https://youtu.be/okgmhaoU_K8 I remember exactly where I was in 4th grade. I was sitting at a small group of tables in math class. There was a big window at a 45-degree angle to my left, and the chalkboard (this was way before dry-erase boards, folks) was straight ahead. Outside that window, the next recess block was […]
https://youtu.be/00ucPXpUq5M It’s the phone call no Kenosha parent wants to get. Your child’s teacher is on the line reporting “disruptive behavior.” You’re confused because you know your child is a good kid at heart, but in the classroom, something isn’t clicking. As a former elementary school teacher with a Master’s in Education, I’ve been on […]
https://youtu.be/2qATGVJOSY8 Did you know the number one place where kids decide to quit an activity isn’t on the field or the mat? It’s in the backseat of your car. It’s a natural parental instinct to go into “Fix-It Mode.” We see our kids struggle at a tournament or miss a tackle at a football game, […]
https://youtu.be/bck6VPojnLk As a Master of Education with over 25 years of experience in the classroom and on the karate mat, I often hear parents ask, “Why can’t my child just focus?” It’s easy to blame the child, but we have to look at the math. In the 1980s—what some might call “prehistoric caveman times”—the average […]
https://youtu.be/-tvmla9zwE8 I’m old enough to remember when getting an Atari was the height of technology. But I’ll never forget the first time I played Super Mario Brothers at a friend’s house. The very first thing you do as Mario is walk across the screen and hit that brick with the question mark. BOOM. A mushroom […]
https://youtu.be/IrtGgU5_vg0 I remember being a young teacher in my early 20s when the “Self-Esteem Movement” really took flight. The idea was simple: we wanted to build up every child’s confidence by making sure nobody ever felt like a “loser.” We started giving medals for 4th, 5th, and 6th place. We started giving trophies just for […]
https://youtu.be/clYFjtCIIgAv I’ll never forget when my son was seven. He really wanted to play baseball. I thought, “Great, seven is the perfect age to start.” What I didn’t realize was that in the Kenosha youth sports world, most of the other kids had been playing T-ball since they were three. Watching a seven-year-old throw a […]
https://youtu.be/dkOWonMoPq8 I remember being in fourth grade, sitting at my desk, and drifting. The drapes were open, and I was watching a different grade level play kickball during recess. I wasn’t being disruptive; I was just… gone. My teacher yelled my name, sent me to the learning center to write 100 sentences, and then gave […]
https://youtu.be/4f5StmUWbzA Twenty years ago, during my decade as an elementary music teacher in the Racine Unified School District, I had a beginner trumpet student who changed the way I looked at education. He was struggling in his regular classroom—in fact, his teacher called him the “most disruptive” student she had. But in my band room, […]
https://youtu.be/l7XktPD68n4 Since I opened Championship Martial Arts – Kenosha in 2020, parents often ask me: “How is Karate different from other sports?” My answer is always the same: Meaningful Achievement. As a former teacher with a Master’s degree in Education and over a decade in the Racine Unified School District, I’ve seen where the modern […]
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Recent Posts
- The Participation Trophy Antidote: Why Kenosha Karate Intentionally Uses Failure
- The Perfect Age to Start Karate: Why Waiting Until 8 is Already “Behind”
- Developing a “Black Belt Voice”: A Kenosha Parent’s Guide to Bully-Proofing
- “What Should My Child Wear?” and Other First-Day Karate Questions
- How Long Does It Take to Get a Black Belt? (The 5-Year Truth)