students on a mountain

Blog

Tools of Maturity Chart for the Will Years

 

Name _______________________  Start Date _____________  End Date ______________

     Score your progress in both the Now and Goal columns on a scale from 1 to 12 (1 = no skill, 12 = established)

The BodyNowGoalEnd
P-1 Gaining Control of Your Diet: Choose healthy, well-balanced meals.


P-2 Getting Up in the Morning: Wake up with ease, cheerfully and enthusiastically.


P-3a Healthy Habits: Exercise – Get plenty of physical activity.


P-3b Healthy Habits: Posture – Keep spine erect in sitting, standing and moving.


P-3c Healthy Habits: Cleanliness – Have good personal habits (bathing, brushing teeth…).


P-3d Healthy Habits: Physical Appearance – Dress appropriately (neat, clean and modest).


Feelings    

F-1 Making Friends: Practice listening, helping and sharing.


F-2a Choosing Happiness: Attitude – Develop a positive approach to life.


F-2b Choosing Happiness: Humor and Playfulness – Find amusing and uplifting perspectives.


F-3a Practicing Peace: Contentment – Seek a state of centeredness and calmness.


F-3b Practicing Peace: Self-Respect – Nurture a healthy relationship with yourself.


F-4 Nurturing Even-Mindedness: Calm and relax the mind and feelings as needed.


F-5 Working with Others: Bring harmony and sincerity into your relationships.


F-6 Expanding Sensitivity: Appreciate beauty in music, nature and other people.


Will Power


W-1 Living Truth: Speak, think and act with integrity.    

W-2a Building Will Power: Self-Control – Choose actions consciously and wisely.


W-2b Building Will Power: Initiative – Try new things.


W-2c Building Will Power: Perseverance – Bring projects to completion.


W-2d Building Will Power: Orderliness –  Organize schoolwork, room, etc.


W-2e Building Will Power: Punctuality – Keep a schedule and arrive on time.


W-3 Cultivating Courage: Overcome worry; face challenges with determination and faith.


Intellect


I-1 Developing Concentration: Ignore distractions and focus attention.


I-2 Exploring Flexibility: Be open to different ideas and experiences.


I-3a Sharpening the Mind: Attentiveness – Notice details.


I-3b Sharpening the Mind: Introspection – Be aware of inner realities.


I-3c Sharpening the Mind: Memory – Remember things and positive moments.


I-3d Sharpening the Mind: Reasoning – Think logically.


I-3e Sharpening the Mind: Imagination – Be creative in daily activities.


Additional quality that you’d like to track. ____________________________


A Skills for Living Course for 12 & 13 Year-Olds

By Aryavan McSweeney

We are now two months into our inaugural middle school Life Skills course, in association with the Living Wisdom Online High School. We have a wonderful group of 7 students, hailing from many parts of the world: India, Iran, Italy, and Uganda. 

The purpose of the class was to give potential incoming students to the high school to get an experience of EFL’s unique approach to education, even in an online format. The past two years have given students around the world ample opportunity to become accustomed to taking classes online, which gives us the chance to show an even richer contrast between EFL and other approaches.

Already we (Niyatti, one of the wonderful teachers from LWS Pune, is leading the course with me) have had a wonderful time learning about and from our new students. We’ve done will power challenges, games to discover our likes and dislikes (and try to transmute them), and even some affirmation and meditation. 

One day per week we give up something that we enjoy, with some notable examples being television, Instagram, and even milk! There has been much laughter in figuring out the best approach to building the will power necessary to overcome these challenges. One student gave up sweets for the day, then found themselves caught in a rain storm, taking shelter in what he later discovered was a sweet shop. When the proprietor offered free sweets, rather than succumb to temptation, he opted to run home in the rain!

Through the experience in this class, Niyatti and I hope to offer more such classes for students in India, to give them a taste of what school could be. We are now seeing that offering these “Skills for Living” is a great way to bridge the gap between what we offer and what most students are receving, both in terms of content and of marketing. Parents are interested in trying to bring balance to their child’s academic-focused education, and the children (especially at this age) are enjoying the fun that comes in new challenges. We feel this could be one model for expanding EFL’s reach throughout India, and perhaps abroad.

Mahnoush’s Story

In the Fall of 2018 we were trying our best to rejuvenate the high school at Ananda Village. Our program which had started in 1997 had fallen on hard times with enrollment shrinking to two students. As part of our outreach, we received an outstanding application from Mahnoush, a student in Iran. Since all of our classes at that time were taught in-person here at the Village, we began the process of getting her a student visa. Due to the political climate at that time, we continually ran into roadblocks. At one point Mahnoush was having an encouraging conversation with an agent at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi (there is no U.S. Embassy in Iran). He told her that everything looked to be in order, but that he would need to make one last check with his supervisor. When he returned, his face looked tense, and he told her that her application was not approved. Mahnoush was devastated. When I heard the news, I took my frustration into meditation with a conversation that went something like this. “Master, I know you want your approach to education to continue to grow. Here is a perfect student who would benefit greatly by joining us. Why can’t it happen?” When I got calm enough, the thought came to me, “Why don’t you try to work with her online?” I immediately got up and went to my computer. There, in my inbox was a message from Mahnoush’s parents that said, “Is there any chance that she could join you online?” We forged ahead and a year and a half later when Covid hit, we had an up and running online program that could serve our students seamlessly.

An-Out-of-the-Box Experience

By Shanti Pollacek
Living Wisdom High School Student

A school that takes two weeks out of the year to go traveling is extremely rare and many people don’t understand the incredible learning experiences that happen during these trips. The service adventure trips offer education from experience rather than from a teacher or a textbook. Here is a look into my personal experience from this past trip to an orphanage in Mexico and what I learned.

Cultural Experience

Being immersed in the Mexican culture for two weeks was beyond different from the lifestyle I was used to. Their food, their language, their customs, their beliefs and their qualities were all different from that in California. I found it incredibly humbling to be in a position where I knew nothing. At the orphanage, we did everything they did: we ate with them in a dining hall, cleaned and cooked with them for every meal, did chores every day at 5:30 a.m., went to mass with them, played with them, and learned how to put ourselves in their shoes. Many of them have gone through a lot in their life and learning their backgrounds was very eye opening for me.

Spanish Immersion

I have been taking high school Spanish for the past two years and before the trip, I had learned the basics though I hadn’t yet wrapped my mind around the flow of the language. I had always been told that if you wanted to learn a language, then immersion was the best way to learn. I always thought that I could just study, study, study and bam I would speak it. However, I found that this was not the case. At first it was exhausting trying to understand the language and constantly try to recall words to communicate. Yet as the days went on, I began to understand the language and my ears could recognize whether something was said right or not. By the end of the trip, I could have a basic conversation with the kids. We would talk about our favorite animal, song, movie, color, and book as well as where we had traveled and what we liked to do. Personally, I felt like I learned more in those two weeks than in all my years of studying Spanish. Emersion is definitely the way to learn a language.

Learning Independence

I have always lived with my parents and have never gone to a boarding school or lived with friends. This trip was good for me as it helped me strengthen my independence and self-reliance. I had to manage my time, keep up with my homework, take care of myself, recognize when I needed space and speak up for myself. The teachers were there for us whenever we needed them, though it is still different than having your parents there.

Creating Harmony

At the orphanage, all of the students as well as one of our teachers all stayed in a room together. For nearly the entire trip we were with people non-stop. Sometimes, people got irritable or would have minor conflicts with each other. We all desired harmony during the trip, so when these things happened, we had to act maturely and resolve these conflicts on our own. I had one of these experiences and we were able to directly confront each other and explain what we each needed and how to resolve the situation. For the rest of the trip, we were fine. It was a very valuable experience for me as I realized how simple resolutions could be by being clear and direct.

Respect For a Different Religion

This year, we had a section of our history class where we studied all of the religions and their similarities and differences. At the orphanage, everyone is strictly Catholic. I had had different perceptions towards Catholicism before the trip than when I actually experienced it. After the trip, I had a real respect for the religion even though I personally have different beliefs. We also had to learn a few prayers in Spanish and recite them each day before each meal and before bed. I think being able to live like someone else for a few weeks can help you learn a lot about yourself and what you relate to.

Inspiration to Help the World

During the trip, I witnessed some very poor people, suffering people, sad people, dying animals, dirty areas and all sorts of scenes that make your heart want to reach out and help them. I got inspired to continue helping people in need. So far, I have fundraised $600 towards the Heifer Foundation, which gives livestock to people in need and gives them a way to feed and support themselves. I now have a desire to help children around the world. There was a girl at the orphanage named Lucerito who I made a special connection with. She had had a very challenging life with both her parents having passed. Often times, she was sad or lonely and I realized that no matter what people go through, being loved cures any hardship. I tried to treat her like a younger sister and now we are pen pals. Reaching out to children can mean the world to them.