The Inner Wealth Initiative: The Nurtured Heart Approach for Educators

I found The Inner Wealth- The Nurtured Heart Approach in Education to be a very user friendly book with sensible suggestions and premises. I wish the ideas in this book could be implemented in the very earliest grades. Teachers do not have time for a lot of non-sense and pie-in-the sky. This book is filled with ideas and approaches maintaining dignity and respect for both Teacher and Student. The book is grounded in reality.It teaches a more peaceful way of life which hopefully diminishes power struggles and the same old unworkable outcomes. I have profound respect for Teachers, and I realize many of the trying and even dangerous situations they find themselves facing. I found this book to be a motivater for so many students and a tool to help prevent exhaustion and burn out in so many Teachers. I found this book worth the money, and I plan to give this book as a gift to some of my special Teacher friends. This is a useful book, in my opinion, for Pre-school teachers.

This book should be in every educators hands! How simple it is shift focus from energizing negative behavior to honoring the greatness of students. Intense and energy-challenged kids have learned through experience that they only get attention from adults when they misbehave. This system of nurturing their gifts, recognizing the success they already demonstrate, and giving no or little attentino to bad choices actually works. It works with the entire class - everyone feeding off the positive comments made. The social curriculum of relationship becomes overt and powerful, and leaves much more time for teaching, learning and empowering minds and spirits. It works on your kids, your spouse, your barista. But a dozen - give one to every teacher you know. Start reminding yourself how great you are, too!

Our staff has been using "The Nurtured Heart Approach" for several years. The Inner Wealth Initiative provides a stunning and detailed framework for transforming the classroom enviornment. We have purchased a copy of the book for each of our staff members and we meet together weekly to discuss the contents, to share our successes, and to ask each other for support. Thank you, Howie and Tom!!

I'd handed the book to a teacher at one of 18 Head Start classrooms a few weeks ago. She has been struggling with some very intense and lively children. This is a 60-plus woman with immense skills and experience and she'd been eating up all the Nurtured Heart stuff I've been feeding her, trying it out with the three little boys who have especially been giving her a run for her money. She told me she thought the book was wonderful, that she'd read it all week-end. I said, "Great! That makes my day, Janet I'm so glad you're finding it helpful!" and she said, "Oh no, you don't understand. You've saved my life. I didn't think I was going to be able to teach little children anymore. They seem to be coming with so many more challenges these days." She is excited for her co-worker to read it next. And then, a teacher at another site has also been struggling with some creatively intense 3-5 year olds. I've known her for 4 years and have never seen her so discouraged. I did a one-hour training at her site one Friday. When I saw her the next Tuesday she said, "I read that book all week-end. I was sick and I probably wouldn't have read it if I hadn't been sick. I usually don't read those kinds of books, but I've read almost all of it." When I went into her classroom the difference between the last time I was there and this time was like night and day. She'd come alive, nurturing the hearts of those little kids right and left...and I was back today, more of the same. She was having fun.

I'm a believer in this approach and appreciate how this book is very specific to the classroom - good examples as well as explanations of what the approach is and what it is trying to accomplish.