School's Reading Assignment =.="

Semua orang tua ingin mempunyai anak yang berprestasi, tetapi sejauh mana peranan orang tua dalam mendampingi anak agar berprestasi?

Sudah banyak studi yang menyatakan bahwa faktor paling konsisten dalam pencapaianprestasi anak adalah lingkungan rumah dan keterlibatan orang tua. Misalnya menyediakan waktu kebersamaan dengan anak-anak dll. Otak anak-anak yang masih dalam masa pertumbuhan tidak mampu memproses kata-kata, dan konteks dengan cara yang sama seperti orang dewasa. Jika menginginkan anak-anak kita bertumbuh dengan cara yang terbaik, sangat penting untuk menggantikan kata-kata yang merusak atau melukai dengan kata-kata yang membangun karakter.Contohnya, pujilah anak anda karena usaha atau kerja kerasnya daripada dipuji " pintar". PhD psikolog sosial, Carol Dweck, telah melakukan uji coba dan menemukan bahwa mereka yang dipuji karena usahanya lebih baik prestasinya dan lebih berani menghadapi tantangan.

Setiap anak diciptakan Tuhan unik adanya. Setiap anak memiliki bahasa kasih yang berbeda-beda. Hanya anak yang merasa benar-benar dikasihi dan diperhatikan akan mengalami pemenuhan "tangki emosi" nya, dengan demikian meraka memiliki kekuatan emosional yang dapat memberi bahan bakar sewaktu melalui har-hari yang penuh denga tantangan.

5 Bahasa Kasih Menurut Gary Chapman:

1. Sentuhan Fisik
SEntuhan fisik merupakan bahasa kasih yang paling mudah digunakan tanpa syarat dalam keluarga, seperti menepuk pundak, menggandeng, merangkul, memeluk dan sebagainya. Penerapannya dapat berbeda menurut usia dan jenis kelaminnya. Anak yang memiliki bahasa kasih ini memilki kebutuhan yang lebih dan juga akan lebih terluka jika tindakan pendisiplinan dilakukan dalam bentuk fisik, misalnya memukul.

2. Kata-Kata Penegas
KAta-kata penegas sangat besar pengaruhnya dalam kehidupan seorang anak, tetapi bagi anak dengan bahasa kasih kasih kata-kata penegas, kata-kata yang diucapkan oleh orang tuanya adalah "penentu" bagi barometer emosinya. Mereka haus akan kata-kata pujian, dukungan motivasi, pernyataan kasih sayang, yang diucapkan secara eksplisit berulang kali dan dengan cara yang tepat. Sebaliknya, kata-kata negatif lebih melukai.

3. Waktu Berkualitas
Anak yang memilki bahasa kasih ini menginginkan perhatian yang terfokus dan tidak terbagi dengan orang lain. Hal ini dapat dinyatai melalui kontak mata, berbagi pikiran dan perasaan, bercerita, atau melakukan sesuatu bersama.

4. Hadiah
Anak-anak ini merasa dikasihi bila orang tuanya memberikan mereka hadiah, tetapi bukan hadiah yang diberikan untuk menggantikan keterlibatan orang tua karena sibuk, atau sebagai imbalan, suap atai menebus rasa bersalah, melainkan sebagai ungkapan kasih yang tulus.

5. Layanan
Anak-anak ini merasa dicintai jika dibantu, diajari, dan senantiasa hadir disaat mereka membutuhkan.

Bagaimana Mengenali Bahasa Kasih Anakmu?"

1. Perhatikan bagaimana mereka mengekspresikan kasih padamu
2. Perhatikan bagaimana mereka mengekspresikan kasih pada orang lain
3. Dengarkan permintaan yang mereka paling sering ajukan
4. Dengarkan keluhan-keluhan yang sering diutarakan anakmu
5. Berikan meraka hanay 1 dari 2 pilihan

Perlu diingat, bahwa bahasa kasih utama bukan satu-satunya bahasa yang digunakan anak. Setiap anak memilki kombinasi dari kelima bahasa tersebut, maka adalah bijaksana bila disamping bahasa utama, orang tua juga mengungkapkan kasihnya melalui bahasa kasih yang lain. (disadur dari The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman)

Born: 19 March 1813(1813-03-19)Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died: 1 May 1873 (aged 60)near Lake Bangweulu, Zambia
Cause of death: Malaria & dysentery
Resting place: The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, 51°29′58″N 0°07′39″W / 51.499444°N 0.1275°W / 51.499444; -0.1275
Nationality: British
Known for: Exploration of Central Africa
Title: Dr. Livingstone
Religious beliefs: Congregationalist

David Livingstone was a Scottish Baptist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and explorer in Africa. He was the first European to see the Victoria Falls, to which he gave the English name in honour of his monarch, Queen Victoria. Livingstone had a numerous mythic status: Protestant missionary martyr, working-class "rags to riches" inspirational story, scientific investigator and explorer, imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of commercial empire.

Born to Neil Livingstone (1788-1856) and his wife Agnes (1782-1865), David, along with many of the Livingstones, was at the age of ten employed in the cotton mill of H. Monteith - David and brother John working 12-hour days as "piecers," tying broken cotton threads on the spinning machines. The mill offered their workers schooling of which David took advantage. His father was the one who influenced David to be an avid reader. David had an deep interest in nature and science which led him to investigate the relationship between religion and science. David's experience from age ten to twenty-six in H. Montieth's Blantyre cotton mill, first as a piecer and later as a spinner, was also important. Necessary to support his impoverished family, this work was monotonous but gave him persistence, endurance, and a natural empathy with all who labour.

Livingstone was assigned to Kuruman by the LMS and sailed in December 1840, arriving at Moffat's mission, now part of South Africa, in July 1841. Dr. Robert Moffat arrived in Kuruman with his family in December 1843, and shortly afterward Livingstone married Moffat's eldest daughter Mary on January 2 1845. She was also Scottish but had lived in Africa since she was four. Mary travelled with Livingstone for a brief time at his insistence. Livingstone always emphasized the importance of understanding local custom and belief as well as the necessity of encouraging Africans to proselytize, but he always faced acute difficulties finding converts he considered best fitted for training to be missionaries. As Livingstone began to plan for new missionary initiatives, due to the difficulties presented by his growing family, he sent his family back to Kuruman as he planned further inland travels. Later Mary and the rest of David's family returned to England, but came to Africa again on the Zambezi Expedition.

David was the first westerners to travel across Africa to Indian Ocean. Livingstone traveled on most of his journeys with a few servants and porters, bartering for supplies along the way, with a couple of guns for protection. He preached a Christian message but did not force it on unwilling ears; he understood the ways of local chiefs and successfully negotiated passage through their territory, and was often hospitably received and aided, even by Mwata Kazembe, while other Europeans usually met resistance by the chief tribes. David did many expeditions like the Zambezi Expedition, finding the source of Nile River, and numerous of other geographical features and he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London and was made a fellow of the society, with which he had a strong association for the rest of his life.

In Africa, David did lose contact with the outside world for about 6 years and was ill for most of his last 4 years of life. Henry Morton Stanley was sent to find him by the New York Herald newspaper in 1869, and found Livingstone in the town of Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika 2 years later. David Livingstone died in that area in Chief Chitambo's village at Ilala southeast of Lake Bangweulu in Zambia, on 1 May 1873 from malaria and internal bleeding caused by dysentery. He took his final breaths while kneeling in prayer at his bedside. David's body was sent back to Britain for proper burial but his heart was dug out and planted in Africa before his body was sent to his home country.

Although Livingstone had many failures, his achievements were worth mentioning as well. He had made geographical discoveries for European knowledge. He inspired abolitionists of the slave trade, explorers and missionaries. He opened up Central Africa to missionaries who initiated the education and health care for Africans, and trade by the African Lakes Company. He was held in some esteem by many African chiefs and local people and his name facilitated relations between them and the British. Two other aspects of his legacy paradoxically helped end the colonial era , indirectly, in Africa without excessive bloodshed.

Although Livingstone had a great impact on British Imperialism, he did not care much about his family. In his absences, his children grew up fatherless, and his wife Mary eventually became an alcoholic and died of malaria trying to follow him in Africa. His one regret in later life was that he did not spend enough time with his children. Achievements at the cost of his own family.

Source : wikipedia.com

Date of birth: January 15, 1929(1929-01-15)
Place of birth: Atlanta, Georgia,United States
Date of death: April 4, 1968 (aged 39)
Place of death: Memphis, Tennessee,United States
Movement: African-American Civil Rights Movement and Peace movement
Major organizations: Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Notable prizes: Nobel Peace Prize (1964),Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977, posthumous),Congressional Gold Medal (2004, posthumous)
Major monuments: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial (planned)
Alma mater: Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, Boston University
Religion: Baptist
Influences: Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Benjamin Mays, Hosea Williams, Rosa Parks, Bayard Rustin, Henry David Thoreau, Howard Thurman, Leo Tolstoy

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. King is recognized as a martyr by two Christian churches. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.

In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986.

His previous name was Michael King, Jr. However his father, Michael King, Sr., changed both of their names to Martin Luther in honor of the German Protestant leader Martin Luther. King married Coretta Scott, on June 18, 1953, in Heiberger, Alabama.

King delivered his speeches and wrote frequently. His "Letter from Birmingham Jail", written in 1963, is a "passionate" statement of his crusade for justice. In the year 1955, there were cases on racism. King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted for 385 days. As a result, his house was bombed and King was arrested. However, his arrest ended the racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses.

In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct non-violent protests in the service of civil rights reform. King led the SCLC until his death. In 1958, while signing copies of his book Strive Toward Freedom in a Harlem department store, he was stabbed in the chest by Izola Curry, a deranged black woman with a letter opener, and narrowly escaped death.

Until his death, King continued to try to erase racial discrimination, especially toward the African-Americans, as well as for justice and peace. However this cost him his very life. On April 3, 1968, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis, and was shot at 6:01 p.m. April 4, 1968 while he was standing on the motel's second floor balcony and died. Riots broke out in more than 100 cities after his assassination, which shows that he is a really prominent figure in the public.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.

Kimani Nganga Maruge held the Guiness World Record for being the oldest person to start primary school, at the age of 84. He died in Nairobi.

In 2004, he enrolled in Eldoret at Kapkenduywa primary school, the same school as his 2 grandchildren, after the Kenyan government introduced free primary schooling. He was made a prefect due to his good attendance. His previous house in Rift Valley was burnt due to post-election violence last year. He was moved to an old people's house in the capital. Despite this disruption, Mr Maruge continued to study hard for his last 2 years in primary school.

Mumbi Kamuri, head of Cheshire Homes in Kenya where Mr Maruge spent his last moments, told BBC that he was dedicated to his studies right to the end. He asked the teachers to teach him at home, even after he was diagnosed with cancer in February. He was a courageous man, an inspirational figure who brought new meaning to the phrase, " It's never too late".

Sergey Brin dan Lawrence (Larry) Page, kedua orang ini adalah penemu Google Inc. Google Inc berkantor di Googleplex, bagian selatan dari San Fransisco Bay, yang pernah dijuluki sebagai tempat bekerja terbaik di AS pada tahun 2007. Sergey dan Larry bertemu ketika sama-sama belajar teknik komputer di Stanford University di tahun 1995.
Kedua orang ini lalu mendirikan sebuah proyek, sergeyandlarry, yang akhirnya melahirkan Google. Google dimulai disebuah garasi di Menlo Park, California, milik Susan Wojcicki. Susan adalah kakak Anne Wojcicki, istri Larry dan sekarang Susan adalah Wakil Presiden Manajemen Produk Google.
Situs Google ini khusus mendalami pencarian informasi hasil-hasil riset yang sudah dituangkan di internet. Akan tetapi, butuh 5.700 tahun untuk mencari 3 miliar halaman informasi yang ada di Google sekarang. Mereka benar benar bekerja keras agar mereka bisa sukses.Akan tetapi demi mewujudkan Google, mereka harus meninggalkan kuliah program doktor komputer di Stanford. Hal ini sempet mengecewakan ibu Larry.
Lingkungan keluarga mereka adalah orang-orang intelek. Tak heran jika mereka akan menjadi terkenal. Kini sekitar 300 juta orang yang membuka Google setiap hari. Bahkan Wall Street, bursa saham AS, berebutan atas saham Google. Kesuksesan bisnis Google juga dipoles setelah Sergey dan Larry menyewa Eric E Schmidt, mantan karyawan Sun Microsystems serta banyak doktor matematika dangan lulusan terbaik.

Diambil dari artikel Kompas, Kamis, 4 Oktober 2007
"Sergey dan Larry, Tokoh di Balik 'Google'"