Moving with Kids

In a few weeks, our family will move across the country, back to my hometown. Our family has experienced the spectrum of emotions about the move: excitement, hope, anxiety, and sadness. Sometimes a few feelings all at once!

Looking Forward To Hellos As We Say Goodbye

I have always sensed the weight and importance of walking my children through this move in a healthy way, allowing time to discuss all the feelings as they surface. I felt a little lost about how to do this. I wanted my kiddos to process leaving friends and our home here but also look ahead to the new opportunities waiting for them in the Midwest.

My kids each have favorite activities that I knew they would love to continue after the move. I researched new Boy Scout troops and nearby mountain biking trails for my son. My daughter loves her inclusive Little League team, and I found the same Challenger league exists within driving distance of our house! I found a horsey summer book club for my daughter who loves horses and reading. Two-for-one win! And maybe by continuing these hobbies, they will meet new friends.

Lean on Friends for Support

A friend of mine made a similar big move a few years ago. I reached out last month for her input on a long-distance move. She suggested that we research places to explore in our new home. Since I spent my childhood there, I had plenty of suggestions. My kids have spent time every summer with my parents in my hometown, they had even more ideas. As their list grew, so did their anticipation.

My friend also advised that the kids find at least one friend in California who could become a pen-pal as they made the transition and developed new friendships. We went shopping for letter-writing supplies: creative stationery, envelopes, stickers, and stamps. They will give these pen-pal kits to their chosen friends before we leave…something to look forward to seeing in our new mailbox!

Be Mindful of Our Own Feelings

In the midst of walking through this big change with our children, it has been important for my husband and I to be mindful of our own feelings. We need to take the time to discuss and process our own emotions, too. Children are intuitive and will sometimes follow our lead as they watch us. In the end, actions do speak louder than words.

Moving day is just around the corner. I hope my kiddos will look forward to new opportunities and activities, even as we say goodbye to our life here.

Getting Kids to Read

It’s summertime! School is out of session and our children love to sleep in and play outside. It is hot and our children enjoy waterplay and staying up late. But what can we do to avoid the summer slide? As a teacher, I send home 12 donated books for each child to use for summer reading. I instruct them to read each day throughout the summer and write in a journal their reflections about what they read and learned from each book. Then I tell them to bring their journals into class in the fall and share with their teachers their wonderful reading adventures. I also warn my younger readers that if they do not practice reading each day, they may forget how to read at the start of a new school year. They agree that they must practice and are proud when they have completed extended reading homework assignments.

Ten Summer Reading Activities

Below are ten motivating strategies to inspire kids to read each day this summer:

Make it fun. My grandkids asked me to bring some of their favorite books to the swimming pool so they could read to me while eating their snack after a swim lesson. They are excited to show me how well they read.
Be engaged. Although I did not attend back-to-school night, the grandkids made sure I sat with them as they read their stories to me. One granddaughter described how she is in a published book. Another wrote about having a funny grumpy grandpa and nice grandma who helps her.
Incorporate art. Each grandchild keeps a journal at my home. A favorite activity is having a sibling, cousin, or me draw a picture in their journal. Then they draw their version of the illustration and write a story about the picture. Favorite themes have been bloody horror and scary stories. Other themes include how to stories and fantasy adventures.
Take the kids to the library and relax while reading together various books. Our library sells children’s books for $1. I encourage them to purchase books that they would love to keep.
Research your family history by checking out relevant books about the country that your family immigrated from. Study the history of the communities you and your relatives have lived in throughout generations.
Encourage your child to write a graphic novel. They love to create talking bubbles with illustrations. They can also develop a book of their favorite characters with a new adventure or storyline.
Explore having your child submit a creative writing story to the Highlights Magazine for kids.
After completing an art project, have your child research and write a story about how they created their project and what they can do in the future to expand their skills. For example, our granddaughter loves to watch YouTube videos about how to draw specific animals. Then she researches specific books about the animal to understand their behaviors and their habitat
Help your child plan for a summer camp or family vacation by having them research places to visit and the history of specific activities. For example, a granddaughter will be traveling to New York, New York this summer. After reading and researching various activities, she is excited to visit the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, and a Broadway play. She will also collect postcards and memorabilia to add to her scrapbook with a story about her travels.
Research the rules about a sport. My grandson is passionate about sailing and spends hours reading and researching all the safety regulations of sailing in the bay. He also must master how to safely prepare for and navigate a sailboat in various weather conditions.

Much success as you and your children incorporate reading into relevant daily life summertime activities.

Long-Distance Moving with Kids

My world feels a bit upside down. Or at least sideways. I am part of the “sandwich generation,” trying to balance raising my family while caring for aging parents. My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years ago. In the next month, we will be moving halfway across the country to be closer to my parents.

Our family has had many conversations about the move, as we process the pros and cons of starting a new life in the Midwest. While my kids are excited about the big move, each of them has unique concerns.

Getting a Job

My oldest is excited to move close to family and already has a new job lined up. As the most extroverted of my children, his apprehensions about the move surround leaving close friends behind. It is important to help him to find ways to stay connected with old friends while he makes new ones in the coming months. We toured his new school on a recent trip to our new state, which helped him get excited about new opportunities and friendships.

Keeping Life Simple

My middle daughter has a rare genetic syndrome. Change is difficult for her to process. Keeping some type of normalcy during this transition is very important for her. We talk often about the places, people, and activities in our new home that she already knows and loves. I researched and found that my daughter’s inclusive sports organization here in California has a league within driving distance of our new home. Her amazing speech therapist, who has worked with our daughter for almost ten years, offered to get licensed in our new state and continue services via Zoom. These familiarities help ground and stabilize my daughter during this big change.

Caring for the Pets

My youngest daughter has many friends, but loves animals most of all. Because of the long-distance move, some of our animals from our hobby farm had to be rehomed. I knew this would be the hardest part of moving for my daughter. I gave her full license to approve and suggest new homes for the animals we could not move with us. We planned a way to move our three cats ahead of us. They are now waiting for us at my parents’ home and in typical feline fashion, are not homesick for us at all. Our Bassett Hound, Betsy, will be riding shotgun in the U-Haul next month, drooling her dog-breath in my face for all 2500 miles! We have plans to buy new baby chicks soon after landing in the Midwest, and my daughter has reminded us about the importance of buying a property with enough room to house her new menagerie of animals.

Accepting Change

The excitement and anxiety about this moving transition are unique to each child. Allowing them to grieve, plan, and discuss the move in their own ways gives them a sense of agency over this big life change.

Ten Strategies to Ensure Student Success

Our staff met these past few weeks to reflect on the many successes that we have achieved with our students this school year.

Student Engagement in Learning and Their School Communities

Here are our top ten strategies for student success:

Our high school students are fully engaged once again in their daily school activities after distance learning. They use their talents, skills, and voice to produce creative projects through media art classes that include film and photography projects.
The leadership team creates monthly social activities that include group movie nights, lunch time rallies, a twin day, a pajama day, and a pie in the face of an administrator day. The all-time favorite was when the students dyed the hair of an administrator.
The students’ ongoing academic growth is impressive at the 8^th and 12^th grade levels because these students lost 18 months of face-to-face learning without social interactions with their teachers and peers.
All students are achieving significant milestone growth at each reporting period.
Our afterschool study hall provides students with academic teacher support by using supplemental materials for acceleration.
The student clubs are supported by teachers and support our English learners in their language development. Favorite student clubs include the chess club, film, volleyball, an adventure club with science and nature activities, and a cooking club that focuses on cooking culturally diverse recipes.
The teachers collaboratively support each other at the many academic activities to foster cooperation and team work.
We have a larger pool of students in our senior class who are eligible to attend four-year universities and colleges.
Teachers and parents can now attend student sporting events since the COVID restrictions have been lifted for attendance.
Our major event for the year was a “trunk or treat event” in October. Nearly 25 cars were decorated by the students with open trunks full of candy for students and their families. The high school media arts class decorated cars along with the advisory groups. The community attendees voted on the best decorated car. Community agencies provided community services. A community vendor provided reduced cost foods as a donation for the event. And staff members performed in a folklorico dance group. This celebration of our school community truly showcased the vibrance of our students and their many achievements.

Much success as your school’s staff creates spring and summer activities to celebrate your school’s families and their children’s many achievements this past school year.

Parent’s Guide to School Communication from an Educator

I have found that often times parents of all backgrounds and educational levels have difficulty in understanding how they should communicate with schools regarding their children. So, I have put together some quick guidelines that I think will improve the school – parent partnership. To be clear, I believe that in the IDEAL circumstances it is the responsibility of the school to take the lead on this. That said, I think this can be beneficial for everyone involved.

Establish Communication Protocols and Expectations

As a parent it is important to understand that your child’s teacher likely has between 20 and 150 other students that they are working with every day. That said, it is fair to expect that you receive communication from the school if and when they notice any change in behavior, mood, or performance. As a parent, I believe that this is a fair expectation to share with your child’s educators and also a responsibility to share the same communication under the same parameters with the school as a courtesy if you noticing something at home.

Understand Desired Outcomes

Almost every school measures student academic success in different ways. As a parent you should have a clear understanding of what your child has been learning and will be learning in the future and how success will be measured.

Grades

Grades mean much to parents. Probably way too much. A teacher should be able to explain how they grade to you and the meaning that it carries. Assuming grades are truly a reflection of learning, artifacts should be available to show parents their student’s performance compared to the expected standard that you can clearly explain.

Where Does My Kid Fit?

Most parents want to know where their student is in comparison to their peers so national benchmarking data is generally appreciated and answers many questions. If your student struggles in these comparisons, it is not too much to expect a plan as to what the school is going to do to help your student. This is also a time to not NECESSARILY be satisfied if your student is performing well. If they are performing well compared to others, then the questions should be about ensuring they are still being challenged.

Set Goals

The goal of communicating is to create a shared commitment to a student’s success. In order to get to this end, a teacher must have invested time and energy into creating the desired outcomes for that student in the future (hopefully WITH the student) ahead of time. This act demonstrates MUTUAL responsibility for the student’s growth and gives the parent something to actively monitor.

Character Counts

Everyone wants to know who their student is when they are not around. If your student receives discipline in class or in school already may have an idea. For the 85% of students that do exactly what they should on a daily basis, it is more than appropriate to want this information from someone who may spend more time with your child on many days that you do.

Aim for a Partnership

It should never be lost that the point of communication with a teacher is for it to be meaningful and to help create better support for the student. Part of this engagement is for all parties (parent, teacher, and student) to understand how they can serve as a better partner in their child’s education. This may seem too formal, but I like to encourage parents and teachers to consider three I WILL statements to establish norms and expectations for the year. This is a commitment from the teacher, student, and parent as to what ‘I WILL’ do to improve the educational experience of the student throughout the next months of the child’s schooling experience.

Navigating the school environment is difficult for nearly every parent. My hope is that these tips on what you can and should expect in terms of communication and a partnership with your child’s educators will help provide some help while on this journey.