For sure there are some matters on which we want our children to agree with us. However, if we want to encourage them to discern thoughts for themselves, they need to learn how to think. There are two key factors to consider when teaching a child how to think. Sharing with them a combination of values and skills is what will naturally teach them how to think.
The Crenshaw Academy Partners with Parents
Here at the Crenshaw Academy, we want to work together with parents to help them teach their children how to think. Below are some of the values and skills we will equip your children with to help them in their journey.
Because, like our founder, we know the importance of community. It is our guarantee to you that we will work together to see that your child has the most successful future.
The Four Values
We have certain values here at the Crenshaw Academy that we aim to share with you. We believe that these values will be the foundation and half of the training that will teach your child how to think. We are here to build character and model individuals for society.
1. Respect
First and foremost, we want our students to respect all people with whom they come in contact. We especially want them to respect those who play a big part in molding their minds, namely authority figures and parental/guardian figures. It is important that the children that we will one day send out into the world are kind, listen well, and are polite. With this instilled into them, it will serve them well when they approach someone that they may disagree with.
There are ways to be respectful to someone yet not fully submit to the thoughts they share with you. Only if we treat people with respect and dignity will they be willing to hear our thoughts and what we say. If we don’t ingrain respect into our children first, they can enter into dogmatic arguments that benefit no one.
2. Well-Roundedness
It’s not enough in this world to just be smart, or just be athletic, or just be artsy. That’s why we hope to create a well-rounded student that has multiple facets of experience, which will give them an advantage. It will allow them to have authority in topics they talk about because they have experience as well.
When we partner together with you, the parent, to enforce well-roundedness into your child, they can impact the world. They’ll be able to go anywhere and impact anyone. We want children to have the fullest of lives and impact their generation and generations to come through all avenues.
3. Community and Collaboration
Above all, we value community and the ability to work alongside each other. As we build community with you, the parents, and as they build community among their peers, we hope they grow this value for themselves. We aim to create this atmosphere that your child will see as the biggest benefit in life.
When we live and work alongside our community, we build a support system. No one falls down and gets left behind because we all look out for each other.
4. Leadership and Citizenship
At the end of the day, we want our students, your children, to be influencers. We want them to lead in impacting the world and making it better and better. Full of the ability to lead, having good morals, and recognizing the big picture of the human race, they can make the difference we need.
We have a lot of followers in this world, but we need more good leaders. Those who will lead society and the next generations in the right direction. Leaders who see themselves as being one with people, not better than, and willing to serve others.
With these values, we will come alongside you to build a firm foundation for your child and their character.
6 Skills That Will Help Children Think for Themselves
Alongside building character through values, we partner certain skills with those values that create a template and well-oiled machine on how to think and make decisions. With these tools, your child will be able to navigate thoughts and ideas thrown at them and sift through it all to think for themselves.
- Debate: We will teach your child the ability to have civilized arguments.
- Discussion: Not only will they be able to argue, but they will be able to communicate cohesively.
- Writing: They will learn to be able to write argumentatively/persuasively, narratively, and also as an expression of their own thoughts as a creative outlet.
- Reading: Being able to read well will then equip them to research and expand their minds both with creative literature and informative pieces.
- Questioning: Not only will reading help them with research but questions will too. Questions will set the tone for being able to research and find the truth.
- Experimenting: Asking questions, researching, and then implementing them will create an atmosphere of safe experimentation to test their theories and thoughts.
These skills partnered with our values will create an individual of society who is able to know how to think. They will have a moral basis and then the skills to accompany them to know how to sift through all the thoughts and ideas that society throws at them.
The Crenshaw Academy
The Crenshaw Academy is a K-12 is a private college preparatory school located in Gotha, Florida. Our founder, Brenda Crenshaw, believed in “out-of-the-box” techniques for education. Our graduates are received into Colleges and Universities globally. Some even go on into medical school and receive their masters.
Brenda set in motion a school that prides itself on a cohesive sense of community, a pervasive friendliness, and a commitment to sensitivity and awareness, as well as academic excellence. Never through teaching to a test, but through connection, inspiration, awe, and interaction inspiring our students to actively relate in the world. To learn more about The Crenshaw Academy, you can visit our website. Contact us to find out about how your child can be part of our school.