Dr. Ben Carson is known around the world for breakthroughs in neurosurgery that have brought hope where no hope existed. His brother, Curtis Carson, is an aeronautical engineer. Their mother, Sonya Carson, was an illiterate single parent who worked as a maid and a babysitter. She was determined to find ways to improve her sons’ performance at school to maximise their opportunities in life.
In his book Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story: Ben Carson, Cecil Murphey: Amazon.com: Books, he tells of his mother’s efforts to help her children succeed in life by increasing their literary skills. When Ben was in 5th grade (i.e. Standard 5), he was the worst student in his class, often scoring 0% in exams. His brother was also performing poorly. Their mother took the following steps to turn their fortunes around.
School Performance Tip #1: Limited Screen Time
Their mother decided that her sons were watching too much television and limited them to three TV shows per week. Despite their protests, and the criticism she got from friends and relatives about her strict rules, she stuck to her decision that her sons would no longer watch unlimited television.
When her friends warned her that her sons would hate her for limiting their screen time, Sonya Carson would respond:
“They can hate me, but they’re going to get a good education all the same”.
School Performance Tip #2: Increased Reading Time
She insisted that they go to the public library and checked out at least two books every week. At the end of the week, she made them give her a report on what they read.
She said:
“If you can read, you can learn just about anything you want to know. The doors of the world are open to people who can read and my boys are going to be successful in life, because they’re going to be the best readers in the school”.
School Performance Tip #3: Relentless Encouragement
Each and every day, she spoke to her sons, urging them to want to succeed and pleading with them not to give up on themselves. She told them they can achieve absolutely anything once they worked hard.
She extended continuous love, support and encouragement. Every day, she said:
“Bennie, you can do anything you set yourself to do.”
Eventually, her constant influence made them grow in confidence and begin to strive for excellence.
Dr. Carson said:
“She believed in Curtis and me. She had such faith in us, we didn’t dare fail! Her unbounded confidence nudged me into starting to believe in myself”.
Incredible Results
Dr. Ben Carson describes the results in the following words:
“Slowly the realization came that I was getting better in all my school subjects. I began looking forward to my trips to the library.
By reading so much, my vocabulary automatically improved along with my comprehension. Soon I became the best student in math when we did story problems.
As I continued to read, my spelling, vocabulary and comprehension improved and my classes became much more interesting. I improved so much that by the time I entered seventh grade (i.e. Form 2), I was at the top of the class”.
Both Ben and Curtis Carson continued to succeed academically and became highly educated professionals. They both credit their achievements to their mother’s firm rules and ceaseless encouragement.
Inspiration for All
This remarkable testimony highlights how powerfully reading can stimulate a child’s mind and improve his performance in every subject.
If we believe in our children, set firm boundaries and encourage them to strive for excellence, we too can raise brain surgeons and rocket scientists!
May we all follow Sonya Carson’s wonderful example and commit to the futures of our children by making them avid readers.
My Reflection Children’s Store provides children’s books with African and Indian main characters to promote self-love and a love for reading among children. Visit www.myreflectiontt.com to order fun and engaging books for children from birth to age 14. Books will be delivered to any address in Trinidad & Tobago within three business days.
