by Pamela Sigler Taylor

Created on: July 28, 2008

My philosophy:
Some say that a child is like a blank slate. Some say that the school's job is to educate children. Although both of these statements are true to a point they do not grasp the entirety of education and its goals. Education is a complex system. It must reach various levels of the child's needs, not just one. Let us look at a parallel example. Writing a book is a complex matter. If the author chose to only develop one thing, characters, but never a plot, the book is not going to be complete. The schools a lot of times educate but one small part of the child, their academic side. I propose a more comprehensive way of thinking. One in which we would look at the entire child.

The entire child is a complete child made up of various components. There are the academic side, the emotional side, the explorative nature and the physical side. I also look at these four as the head, heart, hands, and feet mentalities. Now, let's explore each one briefly.
The head or academic part of the child is generally well addressed in schools today. I would even guess that 90% of the day is spent working on this part of the child's needs. In my school I would ask that staff look at each child as an individual and not as a part of a whole. Tracking indicators individually would be instrumental in being able to diagnose areas of strength as well as areas of concerns. These would then be further explored and lessons would be developed around these needs. Small group sessions reaching the top, bottom and middle would be key components.

The heart or the emotional side of the child would be another area of focus. Many children come to us today with family issues or having been victimized in some way. Without being able to help them get past that they cannot do their best. Guidance counselors as well as outside resources may be important to a child's emotional health. Too many children are unable to concentrate in a class due to wandering thoughts about situations not in their control. The school needs to be a safe haven wherein we can assist them to be their best. We need to help some children heal.

The explorative nature or hands side of a child is the hands-on learner in each of us. This is not just important in the lower grades but all through school. Reading about something versus exploring something is totally different. Let's look at science as an example. Bobby wants to learn about soil. He reads in a book that clay cannot grow crops like humus can. The book defines each

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