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Written by Charlotte J. Ewig
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3 Charlotte loved to speed through life. Each morning, she would leap out of bed, rush through her routine, and run off to school.
4 As a member of her school’s cross-country running team, Charlotte would speed around the track each day after school. She loved the wind blowing through her hair and the freedom she felt while moving so quickly. Everybody called her “Speedy Charlotte,” and she loved the nickname.
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7 In the classroom, Charlotte tried to speed through her schoolwork as well. She would finish her worksheets first, but many of her answers were incorrect. She would fly through a book, but then realized that she couldn’t remember what happened to the characters.
8 Charlotte was discouraged by her performance in school. She was moving as quickly as she could, but felt like she was getting nowhere at all. Her teacher would say, “Charlotte, slow down.” But she was Speedy Charlotte; she didn’t like to go slow!
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11 That afternoon, Charlotte ran home from school to tell her parents about her day. She was frustrated because she wanted to speed through her schoolwork, but rushing caused her to miss important lessons.
12 “Your speed is a strength, Charlotte, but you can’t speed through everything,” her mother said. “School isn’t a race,” her father agreed. “You need to learn when to slow down.” At first, Charlotte didn’t know what to make of this advice. If she wasn’t Speedy Charlotte, then who was she? Her father explained that she needed to think about learning like training for a race. “The best runners don’t sprint the entire time—they learn to pace themselves.”
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15 So Charlotte started training for school the way she trained for running. She practiced. She moved with purpose. She didn’t give up when things got tough.
16 In the classroom, Charlotte learned to slow down. She took a deep breath before beginning each worksheet. She learned to read one word at a time instead of speeding through a sentence and missing its meaning. She double-checked each answer before moving on to the next one. At first, this all felt strange to Charlotte—like running in quicksand—but soon it became part of her learning process. Her schoolwork started to make more sense, and her teacher told her to keep up the good work.
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19 Her parents were proud of the progress Charlotte made, and Charlotte was proud of herself as well. She realized that being fast is important, but knowing when to slow down is just as important. On the track, Charlotte moved faster than ever. In the classroom, Charlotte now moved at a slower pace. She knew that the fastest way to learn is to slow down and absorb the information.
These days, Charlotte isn’t just known as Speedy Charlotte. She’s also: Smart Charlotte Careful Charlotte Attentive Charlotte Confident Charlotte
Smart Charlotte Careful Charlotte
Attentive Charlotte Confident Charlotte
Your Turn! Charlotte used to just be Speedy Charlotte. But as she grew, she collected all kinds of wonderful new badges: Smart Charlotte, Careful Charlotte, Attentive Charlotte, and Confident Charlotte. Now, these blank pages belong to you! Draw, write, and color to explore who you could become. What are your strengths? How do your body and mind tell you to hit the brakes? When was a time you felt super proud of yourself? If you had a champion badge today, what would it be?
Designed and Illustrated by Emily Hunter-Higgins at CreativeSnug.com Charlotte loves to do everything fast: eating breakfast, brushing her teeth, and especially running! But when speeding through her schoolwork leads to wrong answers and missed lessons, Charlotte learns that not everything in life is a race. As she builds the courage to try a new approach, she discovers that knowing when to speed up and when to slow down makes her the most confident version of herself.