What builds a child’s self-confidence? Some might say that experience builds confidence, while others might suggest words of affirmation. But most would probably guess that it’s a good mix of both. Surprisingly, recent studies have shown that children who are praised...
Jennifer Aromo was a happy, normal girl living in Uganda. She went to school each day like other children, worked hard in all of her classes, and dreamed of a world of possibilities after graduation. In the evenings, she came home to help with chores and finished her...
It’s that time of year again—the time when stores fill up with rows of backpacks, roads fill up with yellow buses, and classrooms fill up with bright, smiling faces. There’s just something exciting about the start of a new school year. Sadly, many children around the...
I want you to join me and think back to your teenage years—hopefully this is not a painful exercise—and think about how you’ve changed since then. A quick poll of my coworkers revealed that most of us now consider ourselves “very different” than when we were...
Sajina sat nervously as her teacher walked around the classroom collecting homework. When it was her turn to pass in the assignment, she hung her head and admitted she didn’t have it . . . again. For years, Sajina had missed assignments and been absent from school...