How to live your dream and get your children to do their homework?
My Momma always wanted to be a lawyer like her Daddy, my Grandpa Leader. Year after year my Daddy said, “I’m sorry we just don’t have the money for you to go to law school maybe next year.”
My Daddy was a medical doctor, a surgeon, and his patients were fishermen and farmers so they paid him in vegetables or fresh fish. We always had plenty to eat just no money for law school.
My Momma had waited over eight years to go to law school and one day she made an appointment with the Dean of the local law school. The Dean said “If you can get A’s in both of these Law classes you will be given a scholarship to attend law school.
Momma got A’s in both classes. She studied really hard. She had gotten into Harvard Law School years before, but my parents didn’t have the money for both of them to go to school at the time.
Momma arranged her law classes so she would be home when my older brother and I got home from elementary school. She’d have milk and cookies on the dining room table for my brother and I and she would join us with her coffee.
We would all study together every day after school. Momma had her law books to study and my brother and I had our homework from elementary school to study. If you had a question Momma would say very softly, “How about opening your book and looking for the answer?”
As a child of 8, I remember thinking that it didn’t feel quite so lonely and awful anymore to sit and do our homework because Momma was right there with us doing her home work too. We worked together for three years until Momma finished law school at the top of her class.
My Momma, Romayne Leader Frank, was one of the first women to graduate Law School at the College of William & Mary Law School. She practiced Family Law & Real Estate Law for 38 years helping others.
Strong lessons learned: My Momma dreamed of being a lawyer and though she didn’t have the money for law school she found a way to have her dream. She was willing to study hard to prove she was worthy of a Law scholarship.
My Momma believed in education and because she was sitting down to do her homework we would do ours too! Just by Momma being there you were encouraged to do your best because you knew Momma was doing her best.
My Momma taught us to never give up on living your dream of becoming a lawyer and on inspiring your children to do their homework. Momma taught us to keep looking and thinking and you will find a way to solve your problems and if you want something badly enough you will study and work hard enough to get it.
Momma was our role model. She was willing to lead us by example and show is how to study, how to learn, how to think, and how to reason out our problems.
My Momma never gave up on anything and neither should you!
by Dr. Madeline Frank
Madeline Frank, Ph.D. business owner, teacher, researcher, speaker and concert artist. She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly Article & Musical Tips" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show".
http://www.madelinefrankviola.com/
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=3217661
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Did you ever fail out of school?
As an 8 year old child, I was failing out of school. I was unable to read. My Momma, Romayne Leader Frank , Never, Never gave up on me. She tried every type of reading class available, and still …..I was unable to read.
One my passions at 8 years of age, was climbing trees. I was your typical tomboy and I was fearless. For me no tree was too high . The only problem was I’d wind up being rushed to the hospital several times a week for stitches on a regular basis.
The final time I was rushed to the hospital, after my reading class during summer camp, I had climbed a tall tree with nails and a board sticking out of the top of its trunk. As I came down the tree, I was scooped up by a camp counselor and rushed to the hospital. At the time I did not realize it, but blood was dripping down my leg.
One of the camp counselors called my Momma. She drove for over 3 hours to the hospital and by the time she arrived she had decided it was time to "get me out of those trees and on the ground."
My Momma knew I had wanted to study the violin for several years. She and I made a deal at the hospital. I promised to give up climbing all trees and she would arrange for violin lessons. As soon as I began to study the violin, I learned to hold the violin ,to hold the bow, to read the notes on the page, and to play music. I also learned how to take care of my violin and bow and to clean it after playing it.
I really enjoyed playing the violin and by the end of the summer the light bulb had flipped on and I was reading and going to the library. I am proud to say, I have not climbed a tree since I was 8 years old.
Strong lessons learned: My Momma believed in two things, unconditional love for her family and education. She taught us to keep looking and thinking and you will find a way to solve your problems and if you want something bad enough you will study and work hard enough to get it.
Giving up is never an option.
My Momma never gave up on anything and neither should you!
I've come a long way from being an 8 year old tomboy who was falling out of trees , failing out of school, and unable to read. Learning the violin taught me to read and write and most of all how to think. My violin has taken me all the way through a Ph.D. at Walden University, two degrees at the Juilliard School in NYC, and the privilege to work at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, playing for Frank Sinatra, Lou Rawls, Natalie Cole at Carnegie Hall and Paul Anka, the O’Jays and Eartha Kitt.
For over 25 years I have worked with children and adults to overcome problems in learning and memory through my music. I write a monthly newsletter “Madeline’s Monthly Article & Musical Tips” and a monthly radio show “Madeline’s One Minute Musical Radio Show”.
http://www.madelinefrankviola.com/
Posted by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.
One my passions at 8 years of age, was climbing trees. I was your typical tomboy and I was fearless. For me no tree was too high . The only problem was I’d wind up being rushed to the hospital several times a week for stitches on a regular basis.
The final time I was rushed to the hospital, after my reading class during summer camp, I had climbed a tall tree with nails and a board sticking out of the top of its trunk. As I came down the tree, I was scooped up by a camp counselor and rushed to the hospital. At the time I did not realize it, but blood was dripping down my leg.
One of the camp counselors called my Momma. She drove for over 3 hours to the hospital and by the time she arrived she had decided it was time to "get me out of those trees and on the ground."
My Momma knew I had wanted to study the violin for several years. She and I made a deal at the hospital. I promised to give up climbing all trees and she would arrange for violin lessons. As soon as I began to study the violin, I learned to hold the violin ,to hold the bow, to read the notes on the page, and to play music. I also learned how to take care of my violin and bow and to clean it after playing it.
I really enjoyed playing the violin and by the end of the summer the light bulb had flipped on and I was reading and going to the library. I am proud to say, I have not climbed a tree since I was 8 years old.
Strong lessons learned: My Momma believed in two things, unconditional love for her family and education. She taught us to keep looking and thinking and you will find a way to solve your problems and if you want something bad enough you will study and work hard enough to get it.
Giving up is never an option.
My Momma never gave up on anything and neither should you!
I've come a long way from being an 8 year old tomboy who was falling out of trees , failing out of school, and unable to read. Learning the violin taught me to read and write and most of all how to think. My violin has taken me all the way through a Ph.D. at Walden University, two degrees at the Juilliard School in NYC, and the privilege to work at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, playing for Frank Sinatra, Lou Rawls, Natalie Cole at Carnegie Hall and Paul Anka, the O’Jays and Eartha Kitt.
For over 25 years I have worked with children and adults to overcome problems in learning and memory through my music. I write a monthly newsletter “Madeline’s Monthly Article & Musical Tips” and a monthly radio show “Madeline’s One Minute Musical Radio Show”.
http://www.madelinefrankviola.com/
Posted by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.