Being educated is important, wouldn’t you agree? In many ways our students have fallen behind. This is not all the teachers fault.

Horace Mann (1796-1859) is known as the “Father of American Education” because of his great impact on education. Mann believed the best way to deal with unruly children was to educate them. Early educators focused on the head, the hands and the heart. In other words, the brain, the application of knowledge and the emotional well being of children.

Fast forward to today. Teachers are forced to “teach to the test.” STAAR testing is their focus. Do you wonder why? Because test scores determine how much funding they receive from, you guessed it, the federal government. Students are memorizing information so they will do well on the test. I know a lot of educators. Not a single one is an advocate for the test. And students aren’t energized to learn, only to regurgitate a bunch of information.

A better approach is to teach kids critical thinking skills and test their proficiency. Teachers can capture their imagination. Kids will engage their minds.

When you reach the heart of a child, he will give you everything else…