JP Lepeley is acclaimed and beloved as educator and artist. Coming from a family of writers, JP’s grandfather was the director of the newspaper El Mercurio de Valparaiso, and his dad wrote a number of books and papers on the subject of Theology in nine different languages. JP started his career as an educator when he was in 6th grade and his career as an artist when he was is 8th grade, publishing cartoons in his high school's school newspaper.
Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1970, Juan Pablo (also known as John-Paul), moved with his parents to Colombia when he was seven years old; he was educated there and graduated from the Universidad Central in Bogota. His dream was to write and produce movies with good content, the kind of movies that have the power to uplift people to reach their full potential. In 1998, after years of working in music, advertising and as an educator, he moved to the US. He landed in an advertising agency and continue working during his free time on developing educational materials and techniques. By 2009 he had published several bilingual books for early education as well as a Law Enforcement Officer training program that included the workbooks and CDs.
Gifted with skills in music, art, and writing, plus a deep understanding of how to communicate with readers of all ages, he took several jobs as a teacher in public and private schools. He started the Lepeley Academy together with his wife, to provide tutoring and after-school programs: Spanish, French, Piano, Guitar, Drums, Saxophone, Violin, Bass, Clarinet, Art, Computers, Robotics, Soccer, and Film Making. The Lepeley Academy also provided after-school programs to low-income families and non-profit organizations as part of their commitment giving children of all backgrounds the opportunity to develop their skills. The Spanish program was also requested by several churches and non-profit organizations to train their staff.
His background in psychology sociology makes JP a great educator since he is able to match the student’s learning process which makes the lessons very interesting for both. Thanks to his experience in subliminal communication, JP has been working on creating educational material that facilitates the learning process for students. He’s been very successful with his unique approach to the point that many of his former students have already reached positions of leadership.
JP is an avid reader (averages 200 books per year) and his horizons are set on developing educational material that will accomplish multiple purposes, beyond the education realm.
It is known that leaders are readers. Follows some good practices:
- Focus on meaning otherwise, chances are they will get distracted
- Read aloud especially those words that are hard for your kids
- Do everything you can to get kids to read so they get used to it. Provide the time and access to fascinating, relevant, kid-friendly material
- Give beginning readers lots of opportunities to interact
- Ask your children in a way that they need to provide a thoughtful answer
- Little ones benefit from phonics instruction in a balanced manner
- Make sure your children read poetry, magazines, newspapers, and any other real-world options
- If we want kids to have a lifelong love of reading, we need to give them practice at choosing texts that interest them
- Balancing challenging texts with easier ones normally end on engagement
- Teach your kids that reading is like thinking
- Model a love of books and authors, as well as the thinking, moves that happen during a proficient reading
- Be sure to explicitly label strategies as you model them
- Support them before, during, and after reading
- Show kids how reading helps them learn and solve problems
- Give your kids daily opportunities to talk about their reading
- Replace workbooks with authentic activities such as book groups
- Link reading to writing
- Placing no emphasis on mechanized assessments and more on a one-to-one qualitative assessment
- Many children like to eat as they read. If they associate feeding their brain and feeding their stomach the love for reading will be anchored naturally
- During a challenge, asked your kid how they believe the character from the book they are reading will solve the problem
