The Eye-Opener 

For good students, there are grants and awards.
That's great. But what about the others?

What about youngsters who are a real challenge -
​to their parents, to their teachers, to themselves?

Some adolescents do great in some subjects, in others they find it a struggle to survive ...
Many children do just fine until the age of twelve or thirteen and then suddenly lose all interest ...
We've all known kids like that. Were we like that ourselves? And what about our children now?​

So, your kid has a hard
time ​in school. Why?

​Of course, there are real learning disabilities. Like dyslexia and dyscalculia.  There are excellent pedagogical strategies to tackle them.

But in so many cases we find:           The trouble is not in the brain. It is in the soul.
​
Adolescents can feel like a fish out of water, they're simply not in tune with themselves.
So, private tuition, cramming and even punishments only fight the symptoms, not the cause.

What they need is an Eye-Opener.                      

​Better chances to understand yourself and your abilities.
    Chances to tally talents with passions.

Chances to make as many new starts as it takes.
    Chances to find bold role models and wider horizons.

Chances to build confidence and self-esteem.
    Chances to encounter what resonates with your spirit.   

Chances to have a place and value in society.
​    Chances to feel useful, needed, appreciated.
​       And one day, remembered.

The Eye-Opener concept is based on the work of Sir Ken Robinson. 
​He was a visionary thinker, a trailblazer for better education.
​His TED-talks are among the most viewed and quoted, his books
​are a tremendous support to millions of parents and teachers. 
​
Sir Kens book  "The Element - How Finding Your Passion
​Changes Everything"  was published in 2009.

This talk from 2006 has a wonderful eye-
​opener story, it's quite a classic by now.
It has since been viewed over 70 million times
on the TED channel, over 400 million times in
total and is truly worth your time (19 minutes).
However, to get the gist, just proceed to
​14.40 min and listen for three minutes. 
​​

An epiphany needs a chance to happen. It needs an open door. That's where the community comes in.​

​Our very first Eye-Opener candidate was Emma in 2010. Her story shows just how hard adolescents sometimes struggle to find the right words for their conflicts.
​
It wasn't until many years later that she could talk
about the dark cloud of her early teenage years. 
Emma  presumed her parents would want her to go
to university, just like the rest of the family. She did not want to disappoint them. But she didn't feel up to it.

Emma didn't have the words to communicate her worries
then, and felt overwhelmed and unhappy.
Today, she says, "I am sure lots of kids feel the way I did then. A baby can't tell you why it's crying. And I couldn't explain why I felt like a fish out of water.
​My mum had the patience and the intuition to gently guide me towards my own epiphany, I'm forever grateful for that. Because I would not have known what to look for, not where and not how."

Read the stories and see for yourself:   
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