Lesson Tag: school

Teachers and administrators regularly communicate with all school community stakeholders. It can be a challenge to meet the communication needs of students, parents, and staff, all while planning, implementing and evaluating curriculum. 

Students are best served when everyone is working toward their academic and personal interests. You will gain practical skills in conducting productive conversations with parents and caregivers

The way we praise children affects how they see themselves. The language we use can actually help or hinder their desire to learn and their level of effort, as well as their ability to stick with a challenging task. You might be surprised to learn that telling your child how smart they are can actually decrease effort. Research tells us that we can help even discouraged children cope with frustration and see failure as an opportunity to learn rather than giving up. Use specific, powerful feedback to encourage your child to take appropriate risks and feel more confident to try new things. 

Does your child seem unmotivated, stressed or just bored when it comes to school?

Do you play homework police instead of connecting positively with your child?

Are you confused about what will really help?

Many parents feel overwhelmed or out of the loop when it comes to their kids’ education. How can you nurture your child’s education and support engagement in learning? This class will help support your child’s learning and motivation in ways that work. You will discover how to advocate in meaningful ways when necessary. 

Students, parents, and educators are facing dramatically increased academic loss and a widening of the achievement gap. How can we address the loss and build understanding? Evidence suggest that we start with building empathy. Compassion will help us embrace the academic challenge as a community. In this class we will look at the effects of school absences due to health, behavior, and current events. We will also introduce and review effective strategies to build a strong academic foundation.

Parents can take steps to ease their school age children—and themselves—back into the school year with a positive attitude. Help your family develop effective routines, positive connections, and healthy stress-coping skills. Learn strategies to help the whole family approach online or in-person learning at school with excitement rather than worry. 

The time has come for your precious “baby” to start daycare or preschool, and you may be feeling a range of emotions. There are steps that you can take to help your family make a smooth, positive transition into this next chapter of your life.

Uncertainty about school plans can be extra hard on children with special needs who thrive on consistency and routine. Uncertain times in the outside world makes at-home routines, communication, boundaries, and connection even more important.  

In this class you will learn what you can do to create a safe, supportive home environment to give your child the calm center they need to navigate an uncertain world. You will also learn important tips on how to communicate with your child's school team to make sure your child is getting the support they need to learn and feel safe and happy. 

Class participants will be able to: 

• Identify practical approaches to be a calm center for your child even if they are struggling  
• Recognize what you can and cannot control in your child’s world 
• Develop the ability to match your expectations to your child’s capacities and your family’s circumstances 
• Define “achievable and sustainable” goals and work with your child to create a learning plan together 
• Identify and apply strategies to help your child stay on track and ways to celebrate progress 
• Apply strategies to partner effectively with your child’s teacher and support services staff ● Recognize the importance of building a support network 

Let’s Talk about Care and Education Options. Do you feel uncertain about whether fall 2020 is the time for your young child to be in a classroom learning environment? Are you torn between the benefits of what social stimulation and creative teachers can do for your child and protecting your family from community spread? Did you find your child enjoyed online learning but want to do something more this fall? 

For decades, small numbers of parents of young children have joined forces to provide some of the benefits of classrooms in early care and education centers. But how to proceed when there are so many possibilities? Join us in this class on assessing and planning for your young child’s care and education experiences. In this class you will learn about: 

• How to think about your education values for your children 
• Well-understood models for education young children outside of classrooms 
• What are the financial costs vs. time benefits for parents of these approaches 
• How do you get started in finding resources to help get something off the ground 

Early childhood cooperatives have sprung up out of parents with shared values banning together to share teaching and care responsibilities. However, other options also exist from high cost nannies to shared cost, microschools, to loving, lower cost family day care homes, to learning from home with resources from public schools. 

You want to support your child and don’t feel prepared or qualified?  

Looking back at last spring and don’t want to become the nagger again?  

Hoping there is a better way?  

This class is for you. Your child will likely participate in distance learning and you want to support them without being in charge of the instruction. This class will help you make sure they have what they need and are engaged in learning.  

After this class you will be able to: 

• Recognize the difference between support and instruction 
• Identify goals for learning 
• Inspire motivation in your child 
• Apply learning strategies outside of the standard curriculum 
• Apply effective communication that will support and inspire your child 

Back to school is upon us and you’re still not sure how to proceed or you’re unhappy with your initial choice. If there’s anything 2020 has taught us, it’s that there is no need to rush into schooling. This is a dynamic learning environment and your school age, tween or teen student can thrive. In this class we will talk about how to approach school and learning in 2020. Don’t worry if you feel stuck - you always have choices. 

After this class you will be able to: 

• Recognize your options including distance learning, home schooling, education pods and remote learning while others are “live” in school 
• Identify considerations for your child and family in order to analyze options and make a choice 
• Apply strategies that will keep your family agile in thinking about school and adjusting approaches 
• Plan with your family and take next steps