The Children’s Cohort

The Children’s Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) teaches leadership and community engagement concepts to the children of PLTI participants so the entire family can become more involved in civic change and democracy. Children of accepted PLTI parents are automatically accepted into CLTI; no separate application is necessary.

The Children’s Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) is a parallel course offered at the same time as the PLTI program for children between the ages of 3-13. CLTI is rooted in the belief that ideas belong to the community and tools are in the hands of all of its members.

Following the PLTI curriculum, CLTI is organized into the two sections:
Phase I – Developing Community
Phase II – Democracy and Civic Skills CLTI uses literacy as a base and creates a full spectrum of activities that parallel the PLTI course and encompass the multiple intelligences.

Strong literacy base Each session features an age-appropriate book or books to ground the evening’s session. In addition to group discussion during class, children and youth in CLTI receive a new book each week, connected to the learnings of that class, to add to their home libraries and to share with their families.

To develop a session, the CLTI teaching team uses the PLTI theme, covering the same concepts as PLTI in an age-appropriate approach.

Valuing the multiple dimensions and unique strengths of each member is what makes groups work … what enriches them and strengthens them.
“Multiple intelligences” is a new name for an old theory. During the millions of years of human history, cultures have been woven by it and members of each group respected for their unique intelligences. Each community has niches and roles for the storyteller, the healer, the bean counter, the singer, the wise one, the food providers, diplomats, builders, poets and problem-solvers. This was a defining feature of culture; in some cases children were named for their special attributes and adults acquired formal titles or informal names that represented them.
PLTI offers the opportunity for parents to become public advocates for children by scaffolding the learning process where the “integration of child development, leadership and democracy skills” supports this process. PLTI groups and CLTI groups are small communities. Shared work and shared learning are its cornerstones. These communities include the children. It brings full circle the link between parent as teacher and parent as advocate and bonds concentric circles within the community.

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