Friday, May 7, 2010

For Mother's Day: Junior - Mama Used To Say



(Even though I've enjoyed this song by Junior Giscombe for many years, seeing him on this YouTube video was the first time I've had a visual reference.)

My mother die a few years ago, and I often I think about lessons she provided through her sayings. One of her expressions seems like a translation from one of Shakespeare's characters. Mom often said "have your own" meaning don't borrow from other people. These words were as sicinnct as Polonius's "neither a borrower or lender be." As a result her children have a streak of independence. Another of mom's expressions, "treat other people's things better than you treat your own" is unique, I think.

Perhaps, most important was Mom's advice: "Know when to come home." The point was for her children to recognize when trouble was brewing and to come home before trouble started. Countless times as a youngster I had to tell friends that I had to go home when my I thought things were getting out of hand.

So, on this Mother's Day, I smile and remember some of the lessons from my first teacher, my mother.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

An Interesting Quote

I was reading the book Freefall by Joseph E. Stiglitz (Nobel Prize winner in Economics)and came across the following words:

"Quite often in science certain assumptions we so strongly hold or are so ingrained in the thinking that no one realize they are only assumptions." (p. 242)

I've been thinking of that idea more broadly for quite a while. In fact, I'm becoming more and more very suspicious of "conventional wisdom" because the foundation for that "wisdom" many times is nothing but assumptions.

Friday, April 2, 2010

What Parents Can Do About Bullying

I finally found an article that provides ideas about parental roles in addressing bullying.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Where Are June and Ward Cleaver When We Need Them?

This morning I listened to a discussion about the Massachusetts bullying case that is in the news. The cable news commentator and the child psychology expert from Harvard had an interchange for about ten minutes wherein they mentioned school responsibilities and on-line social communities. I waited and listened carefully and was disappointed because at no time did either person mention parental responsibility.

As I mentioned before on this blog several times, I believe there shouldn't be any discussion about children without highlighting parental involvement. Yet it seems a rare occasion that parents are acknowledge as part of children's environmental system. Schools seem to be the scapegoat for everything while parents have decreasing responsibility. Gone are the days when a teacher/principal would call a parent and the parent would work out a problem with another parent. I simply don't understand why parents are no longer responsible for the behavior of their children.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Protecting Children from Abuse (Part 1)



Currently, the Vatican is being asked to explain why the Pope didn't weed out a child predator from the priesthood when the Pope was a bishop. I wasn't surprised to learn of this situation since I read Marci A. Hamilton's book, pictured above, last year. Prior to reading the book I was totally unaware how different systems dealt with child abusers. Now I interpret news of child abuse from a new light.

For example, here are a few revelations for me from Hamilton's book:

A key part of processing child sex abuse cases is the statues of limitation (SOL) to file a case; however, "the SOLs are arbitrary rules, and they stop litigants even when survivors have strong and just claims." (p. 3)

"Child sex abuse is a massive national problem; at least 25 percent of girls and 20 percent of boys are sexually abused." (p. 4)

"There was a time when child abusers were referred to as 'Stranger Danger.' Most of use lived in an unfortunately mytical world where 'incest' was only a word in the dictionary, and sexual perverts were just rumors: lurking strangers in trench coats, but not 'nice' dads, teachers, or priests. To stay safe, [a child] simply had to refuse candy or car rides from 'Mr. Stranger Danger.' In reality, though [a child] is most at risk from those who care for her and make friends with her, from parents to chatroom buddy who is in fact a predator." (p. 5)

Monday, March 22, 2010

Toy Story



This story might cause you to chuckle. The BBC on line has a story about a California couple who boasted about selling stolen toys and ended up in jail.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Sins (?) of the Mothers

The title of this blog entry came to mind from an old Rod Serling Night Gallery episode titled Sins of the Father wherein a son had to physically eat the sins of his father. I watched the episode nearly 40 years ago and am still haunted by the idea. In any case, today I'm referring to the story of a Catholic school expelling a child because the mothers are a lesbian couple.

I'm not really surprise of the choice made by the Catholic school. Nearly ten years ago I taught an Early Childhood Education Seminar course at a junior college, and to generate a lively discussion, I asked the students, mostly home childcare providers, whether they would care for children of same-sex couples. Overwhelmingly, the answer was negative. I was perplexed at the time since I can't figure out why the child should suffer.

As to the Catholic school's decision, I'm wonder what Marci a. Hamilton, who wrote Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children. Hamilton has strong opinions about the Catholic's church and the treatment of child abusers. For months since reading her book, I've been meaning to highlight some of her thoughts about our failure to protect children. Soon I'll present some of those thoughts.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Children in TV Commercials

I'm beginning to wonder whether anyone is monitoring how children are being used in TV commercials. I know that at least in the film industry laws are strictly enforced about how children are to be used. Maybe on TV not so much.

These thoughts have been brewing with me for a while now since noticing commercials for a bank that uses children as the butt for its jokes and advertisement. In this particular bank's first commercial that I noticed, a man asks a little girl, who has brown hair and non-white features, if she wanted a pony. She replies yes, and he gives her a cutout of a horse. The little girl is delighted. The man then asks a little girl with blond hair, seated next to the first little girl, if she wants a pony. The blond little girl replies yes. The man makes a clicking sound with his mouth, and a real pony enters the scene. He then gives the pony to the blond little girl. The first little girl then remarks that the man didn't say she could have a real pony, and he replies that she didn't asked. The first little girl gives the man a mean look and even intensifies the mean look. I got the impression that she was thinking she wish she were big enough to kick his butt.

That commercial annoys me so much that I now change the channel from it and would never consider using that bank. To further irk me, the bank has expanded its use of children in other commercials with the same tactic of tricking young children to make a point about the bank's trustworthiness.

Something about this makes me think that this bank as others are socially irresponsible as well as tone deaf. I've had only a few marketing courses, but I don't think I would ever brand myself or my products using children in a negative light. Just sayin'...

Saturday, February 27, 2010

What's in a Name?

Shouldn't children learn about what they're eating even before reaching school age? I think so, but in an upcoming TV food show, a chef finds out that some West Virginia young children couldn't identify common fruit and vegetables.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Dr. Seuss on eBook

I'm a huge Dr. Seuss fan. I think using his material in any form is good as long as children are exposed to different forms. Allowing children to use new technologies for learning is good, but not at the expense of deleting older methods as books.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Talking About Race With Children

I had white friends who told me that they were colorblind in regard to race. That idea has always irked me since to me the problem isn't acknowledging differences among people, which include skin color. Instead the problem is pretending that people have no color or that their racial identity is insignificant.

So what can we do about this? For many adults I think the situation is hopeless--sorry to be so pessimistic; for children I'm exceedingly hopeful. In fact there are many teachable moments for children regarding the topic race. Selecting an African-American to be president is just one moment.

Some of my thoughts about race for this blog post were driven by an article at Wired.com titled How to Raise Racist Children Kids by Jonathan Liu. The article highlights parental patterns that fosters racism in children. Also, the article presents information from the book NurtureShock as: A child’s attitudes toward race are much harder to alter after third grade, but a lot of parents wait until then (or later) before they feel it’s “safe” to talk frankly about race.

I must remember that I'm one of the fortunate people who has had the opportunity to travel and appreciate cultures in many locations around the world. I think this exposure has helped me develop a wider view of people in one respect from noticing their differences from me and my culture, and at the same time I've been able to see a commonality between people from different cultures. Kindness is one of the commonalities.

My most memorable examples of cross-cultural kindness were in Germany and Egypt. Those moments of people going out of their way to make me feel comfortable and understand me as a person often fuel my soul when I have periods of annoyance stemming from racial discrimination.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

How Sweet It Is!

The title of this blog post is stolen from Jackie Gleason, a comic from yesteryear. In a way he is a nice lead in, physically at least--a chubby fellow he was, for a few words concerning my journey to find healthy apple juice today . I indicate health because not all apple juice is healthy since many apple juice producers bump up the sugar level per serving. The recommended sugar level is 4 grams per serving. Finding that level is very difficult. In the case of apple juice in small containers suitable for children, I found the sugar level per serving to be extremely high: 17, 23, 25 grams. A woman with a child was also shopping for apple juice when I was today. I commented to her that the recommended healthy sugar level was 4 grams per serving, but all the choices on the shelves were well over that level. I was happy to see her check containers for sugar after our conversation and hoped it becomes a practice for the sake of her child. The best choice I found was Apple & Eve's 4.23 fl. oz. containers, which reflected 11 grams per serving.

The sugar level in yogurt is similar to that of apple juice. I suspect sugar levels are high in many everyday products. Since high sugar use correlates with obesity, I wondering whether Michelle Obama will focus on sugar levels in food as she spearheads projects addressing childhood obesity.

Monday, February 15, 2010

A Poem

The Modest Little Wish
from Selected Poems
of
Carl Spitteler
(Carl Spitteler is winner of the 1919 Nobel Prize for Literature)

In the days when I was little
had they asked me what I wanted,
What I'd wish for first, if wishes
ever could be really granted,
At the thought of such abundance
I should long have hesitated,
Picture-books, painted-boxes, soldiers--
between these have vacillated.
But grown older, plans were bolder;
I had made my proud election
--Fame as hero, fame as victor,
worlds o'erthrown for resurrection;
Or as artist crowned with laurel,
lord of some domain entrancing,
Magic trees around me blossoming,
and lovely ladies glancing.
Nowadays, if hope grown weary
in the wishing-game persisted,
Though I blushed to think the childish,
foolish longing still existed,
I would ask to hear the old way
bells would sound when lying lonely
Half-asleep, a little fellow...
I would ask to hear that only.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

More About Parents Behaving Badly Than A Child Behaving Badly

One idea that has me thinking recently is that emotional intelligence development is important for young children because they don't have the vocabulary to express themselves like adults, particularly regarding feelings. Such is the case, I think, within the story below, which links to more detail at The Smoking Gun Web site.

FEBRUARY 12--A Florida first grade student was briefly committed to a mental health institution after police were twice called to her school this week after she threw violent tantrums, which included the six-year-old striking the school's principal, who is eight months pregnant, in the stomach. According to the below St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office reports, officers were first summoned to Parkway Elementary School last Monday when Haley Franklin became out of control. During an hour-long tantrum--which was apparently triggered when the girl's teacher asked her to do something--the child kicked walls and threw items (a calculator, electric pencil sharpener, telephone, etc.) across the principal's office. The 37-pound offender, pictured at right, was briefly handcuffed as a sheriff's deputy sought to get her under control. The following day, when the child again caused a disruption, which included throwing things and striking the principal, a sheriff's deputy responded to the school and transported Haley to the New Horizons mental health facility. A Florida state law (known as the Baker Act) allows law enforcement personnel to involuntarily commit individuals. Along with threatening to punch a deputy, the girl called a school administrator "an old bat" and told the woman, "I am going to go home and make a kick me sign and put it on your back." While Haley's parents acknowledge that their child has a temper problem, they said she has no history of mental illness, and blasted school officials and sheriff's deputies for overreacting. The sheriff's report notes that, prior to last week's incidents, school officials repeatedly sought to discuss Haley's behavior with her mother and father. But the parents never showed up for the scheduled meetings. Additionally, both parents were arrested last year for failing to appear for a court-ordered truancy hearing about "their children not attending school on a normal basis."

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Great Idea!


A school district in Arizona came up with a creative solution that led to students using their time more productively while traveling by school bus. The details are reported in the New York Times. I find it heartwarming to see teachers and administrators working to give students educational choices. I have great hope for our youths.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance

Koyaanisqatsi translates to "life out of balance or crazy life" in the Hopi language. Also it was used as part of the title of a film (Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance) directed by Godfrey Reggio with music by Philip Glass. I saw the film many years ago and bought a DVD of it. The images and music are perfectly in sync and create a feast for the brain to show that the modern world is out of balance with nature. The life out of balance theme comes to mind every now and then when I notice something in the news that is grossly out of kilter, particular with children. This morning the theme came to while reading the story about a junior high student who was arrested in NYC for doodling on her desk. Immediately, I had questions: What happened to the days when children committing the same offense was required to clean the desk, if not all the desks in the classroom as punishment? Why are we so quick to criminalize children? Is the process used in this situation not a waste of public time and resources?

Friday, January 29, 2010

Brushing Up on Personal Hygiene at PreK Level


Today the New York Times had an article concerning a prek program in Massachusetts that added toothbrush time as part of the curriculum. While I applaud the idea of teaching children to brush correctly, having a program that require students to brush their teeth in school is another indication of schools trying to be parents instead of requiring parents to live up to their responsibilities. Schools already provide breakfast and assist in clothing students. Requiring students to brush their teeth in school because some parents are poor in ensuring that their children have proper oral hygiene is rewarding poor parental behavior instead of helping to correct that behavior. Once again the solution is simple: Set standards for parents and require them to live up to the standards.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Doing It By the Numbers

On the Jan 25, 2010 ABC Evening News program, I watched Diane Sawyer report that a new study indicated that elementary school female math teachers give girl students math anxiety. I traced the report to an article on line written by Emma Woolacott. Pay attention to the sample size in the article, by the way.

What annoys me is once again we conclude the problem lies with teachers. I believe that problem bigger and lies within our culture where females in swim suits are gloried more than females who demonstrate brain power. In time that view will surely change since more females are graduating college than males. [Just a thought: If males aren't graduating college, what are they doing?]

The problem of females having anxiety with math isn't as simple as the results of the study to be remedied simply with teacher training. One memory from college that haunts me is that of a girl, who I dated, being dissuaded from majoring in math--early 1970s--even though she was a solid "B" student in math. She weathered that treatment from the chair of the math department and went on to receive a MBA form the University of Pennsylvania.

Although anecdotal, as a woodcrafter I find it interesting that at craft stores, where many early educators shop, numbers are difficult to locate while products with the alphabet are abound on shelves. I tend to believe that if educators were requesting number products, those products would be on the shelves for purchase--"Just sayin'".

I also see hope in TV programs as Numb3rs, where actor Navi Rawat portrays a highly talented female math professor, who helps the FBI solve crimes. Moreover, note that business news shows on TV increasingly have more female commentators. All of this may seem casual on its face, but I believe an effect that females are capable of excelling in math and any other field and there is no cause to worry.

So, let us continue to beat up on teachers as the source of why students have all sorts of problems. Let us keep forgetting that the first and most significant educators in children's lives are parents. In my situation, my mother was forced to leave school in the eleventh grade to work just before the Depression Period. She had great math skills even at 75 years of age. All nine of her children didn't finish high school, but all could read, write, and do basic math at least. I mention this to highlight that teachers are only part of the puzzle in educating children.

Surely, more robust teacher education programs are fine, but much more support is needed from parents as well. High anxiety isn't with teachers only. Lastly, in 2008 I wrote about an NPR story that indicate that females are doing as well as males in math. Has something changed since then?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Where Are Parents in the Equation?

The U.S. Department of Education's new program, Race to the Top, is the talk within education these days. What frustrates me in that discussion and other discussions about education is that the role of parents in education is hardly ever mentioned. To say that a student can arrive at school not ready to learn (lack of housing, improper diet, improperly clothed, etc.) and schools are expected to turn this student into highly performing child is unfair. Why aren't parents being evaluated within this process? Where are the standards of behavior for parental involvement in school? Doesn't a student's home life have a bearing on her school performance? And if so, how does that affect the teacher's/school's performance with the student? I suggest that if teacher performance is tied to student performance, parental involvement should part of the assessment. Moreover, parents should be penalized for failure to be involved in the education of their child.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

5-Year-Old Drummer

I saw this video on a blog and read the comments about it before I actually watched the video. What struck me within the comments was that quite a few respondents indicated that the young drummer "wasn't all that good" and was "pretty good." Therefore, I was biased before I watched the video. Well, what immediately became apparent while watching the video was that the negative respondents had no clue about motor skills of a typical five-year old. I'm always reviewing research on early learning skills to develop activities to improve those skills. With that said, I can attest that the skills of the young drummer are amazing!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Jospeh Had a Little Overcoat and Educational Funding



As the U.S. Department of Education make final preparation to dole out millions of dollars toward educational programs, I'm having an unsettled feeling. I keep thinking that much of the money will be siphened off as each level of governmental organizations takes a cut and swarms of consultants receive hefty sums of money for unproductive programs. In the end so much less of the money will actually reach the student level to create a lasting positive impact. Much like Joseph's overcoat, which transforms from an outer garmet to a button and finally to nothing, I have fear that in the end we will receive so little for the money spent. I find it greatly disturbing that so many people will become wealthy through film-flam schemes because adequate control for such large sums of money is impossible.

Even though it is well intended and the goal is praiseworthy, this scope to reform education would greatly surprise me it if is successful in have most of the funds reach and help local programs significantly. I think there is a better way to ensure the greatest effect from use of the such large funds, however.

What if part of the management of the funding were modeled along the lines of Muhammad Yunus's (winner of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize) micro-financing program? What if thousands of small organizations received micro-grants ($1,000 - $5,000, e.g.) within a simplified application process with results being reported in a YouTube channel? My thought is that the chance of thousands of authenic and highly productive projects is greater than those where millions of dollars go through programs managed by states. I would bet on the brilliance and resourcefulness of people on the ground ever time when compared to programs managed through state's burearatic processes. Moreover, as Yunus found, poor people are oftentime extemely trustworthy.

There is a chance that the Department of Education already has in place ideas as the the one I've indicated, I'm not aware of those ideas. Even so, let's realize that presently the weather is cold across the U.S., and we could use ever bit of Joseph's overcoat, even as protection within national funding in education.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Thoughts About Preschool

Lately, I've been wondering why we use the term "pre-school" as if school doesn't start until later. I checked Wikipedia and found that "Preschool education is the provision of education for children before the commencement of statutory education, usually between the ages of three and five, dependent on the jurisdiction." OK, I'll go down the rabbit hole and ask: Why other levels of education is covered under statutory and preschool not? I'll leave that idea there because at the moment I'm not up to the research to get to the bottom of that rabbit hole.

Another thought about preschool I have is that learning and play should not be mutually exclusive. I have the impression that the mistake we make in preschool is that we try to mimic teaching strategies from higher grades within the preschool environment. The result is that the focus on play and experimentation is lost. When I say play, I don't mean spending half the day having children aimlessly finger painting and playing in sand. As an alternative, what if sand play also incorporated showing children how in other cultures colorful sand is used to make art work? My impression is that young children are eager to learn because of a drive by their brains to develop connections for survival.

The more I think about this situation, the more I'm coming to the decision that we have the wrong people in the preschool environment. I believe the right people for the preschool environment have a road map in their mind for what young children need for later learning and how to translate the information for young children to begin that journey. I'm not talking just about general areas as persevarance, cooperation, etc. I would include foundations to critical thinking as well since more and we are learning that very young minds are more dynamic than we thought.

[Diversion: Before I forget again, I challenge anyone reading this blog entry to locate "numbers" as oppose to alphabet letters in a craft store. I present this challenge because in developing activities for young children I use numbers as frequently as the alphabet and have had a difficult time finding numbers, particularly made of of wood. I've been trying to reduce the use of plastic in activities I develop.]

So why do I think we have many of the wrong people in preschool education? Perhaps we devalue the importance of preschool education. Years ago in one of my educational research classes, my professor postulated that teacher pay should be higher at the lower levels of education since more teaching is required that lower levels as oppose to higher levels where teachers function more as guides. With lower pay and less education accepted to teach in early education, the quality of teaching often suffers.

Low pay and limited education of teachers are only part of why the wrong people often end up in the early education environment, however. What else is missing is people with talent to turn learning into play and share a respect for children. Life is play for young children and learning should be on their level. So for those teachers with special skills, why can't we "pay for talent" as Wall Street Banks claim they need to do? Maybe the answer has more to do with gender than rationality.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

A Positive Story to Start the New Year

Here is a great story about a very young artist, found at DailyMail.com. Best wishes to all in the new year.