Parenting - Serious Stuff

Yesterday was power packed with Vistage and a SVP Cincinnati event at the Family Nurturing Center.  When A.S. (Vistage Bud) shared his update he said "Parenting is fun ..... but this is serious stuff".  How appropriate - and the reality is parenting can't be "outsourced". 

Attending the Family Nurturing Center (SVP Cincinnati's 2012/2013 Investee) was fun ....  and sobering.  FNC provides visitation services, programs and education (preventative and remedial) for children who have been abused.  The stories show the complete spectrum of sorrow and joy.  There were seven stations set up at FNC for us to understand the various programs and services that FNC provides.  When I heard the briefing of the "Darkness to Light" program, my memory immediately went back to the day in Columbus where we attended a mandatory training for parents (see "Parent Class" blog entry October 25,  2012").  Maybe this video presentation should have been a part of the program.

On Wednesday, I attended the SVP Education committee planning session for our next "Boot Camp" training for Partners.  Our objective was to educate our Partners about the impact education has in our community for kids and youth at risk (our focus area for our next Investment of time and money).  J.K. had the idea to ask each Partner what ONE educational thing, experience, teacher, or training did we feel provides the greatest probability of a successful outcome for children (or that we believe happened personally for ourselves).  Mine was simple - READING to my children, TEACHING them to READ, and trying to instill a LOVE OF READING. 

Two years ago one of our experts that was briefing the SVP Partners on community issues stated that they can predict prison capacity by third grade reading scores.  While this is likely an urban myth (see "Prisons don't use reading scores to predict future inmate populations"), the statement is so intuitive that no one questions it's accuracy.  We all know how important reading is to life success.


Reading - It's serious stuff!  :)