ook: Don't Sprint the Marathon
Obvious as that might appear, as proud and ambitious parents, we often push our children to excel in ways that may help them achieve some early successes- but may sap their stamina to endure the more difficult challenges which life may throw at them. What is more, our obsessive rush to get our children off to a good start overlooks at the fact that in life, as in a marathon, an early lead hardly matters, but being too intent on coming first may leave our children lacking in many of the life skills that a normal childhood would teach them. V. Raghunathan, best selling author of Games Indians Play, offers a alternative approach that can be even more rewarding: life he avers, is not a sprint and it does not in the long run matter very much if you missed out on the best school, college or job as starters. As long as as you give yourself the time to develop your personality and skills, you will still get where you want, at your own pace and perhaps far more happily. To illustrate, based on first-hand interactions, he gives numerous examples of many achievers, famous and not-so-famous, among them N.R. Narayana Murthy, Dr. Kallam Anji Reddy, Dr. P D K Rao, V. Mani, Ashwini Nachappa, G.M. Rao and Ila Bhat. For those helping their children along for success in life, or rethinking their own approach to it, Don’t Sprint the Marathon will prove an invaluable guide.
Maggie Verster on 17 Jul 09As part of a language arts or reading program, students read novels throughout the school year. Some of the novels are assigned, read, and discussed "all class." Others are chosen by the students individually, and they keep individual reading lists. Students may be required to read a certain number per marking period, per school year, and over the summer. Some may be classics; other trade novels, but all contribute to the overall reading and comprehension abilities of the students. This unit can be done as a culminating activity for the school year. Students are asked to choose their two favorite novels from the ones they have read. They write reviews and post them online for students in their own school, in other schools, across the United States, and in other countries to read. The student reviews not only help student readers clarify their own understanding of literature, they also provide a "student-to-student" resource. Other students can choose novels based on opinions of their peers. The students review the novels, write descriptions that will appeal to other readers, and indicate the level of reading difficulty. They do this to help others choose novels suitable for their reading levels.
