How Children Learn Best

The Principles of Interactive Assistance

• A child learns best in a loving, risk-free environment where success is experienced often.
• A child learns best with frequent, positive one-on-one interaction with someone more knowledgeable.
• A child learns best when someone is able to build on the child’s strengths and expand the child’s knowledge base in a way that is joyful, productive, and meaningful for the child.

• A child learns best when able to make personal discoveries and follow natural interests.
• A child learns best when able to share what has been learned or discovered with others who appreciate it.
• A child learns best when life and learning experiences are integrated in a way that fosters independent mastery.
• A child learns best when in-home experiences are combined with out-of-home experiences that work together for the good of the child.
• A child learns best when creative thinking is nurtured under conditions of organization, consistency and predictability.
• A child learns best when physically and emotionally nourished.
• A child learns best when learning activities incorporate a variety of experiences to strengthen these 5 key areas:

Skills
Knowledge
Relationships
Disposition
Character

Men With Childlike Qualities

I can tell a lot about a man by how he responds to Goober. I'm serious. Goober is a puppet. He's a living, talking Gingerbread cookie puppet who comes to life through my ventriloquism. And he's funny. And has attitude. Women and children almost universally adore him. But men? A different story.

In the same way that only some man are secure enough to wear pink shirts, only some men will dare crack a smile. Only some men will laugh and play along and be child-like and embracing. Others? Not a chance. They are far too manly, far too intelligent, far too successful, far too stiff and boring and professional and eye-rolling to be playful with a muppet-like character like Goober.

But it's ok because the ones who have a sense of humor and a play-along attitude, well, those are the same ones who know that a successful children's character can make many millions of dollars a year. (The Teletubbies did $3 billion in licensing in one year.) It's big business. The men who get this? THOSE are the fun, smart people.

Those are men I want to be in business with, hang out with. Goober is my stuffed shirt sniffer outer, I just realized that.

No wonder I like men who like Goober.