Do you know your child's strengths?

I am getting ready for my parent/student/teacher conference for my children. I love these conferences because I get the opportunity to ask others what they see in my children. I am on the search for something specific though. I am on the search for their STRENGTHS.

Did you know that the Gallup Organization did some research that revealed that parents spend most of their time focusing low grades versus high grades. This applies to 70+% of us!

I do a lot of strength based coaching at work. I was very excited to see the the Gallup Organization recently release a new book for 10-14 year olds. I purchased it. I am working through it with my daughter who is 10. It is a fantastic resource.

I plan to weave the conversation into the parent/teacher/student conference at school. I am looking to:

- Show my daughter that I am looking for her strengths in use. I want to praise her and encourage her in these areas.

- Engage her teacher in a different way. I want to inform him of her strengths so he can guide her toward projects that will "feed her fire" and allow her to be challenged and grow.

We are also using this strength information to help us choose our summer camps wisely. We can only do so much in this area so we want to make sure that we put our children in activities that work for them versus work against them.

Again, I highly recommend this book and the approach to coaching children. You won't be disappointed.