“We promise your child will understand the importance of character.”
If you have ever been to a birthday celebration in the elementary school, you have seen this promise fulfilled. It is a celebration of life with children articulating authentic kindness, empathy and respect for others.
If you have ever observed weekly meetings with learners for their core skills planning, you have seen this promise fulfilled. The self-discipline and accountability verbalized by the children moves me to be better myself.
If you watch a Socratic discussion, you will see this promise fulfilled. This method requires from the learners: patience, self-control, respect for others and humility. I witness courage in action as the learners voice their thoughts concisely, often disagreeing with the opinions of close friends yet with respect and politeness.
If you see the middle or high school learners guide each other in Squads, you will note their dedication, trust and empathy that is building each day.
I see hard work paired with fun-loving humor each day at Wonder. I see learners solving their own conflicts with each other with graceful intention.
To me, this may be our essential job, for how can you begin a hero’s journey without tapping into your own courage? What is it worth to be a great mathematician or business person or artist or doctor or teacher if you don’t know how to be in honest relationship with others or share true compassion or forgiveness?
While we can’t even imagine the world our children will be living in as adults, we can trust that they will be well-practiced in making decisions based on the best character traits within themselves. They will know who they are and how special they are. They will know when to say, “no” and when to say, “yes.”
Could this be our most important promise to you? I lean strongly toward, “yes.”
[Blogs or portion of blogs may be adapted from the blog of our partner school founder and advisor, Laura Sandefer.]