Earlier this evening, Keith Burtis asked (in Twitter) if a parent should have their child’s strengths or weaknesses tutored.  I enjoyed being a part of the discussion with Keith and Eden Spodek and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

As a parent, I’d like to think I could be happy to support my daughters’ strengths and not add any further burden by forcing either of them to give up precious free time to build up any semblance of strength in weak subjects.  Frankly, there is so little time in the day to decompress and to connect as a family and much of that is already consumed by surprising amounts of homework (something I have a huge issue with).  The question is, can I practice as a parent what I preach as a blogger?

I think what needs to be done is not teach the child out of any weakness but to find ways to energize the child despite their weakness.  A great teacher or tutor is the kind of person that knows how to get a student excited and curious about any subject.  The child should be helped to find his/her own love of the topic and explore it for success.  They may never be good at it in conventional terms, but they can find their own opportunities for success within that space.

A music teacher I took lessons from a few years ago has an enthusiasm for music of all kinds (from classical to industrial heavy metal) that is infectious and inspiring.  It made me more excited and interested in learning about all kinds of music (from classical to industrial heavy metal) even though I wasn’t successful at or previously interested in some styles.  Not only that, he found ways to relate the different kinds of music to each other and showed how to apply that knowledge to a variety of styles, songs and composition techniques.  I  believe our children need that type of inspiration, enthusiasm and support in everything they do — whether it plays into their strengths or weaknesses.

Like many people immersed in social and new media technologies, I regularly receive friend requests through services like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. About 60% of the time, I know or have met the person from whom the request originates. The rest of the requests come from people I’ve never heard of.

So, how do I know if these people are friends? I don’t. My approach is to assess their existing friends and followers for people I trust. If I see a name like Bob Goyetche or Whitney Hoffman (among others), I immediately accept the request.

How does your trusted network work for you?

If it didn’t crack me up enough that Chris Brogan wrote this, hearing his voice (in my head) deliver this line nearly had me rolling on the floor.

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy and I’ve fallen behind on emails and blogging (both reading and writing).  I’m finally starting to catch up.

Wait… maybe this post should have been a Twitter.