing meals, snacks, monitoring and helping with homework, fetching other kids for play dates, doing laundry, soothing skinned knees, reading at bedtime, picking up socks, shoes and toys. 

 The early years went by, and then our life and was consumed with soccer, soccer, soccer and yes, you guessed it, soccer…..  and on and on it went. Fortunately, I had a willing and devoted husband who did it all too – we tried to work as a team. 

One day I woke up and hardly knew who I was. I had been fulfilling my life for 18 years with the activities of raising a child. Would I go back and do it all over again? You bet, if I had the energy now that I had then! 

The point of this blog is to remind all parents that children are a gift from God. They come with tremendous responsibility. Children emulate what they see. Teach them love, compassion, the value of faith, how to share, a spirit of cooperation, encourage them to follow their dreams, the importance of family and what it means to be a real friend. 

There will be nothing more fulfilling then knowing that you were there when your kids needed you the most. Put your child’s emotional needs first. There will be plenty of time to figure out even more about who you are, after the kids leave home!

 

 This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

In Accordance with the Times

2 Comments

“Achievement is not the most important thing – authenticity is.” ~ Unknown

There is a lot to be said for being a resourceful person, and the independent film industry has a budget conscious filmmaker who used all his smarts to produce a film that is both historically correct and thrilling. Every detail of the film was planned and produced in the most economical way possible to bring the feature film to fruition and yet, it can still boast of drawing big name stars, James Cromwell and Michael Wincott, into the cast.

The movie? A Lonely Place for Dying and at the helm in the director’s seat is Justin Evans. Many of the crew members filled multiple rolls, which allowed the movie to stay within budget. Digital visual effects authentically brought back 1972 and recreated everything from backdrops to sounds and sights of this period piece.

This award-winning film continues to make its rounds on the film festival circuit and it has already secured foreign film distribution rights. I look forward to seeing it! Finally, my husband and I will be able to see what our son,Marc, was so entrenched in from a very surprising place! Marc Leonard and Daniel Broadway were the visual effects artists for the film.

For more information on this thrilling independent film, the director, the writer and how the visual effects were done, pick up the Summer 2010 issue of Movie Maker Magazine off the newsstand or subscribe at www.moviemaker.com/subscribe. Look for the article  Period Piece on the Cheap.  And to check out what else this independent film production company is up to, visit www.humblemagi.com.

Actor James Cromwell, in “A Lonely Place for Dying.”

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

 

Two Hearts Beat As One

6 Comments

“All who joy would win, must share it; happiness was born a twin.” ~ Lord Byron  

The psychology behind raising twins has been studied and written about for decades. The newer studies suggest that behaviorisms of parents raising twins, should be different now, than years ago. All the do’s and don’ts in today’s world of parenting twins looks like this:  

  • “Don’t treat them as a unit”
  • “Separate them into separate classrooms in school.”
  • “Don’t dress them alike.”
  • “Make play dates with separate groups of friends”
  • “Spend time with each twin, individually”
  • “Look for and encourage independence.”
  • “Don’t dress one in pink and the other in blue”  

The list goes on and on. Mighty tall orders to fill for parents of multiple births, who are just trying to get through the day without pulling out their hair!  

Despite the changes in recommendations for raising twins, a lot will always remain  the same for two people who were born on the same day, sharing the same mother. I can vouch for that! My twin will always be my best friend, we will always have our own form of “twin speak”,  our “twin intuition” will always be on the radar screen and that magic bond will always be there!  

Happy Birthday, Jan! Our hearts will always beat as one! With each passing year, mine gets larger for you.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.