Thursday, February 23, 2006

Leverage

Yesterday was student-led conferences at my kids' school. Or I should say it was the first day. It runs for a week so my kids get out at 1 p.m. everyday. Anyway, I like to get it over with so I did both of them yesterday. Nothing too interesting with my daughter. Her teacher thinks the sun rises and shines on this kid. My son's wasn't all that interesting either except his teacher was concerned about his homework. While the homework itself isn't all that important, she is trying to get him into good habits before he goes off to jr. high. He's interested in going to a fancy private school near my house for high school and then head for Caltech for college. Yes, at age 10 he has made these decisions. We were trying to impress upon him the need for diligence on his homework habits in order to get good grades and achieve his goals.

But his teacher found the right leverage. She found out he wants to learn how to bake. So she told him if he would keep turning his homework in on time, she would teach him how to make a challah. She said she is very good at braiding the dough. This isn't something I can teach him. He is quite excited and told everyone. Odd where leverage comes from.

Other stuff...

I posted on Search for the Good Life about motivation and my lack thereof.