An article in the weekend West about this subject made me laugh! Of course da Vinci showed all the supposed signs of ADHD and thank goodness! Without his quirky, creative brain we would not have Mona Lisa and countless innovative ideas that have lead to amazing modern inventions.
We call our Saturday morning program the Da Vinci Program. I asked the students why they think I wanted that name. I was stunned by the answer from a ten year old kid, “Because we are all mini da Vincis!” He is so right!
We encourage creative thought, inventive ideas and research. However we also teach kids how to organise their amazing brains so they can actually FINISH things and manage their time. I don’t want to dumb down their ideas and creativity- rather to encourage and grow them! However, we can help these kids to manage themselves so they can learn to “play the game” and fit in while they get educated.
Students who attend my program know they must learn times tables, spell conventionally and read fluently otherwise they will be judged to be deficient by society.
They must also learn to be resilient and develop self-discipline and positive mind-sets.
Our programs cover all of these areas and we create a happy environment where all kids are affirmed and learn to grow their gifts. There are many ways to learn and many ways to teach and a true educator is an enlightened scientist searching for the learning keys for all their students.