Every time I have a game, I have one thing I tell my team every single time. I tell them, "Do I care if you win or lose?” And they know the answer -- I honestly don't. Then I ask them “Do I care if you try?” And the answer to that is definitely yes.

Orff Schulwerk is an active child-centered approach to music education where you take what the kids are already doing when they're born, playing, singing, dancing, speech, games, drama, and beyond. You use that to teach the concepts and the skills in music, which makes so much more sense than anything. Also, music class is not just about teaching students to be great musicians, we are teaching them to appreciate beauty, work cooperatively, and use creativity, while developing their motor skills and often performing tasks requiring independence and higher order thinking skills.
              

We all know that “education” is more than the gathering of facts and knowledge (and in the case of PKS, two languages). Social and emotional development are equally fundamental, and multiple studies demonstrate that integration of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs in school pave the way for better academic learning: they teach children skills that are intimately linked with cognitive development, helping them be focused, attentive, motivated, engaged, and confident in their learning. 

October’s Habit of Character focus was Independence (独立自主). In order to develop children’s independence, we must trust them. Sometimes they will make mistakes and experience challenges both socially and academically.