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Pro 1:3 to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and uprightness; Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life; Pro 19:20 Hear advice, and receive instruction, so that you may be wise in your latter end. Pro 24:32 Then I saw; I set my heart on it; I looked and I received instruction. Mar 6:34 And going out Jesus saw a large crowd. And He was moved with compassion toward them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things.
The Cognitive Foundation School & Kindergarten is a program founded by the Rev. Gilberto Rosado in 2007. The kindergarten, specifically, is an outgrowth of an after school and daycare program started by Mrs. Jenny Rosado since 2005. It was a natural progression from the combination of Mrs. Jenny Rosado’s innate teaching ability and way with children that was first noted by the Rev. Rosado. “It was this talent and skill that brought us together almost as a match made in heaven” says the Rev. Rosado. Together with Rev. Rosado’s methodology on cognitive mentoring, the school promises to be the leading purveyor of quality cognitive foundational education for children now known. In 2006, the after-school program received its first great test when it we were contracted to help a young boy in second grade. This boy came from a home riddled by domestic violence and a troubled divorce proceeding and impoverished existence. Mrs. Jenny Rosado agreed to go meet with the Principal, school psychologist and teacher with the boy’s mother. The case was difficult because the boy had not turn in any assignments during the year. His promotion was severely in doubt. Mrs. Rosado intervened and explained to them that she would help the boy complete all assignments and meet the standard for promotion. It was April and the school year was quickly coming to an end. They agreed to give the boy 30 days to meet the requirements for promotion. The school psychologist was enthused saying that since the boy was under our care and tutelage, his behavior had much improved – less complaints and fights were cited, as well as a general improvement in his demeanor. So the challenge was at hand. During the boy’s time with us he completely turned around. He began to develop self worth and esteem. He developed self motivation and displayed a deep desire to meet the requirements – after all, it was not his fault but an inability of the parent to be able to communicate and help the child with school requirements. We even had the boy stay over during the final days in order to provide him with the opportunity to concentrate on the work. The boy amazed us by working until 2 a.m. the next morning! Mr. Rosado remembers seeing the boy at the table at midnight telling him to go to bed and finish the next day. The boy answered, “I want to finish the work tonight – I only have 4 pages to go!” Rev. Rosado was proud of his determination and at the same time was confirmed in the teachings he had always given concerning the needs of children for the proper stimulus and intellectual modeling and opportunities in the home. Well, the end of the story is that this boy met all the requirements, manifested a complete change in behavior, and turned from being the major headache in the school bus and in school, to winning the “Student of the Month” and the “Most Improved Student” awards. To prove the case, and as life would have it, the boy’s mother got entangled in other affairs of life and took the child away from our care. She did not re-enroll him during the 3rd grade and after the first quarter, the school psychologist called us to inquire about what could be done to get the boy back into our care. Since we had nothing to do with the issues, we could only ask the psychologist to emphasize the need for his return to our care for the boy’s sake. The mother did not heed the constant recommendation of the school psychologist nor our repeated attempts at contacting her. The end result was that the mother finally showed up with the boy in February of 2007 – well into the academic year and immediately before the key standardized examinations that determine a student’s promotion. This 3rd year exam is a set benchmark that the child must pass in order to be graduated – if this is not passed, there is absolutely no way the child will advance to the next grade. We were happy to see the boy as he us, but we were terribly saddened by the mother’s gross negligence to the boy’s academic welfare. This is another point in Rev. Rosado’s teaching and is one that most parents do to one degree or another, some ignorantly and others negligently like this one. It cannot be denied that our cognitive school is a great academic, as well as, psychological benefit to all of our charges. In our time working with young children, all of them have shown marked improvements in their academic and behavioral expressions. This has gone noticed by all but only appreciated by some parents – sadly. The main cause of student lacking in academia is the parent model. This is why we not only provide child care, tutoring and schooling but also provide a monthly workshop for parents covering issues of child rearing, cognitive modeling, and education. Through the head organization, we provide the parents with educational engagements – courses – that help improve their cognitive thinking skills so that these too can be modeled for their children’s benefit. And finally, the Rev. Rosado offers his psychotherapy clinic services to parents so that they can receive added counseling for issues concerning their children and the home environment which can be negatively impacted by marriage and other family issues. This boy is just one of many we helped and are helping today. And we are only scratching the surface because we really don’t have the resources we need to do a more effective job with each child. The quality of our work will be much improved as well as increased quantity of clients served when we have the funding needed – most of the troubled families are impoverished and unable to support the work sufficiently. In addition, we started this program without any investment monies to purchase the basic equipment or furnishings. Working out of our home, using used resources from family and friends, throws from a friend’s licensed daycare home, and using whatever extra dollars we manage to have after bills are paid is all that we have. The rest we’ve made up with our capacity and expertise. The money is needed to produce our fullest cognitive benefit for the areas served, the children and their families. In 2005-2006, the Rev. Rosado started work on his books that incorporate the methodology and serve as the backbone to extending his services and ministry to the masses via the “Child Cognitive Mentor Therapist Certification” and the “Parent as Cognitive Mentor” courses in addition to regularly scheduled community workshops, club gatherings, individual sessions, and community based outreaches and interventions by trained and certified cognitive mentors and our bus based mentoring program – CMT Bus (visit http://www.cmtbus.org). Our Future: With the help of donors, grants and other support, we would like to establish at minimum an education center in every major city and region, certify local center therapists and educators, and provide periodic conferences in mass in which Rev. Rosado will lead and instill his methodology to all program participants in each area. The process of preparing parents for child rearing, marriages for longevity and permanence, and cognitive mentor therapists is ongoing and remains the basic focus of all our endeavors. |
