Recital

This is it! The recital was on Saturday, and everyone did great! I could not be prouder of the progress that all my students have made. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to work with them for the past 12 weeks. They have taught me so much, and I like to think that I taught them at least a little bit about music. Thank you, everyone, and enjoy the show.

P.S. My oldest student couldn't make it to the recital, so I had him come to my house one last time so I could record him playing the piece he had been working on. 

How Children Succeed

Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character

The author of this book, Paul Tough, discusses that the success of a child depends not on what society glorifies, such as test scores and school admissions. He argues that the qualities that matter most are that of character. He puts a lot of emphasis on parenting, since that plays a huge part in determining a child's character later on down the road. He says that even if a child grows up in a neglectful or abusive household, there is still hope for their future. He first looked at a study of rat pups and their relationship with their mothers.

Paul Tough

When a pup received the comforting experience of licking and grooming as an infant, it grew up to be braver and bolder and better adjusted than a pup who hadn't, whether or not its biological mother was the one who had done the licking and grooming.

                   - Tough

Neuroscientists have evidence that this occurs in humans as well. For example, a teacher can be that rearing parental figure for a child. 1950s and 1960s behaviorists John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth conducted experiments to find that babies whose parents reacted to every small cry in their infancy were "more independent and intrepid" in preschool and even later in life. They concluded that warm, sensitive, parental care created a 'secure base' for each child, encouraging them to go out and explore the world. 

Ainsworth later conducted the Strange Situation experiment, outlined as shown. In the end, she found three different types of mother-child attachment: 

secure attachment, 

ambivalent-insecure attachment, and avoidant-insecure attachment.

Tough tells us that 60% of American children are securely attached to their parents. These are the children that will see greater achievement and stronger relationships as they grow older. That's all thanks to the great parenting demonstrated in their lives.

Tough shares an interesting story about children revolving their lives around chess. Sure, these kids will be really good at chess. But is that what's best for them? Some people can see that a childhood organized obsessively around one thing is unbalanced. On the other hand, some people wish they had had a childhood like that. Imagine how good I would be at the piano if my parents had forced me to practice 2 hours a day since I was 5. I'd be amazing! But just think about everything I would have missed out on. My social skills would be lacking, my transcript wouldn't look so good, and I would have distorted priorities. My parents did a good job at getting me involved in lots of different things as a kid. Soccer, dance, piano, choir, band, hiking, and more. But service and kindness were always the most important. To this day, as I walk out the door, they say, "Remember your name". They want my good character to be what people remember about me. The positive parenting and the experiences I've been given have made me who I am. 

"The development of an individual's character depends on all sorts of mysterious interactions among culture and family and genes and free will and fate." - Tough