Raising Grateful Children

I was pleased over the past 2 weeks to see several articles in newspapers and online discussing the importance of intentionally teaching children to be grateful. I don’t believe this is a habit that necessarily comes naturally to every child. However, gratitude is something that can be modeled, taught, and reinforced by parents. Here are links to 4 sites that highlight the importance of teaching children to be grateful, and provide good recommendations for conversations and strategies parents can try as they work to instill a sense of gratitude in their children.

Teaching kids to be grateful may have long-term benefits even though it’s not easy

Teaching Children to Be Grateful

Raising a Thankful Child Great ways to teach (and show) your preschooler generosity

Gratitude: Teaching kids to appreciate what they have!

Seneca Academy
15601 Germantown Road
Darnestown, Maryland 20874
Phone: (301) 869-3728
Fax: (301) 869-3348
 

Seneca Academy moves forward with the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program

Seneca Academy has taken the next step in our process of becoming an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB/PYP). After having implemented the PYP for the past 2 years as an IB/PYP candidate school, we have now submitted the final application for full authorization. We will be visited by an authorization team sometime within the next year, that will meet with administration, teachers, parents and students to determine if we have met all of the IB standards. After that visit we expect to be fully authorized. We will let the community know when the visit is scheduled, as there will be opportunities for parents to meet with the IB team.

First Graders with their Friendship Puzzle

Over the past 2 years, the implementation of the IB/PYP has definitely strengthened our school. Our teachers have regular time together to collaboratively plan units of inquiry. We have found that we are able to be more creative and comprehensive when we plan together than we were previously when we planned alone. Our 5-6 week units of study, which are guided by a central idea and lines of inquiry, have allowed our students to gain a more comprehensive and  deep understanding of concepts, and have enabled them to practice skills for longer periods of time. In addition, our focus on inquiry learning (where students take some responsibility for asking questions that guide the direction of the study) have empowered students to become better learners. With focus on attitudes (e.g. appreciation, commitment, integrity) and attributes (e.g. inquirers, open-minded, principled) that are consistent across the school, our students now have a common language and common goals to work towards socially and behaviorally. We have become even more international-minded as we have explored how local issues and realities are manifested around the world. These are only a few of the ways our school has been impacted by the adoption of the PYP.

As we have journeyed on the path towards IB/PYP authorization, it has become clearer and clearer that this program is a good match for our school and that it promotes best practices in education. The practices we are utilizing and the network of international professionals we are connected to are making our teachers better educators and our students better learners. I invite all members of our community to learn more about this program and how it is enhancing Seneca Academy.

Seneca Academy
15601 Germantown Road
Darnestown, Maryland 20874
Phone: (301) 869-3728
Fax: (301) 869-3348
 

My thoughts on a Blog...

I must admit, I’m a reluctant blogger. Broadcasting my opinions on various topics does not come naturally to me. However, I recognize the value in allowing a community to be aware of the perspectives of the head of an institution, and I am willing to share my thoughts and feeling on a variety of topics including education, child development, parenting, etc. What I would really like though, is to use this blog as a dialog between community members. I believe that conversation sparked by parents’ (and other’s) comments, questions and suggestions will enhance anything specific I may write about. Increased and improved communication is the goal here.

So lets start things off with some questions and see what happens!

1.      How do you think a “Head of School’s Blog” could best be used or structured?

2.      What other ways can we at Seneca Academy increase or improve school-parent communication?

Seneca Academy
15601 Germantown Road
Darnestown, Maryland 20874
Phone: (301) 869-3728
Fax: (301) 869-3348
 

A Random Act of Kindness

As I was walking through the Gathering Room a few days ago, I encountered a preschool class carrying some artwork back to their classroom. These 4-year-olds stopped to show me their collages. As I was commenting on their creative use of materials, one child turned to another and said, “I love the smile you made on that picture.” To which the other child answered simply, “Thanks.”

This struck me at the moment, and it is still in my mind days later.  I think it’s because this seemingly simple interaction was completely unprompted, genuine, and thoughtful. These young children were not trying to impress anyone, they were just interacting in a positive, caring way that was normal to them. I was delighted, since we intentionally and consciously teach the attributes of caring, appreciation, and respect. Here was a demonstration of those qualities in some of our youngest students.

In an environment where caring and respectful behavior is normal and expected, students feel safe enough to be the inquirers, communicators, and risk-takers that we want them to be. We know that stress impedes our ability to focus, process information, and remember what we have learned. Creating a caring environment frees students to focus on thoughtful pursuits, rather than having to worry about their emotional or physical safety. These two students unwittingly provided me with proof that our purposeful focus on respect and positive reinforcement not only helps children to feel safe, but also helps them to be good people who care for and appreciate each other…and that might just be the most important thing for young people to learn.

Seneca Academy
15601 Germantown Road
Darnestown, Maryland 20874
Phone: (301) 869-3728
Fax: (301) 869-3348
 

Nurturing the Joyful Learner

I believe that almost all students enter school full of joy and excitement. The thrill of engaging in novel activities, the anticipation of learning new things, and the satisfaction that comes with mastery, all make children look forward to coming to school. However, if we do not actively nurture that joy – if we stifle it with uninspired, developmentally inappropriate programming and curriculum – we actually encourage children to disengage from the learning process. It is very difficult to recapture the interest of a student who has decided that school is not worthwhile.

It is particularly important at the preschool and early elementary levels of education to provide a learning environment that is engaging and developmentally responsive. This is children’s first experience with school and will solidify for years to come their concepts of themselves as learners. If they learn that school is an interesting place where they can be challenged and successful, they will carry that feeling forward into the upper grades. Alternatively, if children learn in their early years that school is dull, or too difficult, or unfair, then these are the feelings they will carry forward. Thus, the early years of schooling provide the foundation, not only academically, but social-emotionally, for the rest of a student’s life. Early childhood educators must take on this responsibility with deep thought and respect.

It seems to me that many lifelong learning skills are best taught to young children, so that they have the maximum amount of time to understand them, practice them, and integrate them into their concepts of themselves in the world. I see little sense in waiting to introduce higher order thinking skills later in life, after patterns of thought and behavior have been well established. If we expect our high school and college students to be critical thinkers – able to apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate new information – then we must help them to begin developing these skills early on. If elementary school children learn only by rote memory, call and response, and artificial application of facts, they will have difficulty learning to think critically and independently as older students.

I experienced this phenomenon when I taught international high school students. Many students who had grown up in traditional educational systems were frustrated when I asked them to analyze situations critically, or to develop their own personal voices. One student even exclaimed, “Just tell me what you want me to say.” He was frustrated because he had not developed the confidence and thinking skills necessary to formulate and express his own original ideas. Who could blame him?

Problem solving and interpersonal relationships are also skills our children need to begin learning at an early age, because their successes or failures in these areas will build upon themselves over the years. In addition, students need basic “core knowledge” upon which to layer further learning. We know from the brain-based research how long-term memory and understandings are created; it is not through repetitive worksheets and meaningless homework. We all learn most deeply when we connect new information to our past knowledge, and when we can personally interact with information. This means we remember a story or passage in a book much better when we have to retell it, or act it out, or draw an interpretive picture of it, than when we just read it. The same holds true, of course, with concepts in math, science, social studies, and other subjects. Most children learn to add, subtract, multiply and divide. But do they really understand the mathematical interactions that are going on? Can they apply those skills in a variety of authentic, real-life situations, or only with pencil and paper in a classroom exercise?

These are the things we talk about and focus on in our school. We know that in our quest to produce lifelong learners, we must instill in our youngest students a deep sense of competency, curiosity, and enthusiasm for learning that they will carry with them into future learning environments.

Learn more about Seneca Academy at www.SenecaAcademy.org

Seneca Academy
15601 Germantown Road
Darnestown, Maryland 20874
Phone: (301) 869-3728
Fax: (301) 869-3348
 

No Shortcuts to Long-Term Achievement in Math

  Recently, I read with great interest an article in the Washington Post stating that Montgomery County Public Schools are going “back to basics” in math. They have discovered that the practice of “accelerating” students in large numbers through the math curriculum is resulting in students who enter high school math classes unprepared.  The report stated that “educators will back off in the hope that more time and depth with the basics will yield payoffs in high school and beyond.” The newspaper article also stated that these changes in MCPS are a response to the national Common Core Standards that are being adopted across the country. “Those standards attempt to simplify math education and add greater rigor and depth to classes.”

At Seneca, we have always felt that helping students gain a depth of knowledge is more beneficial than skimming the surface in an attempt to ‘cover’ content. Our math curriculum, Everyday Math, provides students with relevant activities to fully understand and apply concepts in a variety of contexts. It is also a “spiraling” curriculum which means math topics are re-visited throughout the year and across the grades in order to reinforce and deepen understanding.  While we facilitate “acceleration,” and move students forward in grade levels  when it is truly warranted, we only do this when efforts toward differentiation and providing extension within the current  grade level are exhausted.

The International Baccalaureate program, which is based on researched best practices in education, also promotes in-depth understanding as opposed to only surface knowledge. That is why we have fewer units of study throughout the year and spend more time examining connections between concepts. Interestingly, the Post article also stated that “Montgomery County is overhauling its elementary school curriculum to better tie together reading, math, science and other subjects.” That is exactly what Seneca Academy has been doing for years, and what we have re-affirmed with the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program!

I am delighted by these reports from MCPS. It demonstrates to me that county education officials are paying attention to research (both internally and externally) in “best practices” in education. For me, best practices are not merely those that seem like a good idea, or make the most adults happy. Best practices are those that have measurable, positive outcomes for students. Slowing down math instruction, allowing students to explore, analyze and apply math concepts in meaningful and relevant ways, and ensuring a complete understanding of concepts before advancement has been shown to have lasting effects on students’ long-term achievement in math.  Overall, the article’s accolades for MCPS’s revised focus reminded me of all the reasons I am proud of the direction in which Seneca has been moving for years

Learn more about Seneca Academy at www.SenecaAcademy.org

Seneca Academy
15601 Germantown Road
Darnestown, Maryland 20874
Phone: (301) 869-3728
Fax: (301) 869-3348