Posted by Jeremiah on January 21, 2014
As an educator with thousands of classes of practiced technique, I’ve run across a lot of different ways to approach the art of teaching.
From all those early mornings, my opinion is clear – the best kind of teaching isn’t when the students are running through exercises from tattered teacher’s books – but when they find something that they are really interested in and go out there and get it for themselves.
That’s the entrepreneurial spirit that you can bring to your children’s education with one simple idea – and 4 of their like-minded friends.
Let me show you how your children can gain the connection, motivation and accountability they need to advance in their school life and any given career simply by using the “No more than 4” rule.
We’ve all had that group of friends in our lives that’ve helped to pull us through.
For me, it was the sunlit eclectic group of friends that I lived with in San Francisco. We talked and laughed about a thousand things. And I feel that I grew enormously as a person because of this experience.
If you look at that time in another way, you can see what schools are trying to do when they put four desks together and give their students some kind of problem that’s supposed to prove a point.
Teachers are trying the best they can to tap into a personal interest, the kind that usually comes so naturally over a cup of coffee and a sincere conversation with a friend… but also the kind that falls flat in a dusty environment.
We’ve all been there… and we all prefer to chat with our friends…
This is a fact that’s true the world round.
The explosion of Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn are proof of how much we value social connection – even as we are sharing and staying up to speed on the newest, critically important dog shaming pictures.
This is where your children can apply the “No more than 4” rule to connect their future development in the world with that all important social connection.
Here’s how it works.
Let’s say, for example, that your 10 year old son or daughter has just come home and proudly presented you with a technically crafted perspective drawing of your own home.
For anyone who lived in the dorms next to Architecture students, you’ve seen how many all-nighters… and the degree of passion for perfection that is required – even to graduate.
It takes inspiration, motivation and support to make it in this highly competitive field.
And I say, it takes an early start.
That’s what you can give your children.
Help them put together a group of 3 social media friends that also share this same goal in life.
Then figure out an hour, once a week, when everybody can meet on Skype.
That’s the hard part.
After that, the only direction is to have everyone write down 2 or 3 of their projects and aspirations in Architecture and share them with the group a few days before the weekly meeting.
And you’re finished.
You don’t have to encourage anyone to strive to reach their goals, because they’re all in the same place for the same thing.
This is the kind of tailored, network of support that’s hard to find.
It’s a place that your children will look forward to each week, to see how everyone’s goals are coming along… and to tell everyone about the newest, potentially lucrative opportunities on the horizon…
The group is as simple as that. But it’s also very powerful.
The opportunity for your child to get in contact with 3 like-minded individuals to share their dreams and plan on how to turn that vision into their certain future cannot be understated.
In our own group this structure has helped my fellow copywriter, Julie Gubler, re-design her business to reach the national level.
Rob Nomura has shown us all how to effectively create and monetize web traffic.
And John Mullen has put his MBA and 15 years’ worth of sales experience together to create a exceptionally polished IT copywriting business.
As for myself, I have learned enough from their example to establish myself as the only copywriter specializing in Japanese tourism in San Diego.
Every group is committed, just as most every teacher is committed to giving their students the best education they can.
But when the group gets too big, it can also serve to water down each person’s participation.
When it’s forced, it can stifle the kinds of real conversations that we value so highly in life.
The “No more than 4” idea has allowed our group the time and space to share what was really important to us. The close knit number has helped us stay away from the absenteeism that can take a group down from the inside.
Give your children the opportunity to experience the kind of connection and support as I have in our own “Goldmine Group” and they’ll see how this same approach can be applied to any other interest they have in life.
We are all “out there” checking our mail constantly in the hopes of connecting with people who think, feel and want the same things we do.
You can give that to your children as a gift that they will have for the rest of their lives.
All you have to do is help them schedule a time to make it all happen.
– Jeremiah Magone
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