GenParenting

Parenting resources for all who love and care for children

Building Resilliency Skills for Kids

Building Resiliency Skills for Kids

This past year our students have been learning remotely in Goggle classrooms. Each morning, our second graders spend an hour focusing on their social-emotional needs. Our school has adopted the FranklinCovey’s K-12 Leader in Me (see www.TheLeaderInMe.org) curriculum so support students’ personal growth based on Stephen R. Covey’s The Leader in Me book. The seven habits that we focus on with a variety of reflective activities include:

  1. Be proactive by taking responsibility for personal choices and behaviors.
  2. Begin with the end in mind by setting goals.
  3. Put first things first by achieving the most important things first.
  4. Think win-win so that everyone can win.
  5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood by learning to listen first and talk second.
  6. Synergize by having folks work together to achieve a better solution.
  7. Sharpen the saw to achieve balance in life.

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Book Recommendations for Middle Schoolers

Book Recommendations for Middle Schoolers

Every now and then, people would ask me for book recommendations for their middle school aged student. “Are there any good books out there that my kid will like?” they ask. Acknowledging that there are books not all teens will like, let’s define what is meant by a “good” book for the purpose of these recommendations. For teenagers, good books provide IQ (intelligence quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient) perspective. In terms of IQ, books that give adolescents a point of view other than their own so they can expand their horizons would make great books. Teens will read plenty of sources bolstering their IQ through school, so this list offers only a couple suggestions in this area. In terms of EQ, teens will really benefit and grow from reading first-person narratives so they can learn to empathize and identify with the main character. In the case of auto-biographical writing, we benefit from the author’s perspective and voice. In an age where we need to develop more student leadership, compassion, and solidarity, I recommend the following: [Read more…]

Parenting Children on the Autism Spectrum

Parenting Children on the Autism Spectrum

Having a child on the autism spectrum generally has a major impact on any family. In these difficult times that require us to shelter in place, the impact is likely to be more extensive. Families with such challenges may already tend to isolate themselves out of concern over their child’s tendency toward inappropriate behavior. Below are a few suggestions to enhance improvement of family life.

Consider the Natural and Required Tendency toward Isolation

This tendency toward isolation occurs even when families realize the importance of social engagement. However, isolation is likely to be even more of a challenge when everyone is expected to isolate themselves. To enhance success, begin by reaching out to extended family and friends or peers from school who are familiar and can be trusted. Any form of communication such as the phone, text, or face time should be considered. Messaging applications like Zoom or Google Hangouts might be utilized. [Read more…]

One Word Challenge

One Word Challenge

Recently, I’ve received a challenge to select one word to sum up how I’m feeling or to choose one word as my focus for the new year. This challenge was new to me and honestly, it’s a bit intriguing, too. Hmm…just one word, huh? When we reflect on 2020, there were many new words and phrases introduced, wasn’t there? Bear with me a bit while I list through some words that have frequently surfaced in news headlines or social media posts.

Pandemic.

Unprecedented. Over-abundance of caution. Social Distancing. Mask. Work from home. Toilet paper shortage. Hand sanitizer. Essential worker. COVID-19. Hoax. Chinese-virus. Vaccine.Public Health.

Frontline doctors and nurses. PPE. Flatten the curve. Quarantine. Stay at home. Shelter in place, lockdown, curfew, mental health, social bubble. [Read more…]

Family Best Practices for Distance Learning

Family Best Practices for Distance Learning

Kenji, my grandson, has limited opportunities to socialize with his classmates and friends since the shelter-in-place orders in March. When school started this fall, students were not able to talk together in class because the online platform would garble students’ talking if more than one child spoke at a time. In recent weeks, my second-grade grandson is now able to socialize with students online during breaks and small group discussions. Although he does not visit with his classmates outside of class time, he is very happy that he now can enjoy his friends. When I supervise his remote classroom participation, I have observed the following best practices that support students’ academic success:

  • Students in the same family can have different schedules and breaks. Ideally, children can learn how to use an alarm to monitor when they need to log back into the classroom.
  • Students need an adult to supervise their participation and to help them with any computer glitches. Many working parents alternate their work schedules to supervise while other families gather students together and rotate parents, grandparents, or a nanny to supervise small groups for added tutorial support.
  • When students are fully engaged in learning, they are excited and motivated to apply newly developed skills to other daily activities. Children are engaged when they participate in scavenger hunts in their neighborhood that may include collecting nature products for math, reading, and writing activities. For example, students can gather different sizes of rocks, count them, and organize the rocks according to shapes and sizes. They can construct a math problem of how they added specific groups of rocks. Students can create a chart on how they grouped the rocks. They can take a picture of their collection and insert the image onto a Goggle slide. A reflective story can describe how a student found the rocks, grouped them, and solved a math problem. This reflective activity can reinforce what a student learned when participating in this activity.
  • The physical fitness teacher has students collect specific objects in the home. Then the student uses these objects when participating in physical fitness exercises. The teacher also has students learn exercise moves when dancing to music.
  • In addition to phonics review, Kenji has learned how to write a book. He creates books on various subjects. Kenji also learns how to research new concepts and facts in his reading materials.
  • Students are learning how to recycle and collect trash. They repurpose these items when completing art projects. They study how to conserve community resources in their social studies and science lessons.

[Read more…]

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