GenParenting

Parenting resources for all who love and care for children

GenParenting

Parenting resources for all who love and care for children

Preparing for High School and Beyond

Preparing for High School and Beyond

This summer, my oldest is preparing to enter her 8th grade year of school. While it is certainly a milestone year and we will celebrate the end of the middle school years, we don’t want high school to arrive and then be caught off guard that we weren’t prepared! So, even while one stage in life ends, we are looking forward to the next. This summer, we are getting her prepared to know what to expect for high school and beyond.

Remediation

Our first step is to look back and think about her weaknesses. Looking at her educational path, are there areas that may need more review or support? Will she need more repetition in an academic area so she doesn’t lose skills over the summer and be a victim of the “summer slide”? [Read more…]

Coronavirus: Expanding Our Shopping Options

Coronavirus: Expanding Our Shopping Options

We continue to adjust to a new normal as California slowly returns to more contact with our families, neighbors, and local businesses. Some of the changes impacting family members include:

  1. Stores are becoming more mobile. We are learning how to interact with retailers in new ways through curbside services, more online purchases, and home deliveries.
  2. As this mobility increases, drug stores will expand curbside services.
  3. Online purchases will become more cost effective as staffing is secured for added customer services that support bundling deliveries.
  4. Schools will adjust their fall programs through staggered class schedules to maintain social distancing protocols.
  5. Sporting events will be modified to ensure safety for players and possibly limited spectators.
  6. Communities will struggle on how to teach and train small groups to use face masks when in public.
  7. Child care services will need to be adjusted to smaller groups.
  8. And the overall emotional and social health of a society must continue to be monitored to ensure the healthy development of all.

[Read more…]

Education and COVID-19: Pressing the “Pause Button”

Education and COVID-19: Pressing the “Pause Button” 

As I write this blog entry, we are about a couple months into shelter in place due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19. Even as we are ending the school year and planning what our family’s summer will look like, there are still many uncertainties and undecided factors surrounding what the re-opening of schools will look like in the fall. I wish there could be a “pause button” so we could evaluate some of the issues and consider the best way to move forward. On top of the obvious health risks with opening up schools and increasing exposure, here are some of the issues that I have been thinking about, and maybe you have, too. [Read more…]

What Can Educators with Families Do to Fight Institutional Racism and Civil Rights Injustices?

What Can Educators with Families Do to Fight Institutional Black Racism and Civil Rights Injustices?

As an educator for over 30 years, I am committed to supporting the healthy development and academic successes of students and their families. As a white-women raised in Oakland in the 1960s, I am a social justice advocate and educator. I initially volunteered for nonprofit agencies who helped immigrant families access social services. As a parent education teacher, I created parenting classes that taught parents how to partner with schools.  And then I worked at United Way and taught nonprofits how to partner with schools to leverage significant educational resources. As a doctoral student, I partnered with culturally diverse community partners to create community-empowered schools. Some of these schools became part of a VISTA project and later best practices were featured at a National Title I Conference and at a National Association of Bilingual Education Conference. We continue to write our program strategies in www.GenParenting.com blogs and through teacher and parent education publications.

Racially Sensitive Community Building

Community building is my passion. I am not effective without the guidance of my sisterhood of culturally diverse educators and colleagues that represent many different cultural and economic backgrounds. I am continually reminded that as a person of privilege, I may accidently misspeak or be racially insensitive due to my white entitlement blindness. Most folks trust my sincerity, forgive my misdeeds, and encourage me to continue the journey of social action change. [Read more…]

An Educator’s Reflection on George Floyd’s Tragic Death

An Educator’s Reflection on George Floyd’s Tragic Death

I am the Executive Director of Youth Policy Institute Charter Schools in the Los Angeles area. Last week, I sent the following message about George Floyd’s tragic death to my schools’ staff members.

As the mother of a 21-year-old son, I am stunned, angered, and not surprised, once again by the inhumane treatment of African-Americans. The images of today’s events, along with memories of stories repeated and passed down from one generation to another in my family are so clearly seared in my mind. The events leading up to George Floyd’s death and after have been extremely challenging for me to process as an adult. I am certain that it has been the same for many of our staff and children who have been living through the violence. [Read more…]