Blog - GenParenting

Nov 03 2020

Jaime Koo, Mama Best Friend (MBF)

The first of a three-part reflection series on parenting middle schoolers during the pandemic on the home front, facing political realities with pre-teens, and practical considerations regarding school re-opening.

Most people are bashful when it comes to tooting their own horn, but Friends, I am really proud of this recent acknowledgement – I’ve recently been conferred with the honorary title MBF, otherwise known as “Mama Best Friend.” You see, this designation comes from the notoriously difficult, the most critical and defiant, the extremely hard-to-please individual – yes, that’s right, my 13-year-old daughter. It has taken me a lot of hard work in these 13 years to earn the title, and to be granted this distinction during the COVID-19 pandemic is both extraordinarily humbling and extremely gratifying.

What did I do to receive such an honor, you ask? Well, we’ve come a long way, my daughter and I. Allow me to provide some examples: When trying to maintain discipline and order when she was a toddler, she would commonly shriek “I hate you” or scream “You don’t love me anymore!” Once, when she was 8 years old, she got so angry that she impulsively opened the front door and ran down the street. When she was about 10 years old, I was driving my daughters to a doctor’s appointment and so did not pay attention to her demands. All of a sudden, she got enraged and started repeatedly kicking the back of my driver seat, all the while screaming “Why aren’t you listening to me?” [Read more…]

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Oct 27 2020

Online Social Activities for Teens

Students returned to school remotely in August. Since their return, our primary focus has been to ensure that all of our students are socially and emotionally ready to learn each day. Our elected student leaders meet afterschool to create creatively engaging activities for students throughout the school year. [Read more…]

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Oct 20 2020

Recreating COVID-19 Holidays

October is an important month in our household. My grandson, Kenji, will have a birthday in a few days. Then we have Halloween at the end of the month. My grandson typically enjoys a birthday party with friends and celebrates Halloween at a school celebration. With COVID-19, we are redefining how we will celebrate the following holidays:

We will celebrate Kenji’s birthday with a small family party. He has already received a new larger bicycle for this event. Kenji will celebrate his birthday with his aunt and uncle and a special bike ride. We will then enjoy cake and ice cream as my grandson plays with his other gifts.
Kenji will wear his Halloween costume while attending his remote classroom on Halloween. Some schools will celebrate Halloween with a car parade at the school site while students wear their costumes. Other families will celebrate with their neighborhood pod of two to three families. Several families are decorating their homes and will host a Halloween party with their children. They may also Zoom with other school families and friends.
Thanksgiving will be a challenge as we may need to leave our home for a long-awaited construction project. We are looking forward to eating a take-out Thanksgiving dinner in our hotel room.
Christmas will be celebrated with a Christmas tree, gifts, and a visit with a couple of family members.

[Read more…]

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Oct 13 2020

Can K – 3 Students Thrive When Distance Learning?

Most of California’s K – 3 students were forced to start their school year as distance learners these last few weeks. And many parents panicked as they had to determine how they would support this challenge with technology oversight and support. Those who had the time or money, scrabbled to find programs that would allow their children to socialize with others in small groups and in neighborhood pods. Rotating parents provide supervision and tutors would be hired for added help. Many parents struggled. Their needs for childcare or while working were overwhelming to adequately support some children’s needs. [Read more…]

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Oct 06 2020

COVID-19 Challenges for High School Seniors

As high school seniors prepare their college applications in these next few weeks, teachers are adapting their online services to effectively support their students at this very stressful time. Our teachers have expanded their services to include the following:

Small group senior seminars provide students with guidance on financial aid, how to select appropriate colleges based on interests and achievement, how to integrate testing data into the college application, and how to integrate community services and leadership into the college application process and essays.
Students continue to participate in early college classes online that are offered directly from the high school campus. Through this process, college professors teach by using the high school’s online platform to better meet the needs of students.
Students are registered to take the SATs and ACTs to add to the rigor for college acceptance considerations. While test scores will be considered by some colleges, others will not use these as part of their college acceptance review.
In addition to meeting with students regularly for college counseling and planning, teachers provide college planning tips online to ensure that students complete each step of the college application process on time.
Students continue to learn effective social-emotional skills through a school club to overcome the social isolation felt by many students forced to learn online due to ongoing COVID-19 health challenges and racism.

[Read more…]

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