Marta Jean carried a red lunchbox to First Grade<br >with her peanut butter sandwich in it. Sometimes there<br >was a banana and maybe a bag of corn chips. But what-<br >ever the edible contents， Marta Jeans s lunchbox always<br >contained one intangible item more precious than 25<br >chocolate-chip cookies. That lunchbox contained LOVE， in<br >the form of a little note:<br > Dear Marta Jean，<br > Do your best in school.<br > Tonight tell me all about your day.<br > Love， Daddy<br > I was Marta Jean s teacher. I watched her face beam<br >as she sounded out each word， a child who knew without<br >a doubt that she was loved. Did that daddy know he was<br >building this little girl s self-esteem? Did he realize he was<br >helping her succeed in school? You bet he did!<br > Many parents are aware of the significance of a<br >child s self-esteem. What is not widely known is that self-<br >esteem rates equally as high as I.Q. as a predictor of school<br >success. Children with average intelligence and high self-<br >esteem can be extremely successful in school.， while those<br >with very high I.Q. and low self-esteem can fail miserably.<br > av~"<br > ~， Ise teachers have known for generations that it s<br >not so much I.Q. as "I can!" They realize that it is those<br >students who feel good about themselves and [tleir abili-<br >ties w}lo are most likely~ to，s u~，_ec.d. ，~ ~ ~ Conversely， those who<br >see themselves and their abilities in a negative fashion<br >usually fail to achieve good grades. Academic success or<br >failure is more deeply rooted in concepts of the self than it<br >is in meos~lred mental ability.<br > Sdf-esteem， both higl~ and low， begins at home. And<br >