Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Teach Your Kids To 'Do The Amiya'

This post is prompted by an 11 -year old Detroit business owner named Amiya Alexander. While taking dance lessons, she observed that some of her friends were unable to. Their parents couldn't afford the classes and/or were unable to get to the classes. After bringing this to her mother's attention, she drafted a design of a vehicle and a plan that would allow her friends and others to enjoy convenient, affordable lessons. Amiyah had a dream and a goal. (They are different, you know). Amiya's story below:







I am encouraging all parents to set goals for themselves so their children can witness goal-setting first hand. Take this process a step further and have a dream/goal-setting session with your child(ren). On the way to school this morning, I shared with Princess Zaria that I was going to begin taking classes again in the winter to pursue my goal of higher education. We had a long talk about college(or as long as the ride to school was). She asked why I wanted to go back to college, what classes I needed to take and why I hadn't finished yet? This was the beginning of the dialogue for a teachable moment. After the conversation, I looked to my right and noticed that Zaria was in deep reflection. LOL. Imagine that!

So I asked, "Zaria, what are you thinking about?"

Zaria: Can you take two main classes in college?

Me: Yes, that is called a double major or a dual major.

Zaria: What about three?

Me: I had a friend who thought about a triple major.

Zaria: That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to major in Art, Drama and Dance.

Me: That's called a triple threat, Zaria, and I'm going to help you make that happen.

What are you imparting in your child's life? Are you helping them to set goals and realize their dreams?

7 comments:

  1. Yes mommy. I do want to do those things we talked about because I like art,acting and music. Also I like Tennis.

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  2. What an awesome posting! I thoroughly agree with you for being an example in goal setting. You grabbed the moment to be an example to your daughter with college classes. How many moments have we all missed because we're so wrapped up in our own 'stuff'.

    Amiyah is a glowing example for our children. I loved how her mother encouraged her to go with her dream. Fantastic choice by you to include with your posting! Well done!

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  3. How great is that! My 4 year old daughter wants to be a pediatrician when she grows up as of right now, and we are doing everything we can to encourage her with that...so she can feel like she really can do it and she will want to continue pursuing that dream as she gets older. Following you from mommybloggers rock. http://www.thejoyfuljungle.com

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  4. @Donna We have to grab those teachable moments when we can, We can do that while driving them to school, cooking dinner or even at the grocery store. Thanks for liking the post. You come on back, you hear(In my Beverly Hillbillies voice)LOL,

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  5. @Melissa That is so great. Please cultivate that in her. Detroit's Wayne State University hosts an annual 'Doctor For a Day' Program where they show kids what it's like to be a doctor. What classes you need to take, etc. They even have workshops for parents, as well. Keep believing in her dreams.

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  6. That video brought tears to my eyes. What an inspiration!

    I agree! It's so important that we set goals for ourselves and be an example for our little ones.

    Awesome post!

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  7. Yakini, We have soooo many talented and enterprising kids in Detroit. I may write more posts about them in the near future. Keep reading and thanks for following. Please share with your other mommy blogger friends:)

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