Your Choices Shape the Future

Every choice you make 
shapes the future.

Wouldn't you like to learn 

how to make better choices 

for the future?

Puppets for Learning Programme

I'm going to meet with Gary Friedman from Corporate Creatures when I visit Sydney end of June. He build puppets much like the muppet-style of Jim Henson.

Watch the video here and enjoy just how enchanting it could be to learn something with these puppets leading the way!

Corporate Creatures™ Promo (7 min full version) from Corporate Creatures™ on Vimeo.

Every Child Has a Thinking Style

A friend gave me this book to read because of our work with children. I enjoyed the way the author, Lanna Nakone, presented the "why and how" of children's learning preferences.

Are you a parent looking for a deeper understanding of how your child approaches life and learning? Are you facing a particular challenge with your child? You might appreciate the insight from Lanna Nakone's 4 basic organizing types on how children face their challenges and reach their potential.

Basic profiles for the 4 organizing types:
- Maintainers - mascot "The Penguin" - follow routines and are predictable.
- Harmonizers - mascot "The Dog" - love company and harmony, collecting mementos from their experiences
- Innovators - mascot "The Horse" - are unpredictable, focused in particular situations, and need freedom to cover wide spaces literally and figuratively
- Prioritizers - mascot "The Lion" - are agile, quick to the chase and want to play master of their environment

Buy the book if you want to learn more.

King Willem 1st School for the Future

Carola Verschoor and I traveled to Den Bosch in The Netherlands to meet with Coen Free, the Chairman and visionary behind The King Willem 1st College's School for the Future This is actually the English translation from Dutch for Koning Willem 1 College School voor de Toekomst.

Carola is our new Program Director and jumped into her role with a knowingness about how to address one of the challenges facing us - finding a starting place to get the Kids 2020 Learning Program going. We had discussed the rationale behind becoming an ingredient brand inside other organizations focused on children and learning. What we never expected to happen was to run into someone like Coen Free and his exceptional campus of schools.

We are facing the challenge of developing a prototype and getting to "proof of concept" with it. Once we do that, we can test that prototype in a few different cities in different countries to work out the cultural dimensions. Before we can even do that, we need to find a place to develop the training program for the trainers, coaches and guides while developing the Kids 2020 Learning Program itself.

The King Willem 1st College in DenBosch offers us the kind of learning environment that focuses on lifelong learning. On this campus, there are schools there for adults, children and teens. Coen Free visited the USA many years ago and was inspired by the community college system there, which offers a learning framework for people who cannot meet the requirements of the traditional university. He has established individually-focused learning programs for all ages and interests so that people can develop themselves and grow from that. Even the rooms are set up to inspire and motivate people. They even had a relica of a 1950's American diner for their cafeteria, complete with juke-box! Have a peek at their photos.

Just being on the campus inspired us. We could see the possibilities - and we think that Coen could see them, too. We'll explore them in collaboration and see if we can get to a working arrangement. Stay tuned...we'll keep you posted.