by Don Berg, Founder
Attitutor Services

Attitude is the key to lifelong educational success.

For instance, after working with one of my students for about a year, his mother, who worked as an assessment specialist for a nearby school district, called me.

The year before he came to me this boy had an absolutely miserable experience in first grade.

It was so bad that his mother (who obviously believes in the school system since she works for it) abandoned traditional schooling for her son by hiring me.

She told me that his experience the year before was so terrible that he might never learn to read.

What she feared is what I call motivational amputation, the removal of a child's innate joy and passion for learning.

Of course, given her position she had given him a full assessment before he came to me and she was calling to tell me the results of the follow-up assessments.

We were both already aware that after several months he had initiated, and then negotiated with me, a series of reading lessons much to his mother's surprise and delight.

What she shared a little less than a year later on the phone was more good news.

He had made a minimum of two years progress in every measurable category and up to four years progress in the more social categories.

While he must have gained a little more knowledge, a few more skills and some additional information during his year with me, the assessment results, and more importantly, his drive to learn to read were because of the shift in his attitude.

He was better able to maintain an appropriate state of mind under a greater diversity of situations than before his time with me and that is what really counts in life, not just education.

My teaching practice as a teacherpreneur was the opposite of a classroom.

In a classroom you:

• Gather a bunch of kids about the same age
• Into a room
• Bring resources into the room
• Then tell the kids what to do with them.

In my teaching practice I:

• Gathered an age diverse group (as much as possible)
• Asked them what they wanted to do
• Explored the community with them to discover what resources were available, and then
• Helped them work together on the things they chose to do.

The goal is to help school children retain or regain their joy and passion for learning.

If you teach Readin', 'Ritin', 'n' 'Ritmetic, but not Respect, Responsibility and Resourcefulness, then your students are at risk for motivational amputation.

The symptoms of motivational amputation include a lack of interest in learning, a sense that participating in a group (or class) is pointless, and cynicism and resignation in the face of injustice.

This site provides the information and tools you need to prevent motivational amputation.

If we put attitude first throughout our education system then the long-term RESULTS will include:

• Passionate teachers teaching
• Enthusiastic students in
• Joyful schools, and
• Coincidently, improved test scores, reduced stress, self-managed behavior, improved self-image, respect for legitimate authority, and increased academic excellence.

If you are responsible for school-age children (~6-12 years old) then this site is for you.

Whether you are a teacher, principal, camp counselor, director, nanny, parent or have any other position taking care of, educating, and leading children then you:

1. have chosen a position of moral leadership with children
2. need in depth understanding of attitude, and,
3. need long-term strategies for nurturing the children in your care.

This site is NOT about the short-term achievement of:

• Obedience
• High test scores
• Positive self-esteem
• Behavioral management, nor
• Academic instruction

Those results will occur over the long-term, not necessarily in the short-term.

Teach-Kids-Attitude-1st.com is about helping you to provide the best possible educational leadership in any situation where you are in charge of kids.

No matter how good you are at the technical skills of information delivery you are not doing the best possible job until you also fulfill your moral duty to teach children to understand and adjust their attitude.

"Who is this guy?" you ask.

I am a teacherpreneur (entrepreneurial teacher) with over 15 years experience leading and caring for children in a variety of settings, plus, I home schooled other people’s kids for about five years using an adaptive curriculum focused on attitude, not academics.

I have also done nearly everything you can do with kids outside the formal classroom over the years; out-of-school program leadership, child care center teaching, camp counseling, and nannying.

Unfortunately, my original business model was not sustainable (I am re-building my business starting with this web site.)

While I chose not to use traditional methods of instruction for my teaching practice, I intuitively knew that there was something else that was more important and it was the same something taught by every great classroom teacher, too.

I have spent over a decade figuring out exactly what I was doing that is exactly the same as every great classroom teacher does, and that is why this site is all about attitude.

Are you ready to tap into the

• Passion
• Enthusiasm and
• Joy

All you have to do is click a link!

Enjoy,

Don Berg