INSPIRED GREATNESS About Us Nurtured Heart Approach Syracuse NY

About Inspired Greatness

Andrew Palumbo earned his Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Elementary Certification from the State University of New York at Brockport. He received his Masters of Science in Education from Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. Andrew has been a primary level teacher since 1992, working with kindergarten, first and second graders. He was trained in The Nurtured Heart Approach in the summer of 2008 and enjoys fostering greatness in children and adults. Andrew resides in Jamesville, New York with his wife Karen and daughters Caitlyn, Cameron and Kelli.

Teacher starts business
by Elizabeth Doran / The Syracuse Post-Standard
03-13-2009

A Jamesville-DeWitt kindergarten teacher has started a consulting business, "Inspired Greatness," based on a new discipline technique he's using in his classroom. The Nurtured Heart Approach is a new way of approaching discipline in a positive manner, said Andrew Palumbo, who teaches at Moses DeWitt Elementary School. He wants to help parents learn the technique. The Nurtured Heart Approach, pioneered by author Howard Glasser, involves showering children with positive, reinforcing statements for good behavior, while treating misbehavior with unemotional brief time-outs. Palumbo learned the approach last summer, after Glasser spoke at Meachem Elementary School in Syracuse. He then read Glasser's book: "Transforming the Difficult Child" and underwent training to become certified. "I was so inspired by this philosophy that I decided to start my own business," Palumbo said. Palumbo, who's taught in the district for 18 years, conducted a training session in the fall for J-D teachers and teaching assistants, and plans to conduct another introductory session at the J-D Teacher Center this spring. He's also talking with the YMCA officials. "The key is not dwelling on what the child does wrong, because they know what they did wrong," he said. "It's a paradigm shift. The traditional methods we often use to handle difficult kids don't work because they reinforce negative behavior and actions. This method turns that around and has parents focus on the positives instead." Palumbo said the approach focuses on seeking out positive behaviors while not giving any energy to negative behaviors. Consequences are brief but strict. In class, if a child purposely knocks over a chair the teacher wouldn't yell or lecture, but would redirect the child and when control is regained, praise him or her. "It works with all ages," he says. "thank you' and 'good job' just doesn't cut it anymore.

Philosophy Statement

The Nurtured Heart Approach is about creating relationships that energize and support success and positive choices in children. It is a way of transforming children and adults so that they build positive and intrinsic values to be cherished by all!

As an advanced certified trainer in The Nurtured Heart Approach I will strive to help families and teachers see that with a little work and guidance they can have a peaceful and nurturing environment in their home and classroom. By working together you will begin to understand how negative reactions to disruptive behavior actually perpetuate the unwanted behavior. I will demonstrate how to reverse this process by cultivating a positive approach so that family and school relationships drastically improve. Children will begin to feel their greatness and through this greatness seek out relationships with adults and other children in a positive and loving manner. My goal is to Inspire Greatness in you as a parent or teacher and to help you to Inspire Greatness in your child or students.

I empower parents and teachers to develop harmonious relationships with their kids though the use of The Nurtured Heart Approach!!