Apr 24 2018

Planning Spring Play, Raising Lifetime Leaders

When the sun is out, the air is warm, and the birds are chirping, it’s time to beat those winter blues with outside play! While it is true that free play encourages imagination, allowing kids to “be bored” will unleash their creativity. There’s still lots to be said about helping children plan for play. As parents, modeling our thought process and questioning skills will help our children be decisive decision makers, become strategic planners, and develop leaderships skills. Consider the following scenario:

Phase 1 – Invite your child to be a decisive decision maker.

Child: Mommy, Daddy, can we play outside?

Parent: Sure, what would you like to do? Would you like me to help you think of ideas?

At this point, your child may very well say “No, thank you” to your offer of help. Imagine how empowered your child will feel because you gave him permission to say “No.” This is a very powerful step, as it communicates to your child that you trust him to be decisive in his decisions. He will continue to the next phase with a definitive idea for play all ready to go! [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Discovering the joy of teaching while in high school, Jaime pursued her B.A. in English at Santa Clara University. She also received a teaching credential and a M.A. in Education Administration from Santa Clara University. Jaime taught English Language Arts at Rancho Middle School, motivating and inspiring young people to become effective communicators and contributors in their community. From being a Middle School English Language Arts/English Language Development teacher to becoming a stay-at home mom, Jaime is an education consultant who presents literacy workshops. Her workshops focus on a combination of her ten years of teaching expertise with tried-and-true experiences that she uses with her own children. Jaime is also a Teacher Consultant with the San Jose Area Writing Project. Jaime’s mission is to share effective reading and writing strategies with families to encourage literacy.

Jan 02 2018

Do You Align Your Parenting Skills with Your Partner and Caregivers?

Whenever there are conflicts, parents, the extended family, and caregivers must agree to work together for positive resolutions. This can be difficult when different parenting skills and beliefs exist. It is important for parents to agree that they are on the same team. They must examine their beliefs, values, and strategies on how they want to respond to their children’s needs. Additionally, they must share their parenting strategies and expectations with the extended family members and caregivers to ensure that the parenting of their children is as consistent as possible. [Read more…]

Joyce Iwasaki, Early Parenting

Joyce Iwasaki has over thirty years of educational experience working with diverse students in grades from preschool through high school. Joyce’s extensive background includes teaching elementary school, serving on early childhood advisory boards, and advocating for educational initiatives as a legislative aide. During her tenure as a legislative aide, she helped create legislation that allowed incarcerated mothers to keep their newborn babies with them while in prison. Additional legislation was enacted to allow incarcerated pregnant mothers to remain unshackled during labor and delivery. Ms. Iwasaki established and served as the president of an educational scholarship foundation for fifteen years. Her foundation awarded college scholarships to emerging student leaders who provided service to their schools and communities. Joyce is active in performing arts and cultural organizations. She also provides ongoing support to her daughter and family by raising her grandson in her home.

Dec 05 2017

Family Members Must Accommodate for a Special Needs Child

Most parents, who have children with special needs, struggle with how to respond to the other children in their family. Some parents overly accommodate for the special needs child and ignore the needs of their other children. Other parents reward the other siblings by indulging in their material needs because they do not have time for quality activities. Typically, when parents cannot find the time to care for all of their children, the other children may respond by:

Acting out aggressively with anger and frustration
Shutting down and hiding their emotions
Becoming overly kind and not taking care of their own personal needs

[Read more…]

Joyce Iwasaki, Early Parenting

Oct 24 2017

5 Things Parents Should Know About Assessment

5 Things Parents Should Know About Assessments

1. Tests and Assessments Are Not the Same

A test examines a student’s knowledge, understanding, and skills to determine what level of learning has been reached. It generally results in a numerical or letter grade.

Assessments involves gathering, analyzing, and responding to a student’s strengths and misconceptions about their learning. It includes feedback to the learner and also informs the teacher’s practice.

An analogy would be your BMI that provides a number but not a health analysis or fitness plan. Sometimes we need a test and sometimes learning requires assessment. [Read more…]

Laura Greenstein, Ed.D.

Laura Greenstein has been an educator for over 30 years serving as a teacher, department chair, and school leader in multiple grades and subjects. She combines this background with her experience as a school board member and professional development specialist to bring fresh and original ideas to educators about teaching, learning, and assessing. She consults with schools and districts and presents at workshops and conferences locally and nationally. As an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut and the University of New Haven, she teaches Human Development and Assessment to undergraduate and graduate students and more recently, Teaching, Learning, and Assessing with Technology in the 6^th year Digital Literacy program. She has a B.S. from the University of Connecticut, an M.S. from the State University of New York at Oneonta in education, a 6th year from Sacred Heart University in administration, and an Ed.D. from Johnson and Wales University in Educational Leadership. Her website, http://www.assessmentnetwork.net, is a valuable source of information on issues and topics in assessment. She is the author of multiple books on assessment including What Teachers Really Need to Know About Formative Assessment, Assessing 21st Century Skills: A Guide to Evaluating Mastery and Authentic Learning, Restorative Assessment: Strength-Based Practices to Support all Learners, and Sticky Assessment: Classroom Strategies to Amplify Student Learning.

Aug 08 2017

Day Trips in the Waning Days of Summer Vacation

Usually in August, the kids begin to get bored with summer vacation. Rather than giving in to boredom, families can take advantage of these last few weeks before school begins by using this precious time for day long trips. These trips don’t have to be costly like a vacation. Here are a few of the day trips I take with my children and grandchildren. [Read more…]

Rosemarie Perez, Parenting

Rosemarie Pérez has worked with English learners and their families in public education for more than twenty years. She has served as a bilingual teacher, professional developer, and district administrator. Administrative roles included serving as the Director of English Learners for an elementary school district and as a Coordinator of Reading and Language for the San Mateo County Office of Education. Rosemarie continues to work with families as she leads the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Parent Engagement Initiative during the past three years. Ms. Pérez provides expert guidance to teachers, school site staff, and school administrators in creating culturally sensitive parent training modules and academic curricular units. She facilitates parent education and Common Core Standards workshops. Engaged parents are further trained to become parent leaders and advocates. Rosemarie is the mother of five adult children and three grandchildren.