ARTIFICIAL MATURITY: Helping Kids Meet the Challenge of Becoming Authentic Adults

They grow up so fast, don't they? "My seven-year-old taught me how to download music." "My fifth grader wants a tattoo." But how about this perspective? "My college grad wants me to call his boss." "My 30-year old won't move out of the house." The pervasive lamenting about how kids today seem older at an earlier age is being counteracted with the fact that they don't seem to want (or aren't able) to grow up. Adolescence is expanding in both directions-starting earlier and ending later.

Dr. Tim Elmore, a nationally recognized author, speaker and parenting expert, will visit Immanuel Lutheran School in Washington, Missouri, the evening of September 18, 2014, to talk to parents and educators about helping children become "authentic leaders."

The presentation is free and open to the public.  

www.lesastl.org.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact Alan Wunderlich or Nick Hopfensperger of Immanuel Lutheran at 636-239-1636 or Laura Montgomery at the LESA office at 314-268-1522.

Dr. Elmore is the founder and president of Growing Leaders, an international non-profit that focuses on preparing tomorrow's leaders today. He is the best-selling author of more than 25 books on parenting and leadership, including Artificial Maturity: Helping Kids Meet the Challenge of Becoming Authentic Adults, and Generation iY: Our Last Chance to Save Their Future,which look at the challenges of raising children who have become overexposed to information through the Internet and other sources, and therefore underexposed to the real life experiences that create "authentic leaders."

Dr. Elmore's work has attracted media coverage in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com, Investor's Business Daily, Huffington Post, MSNBC.com, The Washington Post, WorkingMother.com, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, and Portfolio.com. He has appeared on CNN's Headline Newsand FOX & Friends. He has spoken to more than 350,000 students and staff on hundreds of campuses, including Stanford University, Duke University, and Purdue.

Dr. Elmore's visit is being underwritten by the Lutheran Elementary School Association (LESA) and Immanuel Lutheran School.

Since 2004, LESA has awarded more than 11,000 need-based scholarships totaling $7 million to children of all faiths in the St. Louis area.

More than 8,200 children attend LESA member schools in the St. Louis Metro Area and southern Illinois. A Recognized Service Organization of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, LESA represents 30 elementary schools, four high schools, four Lutheran education related agencies and early childhood centers.