The Education Game (Matt Barnes and I) launched a beta edition of The Promise and The Plan a few weeks ago. The Promise and The Plan’s singular goal is to help parents transform their children into self-directed, independent, life-long learners. Most schools aren’t going to create this type of learner. “The Promise” is the compact between the parent and their child, and “The Plan” is mapping the pathway toward the singular goal.
The Promise and The Plan begins with The Scouting Report, a document helping parents and their children capture the young learner’s current reality about how their learning is happening today. The rationale behind The Scouting Report is you can’t know where you are going unless you know where you are. After completing The Scouting Report, parents and their children are asked to begin to fill out The Game Plan, a learning plan focused on building four distinct skills in your child: reading, communication (both written and oral), problem-solving, and character. The Game Plan also addresses three important questions: 1) What do we want the child to learn? 2) How do we know the child has learned it? and 3) What do we do when the child doesn’t learn it? The Game Plan changes weekly, based on performance and feedback. To help parents complete and update The Game Plan, The Education Game has designed an 8 episode on-line course. The Promise and The Plan course covers topics like goal-setting, evaluation, and intervention. The course provides an on-line toolbox to support parents and their children as they travel the pathway to self-directed, independent, life-long learning.
Sound good? Matt and I thought so, but here’s the problem. So far, both of us have been underwhelmed by the response to our call for parents and families interested in doing this work. This morning, during our check-in, Matt and I wondered if too many parents see this opportunity as a “nice to do” instead of “have to do?” We’ve heard stories from parents who think the process is too lengthy and too difficult. Parents call us on our English and Spanish phone lines — 832-210-1200, x1200 (English), x1202 (Spanish) — and tell us they can’t find time to complete The Scouting Report. Others tell us they wonder whether changing their child’s educational trajectory is the right thing to do. (Schedule your free 1-on-1 to discuss your situation).
Parents! Matt and I believe we have created a promising process to create a self-directed, independent, life-long learner inside your child. But we can’t do this work for you or without you. There is a leadership model that teaches us “dissatisfaction leads to motivation,” and that “satisfaction leads to apathy.” The Education Game needs to know what type of parent you are and what type of young learner you want your child to become. When you think about your child’s current educational condition, are you a parent who is dissatisfied to the point of being motivated to do something different? Are you a parent who believes developing your child into a self-directed, independent, life-long learner is a “have to do” and not a “nice to do?” Are you a parent who is “sick and tired of being sick and tired of poor educational delivery so far?”
If you are dissatisfied to the point of being motivated to change, if you see this opportunity as a “have to do” and not necessarily a “nice to do,” if you are “sick and tired of being sick and tired,” then Matt and I invite you to go to our website to access a copy of The Scouting Report to get the change process started. It’s time to decide who is in the game, or not. No blame, no shame. Let’s go! Let’s get after it, only if YOU WANT TO GET AFTER IT!