Greetings new subscribers and loyal readers,
Terry Cortese, here. I am the Executive Director of DestinationLearn, Inc. and an Academic Advisor at our local Community College here in Bloomington, Indiana.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a home that was chock full of books. Some of my fondest memories from childhood involve sitting around the dinner table with my parents and their friends following the conversation from one topic to another, until I would be sent to the bookshelf to pull a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica set, so the adults could look up a subject or historical event they were enthusiastically discussing.
My mother would then instruct me on the guide words to look for, help me zero in on the topic, and ask me to read aloud what I had found. I learned all sorts of interesting things this way, but more importantly, I learned to use reference resources to get a handle on the facts surrounding a topic. As I grew older, I returned to the brown, leather-bound, gold-stamped volumes time and again. Sometimes, it was to help me get started on a report for school, other times, I looked things up just to satisfy my curiosity. This is one of the more memorable ways my parents modeled lifelong learning for me.
I know there are many more things my parents taught me by example which I don't remember, yet profoundly influence how I interact with my own children today. Having my own children now, I have come to recognize that life offers us so many daily opportunities to influence our children’s approach to knowledge. Keep in mind, not every interaction needs to create a lasting memory to make a lasting difference.
This blog is dedicated to helping parents and educators find ways to take small, effective steps toward showing children what they need to be successful in both school and life.
In the meantime, if you have any great ideas to share with other interested parents and educators, please, send them my way, I am looking for guest bloggers and am interested in what you have to say.
I’d love to hear from you! Please contact me at terry@destinationlearn.net. 😊