Yesterday I\u00a0had the great pleasure\u00a0of taking Alice and Sophie to school. When I am doing the school run we often play a game of “interesting conversations”\u00a0and we talked about what were were planning to do today.\u00a0 “I am going to demonstrate the Six Thinking Hats method of solving problems” I\u00a0said and gave a thumbnail sketch of\u00a0Edward De Bono’s\u00a0inspired invention.\u00a0“That sounds like our Six Pebbles of Learning that we learned in SEAL” said Alice. “What is SEAL”?\u00a0 I asked. “Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning” she\u00a0replied “it is one of our lessons”.\u00a0 My curiosity was pricked. “Wow! And what are the\u00a0Six Pebbles? ” I asked.\u00a0 Alice\u00a0reeled them off immediately “Watching, Asking, Listening, Thinking Carefully, Perseverence and Learning from Mistakes”.\u00a0\u00a0I was speechless\u00a0– they didn’t teach that\u00a0stuff when I was at school!\u00a0\u00a0There are many organisations that invest\u00a0small fortunes on “Team Development Programmes”\u00a0which sounded\u00a0to me like\u00a0the same stuff – schools\u00a0seem\u00a0to have moved on a bit!<\/p>\n
So,\u00a0after a thoroughly enjoyable\u00a0afternoon\u00a0juggling the Six Hats I looked up the Six Pebbles on the Internet and here is what I found … What did she mean?\u2019 the woman asked herself. She looked at the pebbles. \u2018It can\u2019t be very important\u2019, she thought. Even so she carefully put the pebbles in a small bag and hung them round the baby\u2019s neck.<\/em><\/p>\n As soon as the first three sons could walk they showed their talents. People always asked to hear the first son sing. If one of their animals was sick, they brought it to the second son and he immediately knew what was wrong. The third son drew pictures so beautiful that when he was still young people asked him to decorate their houses and clothes. When the woman looked at the fourth son she kissed him on the forehead and smiled, and thought that it was a good job he had such talented brothers.The fourth son looked at the six pebbles and wondered what they meant. He was very proud of his three brothers. He wanted to be like them, so he looked<\/strong> carefully at what they did. He asked<\/strong> them questions and listened<\/strong> carefully to what they said. He thought<\/strong> about what he saw and heard. He imitated what they did and when it didn\u2019t work he didn\u2019t give up, but learned from it<\/strong>. The brothers loved him dearly and, because he was so helpful and good to be with, they spent lots of time with him. When the four sons were nearly grown up the woman said to the first three sons, \u2018Go off and make your fortunes. You have all the talents you need.\u2019 They left the farm. The fourth son asked if he could go too but the woman said, \u2018You haven\u2019t any special talents so perhaps you had better stay here. What have you got to offer the world?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n That evening she was feeling sad. \u2018I wish someone was here to cheer me up,\u2019 she said. The fourth son opened his mouth and sang a song. It was beautiful \u2013 as beautiful as the songs of the first son. The next day one of the animals was sick. The fourth son looked at the animal and knew what to do. The next day it was better, just like the animals that the second son had looked after. When the woman woke up the next day she saw a lovely new picture on the wall, as beautiful as the pictures painted by the third son.<\/em><\/p>\n She took the small bag from round fourth son\u2019s neck and looked at them. She remembered what the spirit had said: \u2019And you will be a good learner.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday I\u00a0had the great pleasure\u00a0of taking Alice and Sophie to school. When I am doing the school run we often play a game of “interesting conversations”\u00a0and we talked about what were were planning to do today.\u00a0 “I am going to demonstrate the Six Thinking Hats method of solving problems” I\u00a0said and gave a thumbnail sketch … <\/p>\n
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\nOne stormy night, far, far away, a woman gave birth to four healthy sons. She wrapped them up and laid them in a row next to her. What would happen to them? She prayed to the magic spirit of her family. There was a flash and a beautiful spirit appeared. The spirit looked at the first baby. Out of her golden bag she drew a shiny purple stone and sang, \u2018You will be a talented musician.\u2019 To the second baby she gave a green stone and sang, \u2018You will be a fantastic farmer.\u2019 To the third baby she gave a red stone and sang, \u2018You will be a talented artist.\u2019 When she came to the fourth baby, she drew out of her bag six ugly brown pebbles. \u2018And you will be a good learner\u2019, she sang. There was a fearful bang and a flash of light and the spirit disappeared.<\/em><\/p>\n