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Author: breakfastclubguest
Valuing Children’s Artwork
“Mommy, my art is in the trash!” said 4-year-old Noah with shock and dismay. This is how Board Supervisor, Janice Rutherford, opened her keynote speech to a large group of educators. She held up her son’s paper plate painting and told us how distressed he was when he found it in the trashcan at home. How could this have happened? Surely it must be a mistake because who would thro...
Allegiance
Last Friday, I took my son to school. There was a car accident on a major thoroughfare and traffic was diverted to side streets. As a result, our ten minute drive became twenty and we arrived just in time for the school’s weekly “flag ceremony.” (Actually, it would be more accurate to say that we delayed it for about sixty seconds while the principal waited patiently for me to de...
In Serious Need of Fun
Life should be lived as play. Summarized from Plato’s Laws, should be the mantra of every adult providing out-of-school time care for children. Childhood passes swiftly, and even more so as our nation careens down the path of testing and accountability. With Americans living on average into their 70s and 80s, the time one can spend playing without guilt passes in a blink. The childhood exper...
Grow Our Growth Mindset: Rethinking How We Praise Kids
The favorite part of my job is getting out of the office to visit after-school programs. I see that kids really do like science and engineering when given the chance to jump into hands-on projects and explore questions that interest them. What has surprised me is seeing the difference in how kids approach challenges in after-school programs. Engineering design challenges can be a great way for kid...
From the Other Side of the Counter
A few weeks ago, Jan and I had a meeting with our son’s preschool teacher to review Oliver’s Kindergarten Readiness Assessment. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. When I was a kid, being “Kindergarten-ready” meant you were five. Today, apparently, it’s all about whether or not you can properly grip a pencil. I thought that was something you were supposed...
Expanded Learning, California Style
In 2002, California made a historic investment that forever changed the landscape of our education system. With the passage of Proposition 49, an unprecedented half a billion dollars was devoted to after school programs — more than all other states’ investments combined. This money first went to work in 2007, at a time when we had no idea what was about to happen to our economy. But th...
College Access and Career Readiness through Afterschool Programming
College access and career readiness are important in the discourse regarding social mobility and at the center of discussions about the future of American competitiveness in a global economy that has significantly become knowledge and innovation-based. The Council of Economic Advisors stated in their report Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow (July 2009),”Well-trained and...
How Are You Planning to Spend Your Summer Vacation?
You might not be thinking about summer, but I think it’s the perfect time to ask yourself what the youth in your programs will be doing this summer. The summer experience that was most memorable for me was a sewing class I took in elementary school. My mom was an avid seamstress and made clothes for me and for my dolls. I thought I might design fashion-forward clothes for me and my Barbies i...
The Death of School
Harvard GSE professor Richard Elmore’s recent remarks at May’s Aspen Institute may leave educators feeling a bit disturbed. And that’s exactly what I love about it. In his 8 minute speech, Elmore begins the conversation with the assertion that he does “not believe in the institutional structure of public schooling… anymore.” Wait! What? This is coming from a man...
Every Kid Is Our Kid
When I opened my Internet browser last Friday morning and saw the horrific act of violence that had occurred in Connecticut, my impulse was to ignore the report. “Don’t look at it,” I thought. “It’s too horrible to think about.” I had gleaned from first glance that small children were involved. I didn’t want to let those images enter my psyche. Too scary. ...
Education Week: Learning Practices in Immigrant Families
This week we are highlighting a post from Education Week, a nonprofit organization with a mission to raise awareness and understanding of critical issues facing American schools. The blog entry from Education Week is titled, “Early Learning Practices in Immigrant Families,” and is written by Lesli A. Maxwell. Below is an excerpt from the post and we encourage you to follow the entire s...
Celebrate Lights On Afterschool. Hands-On Projects Inspire Students to Find the Engineer Within
“I made a new friend today,” a girl enthusiastically shared as she and her fifth-grade peers cleaned up after making polymers. These girls come together once a week and work through science and engineering activities in an afterschool program hosted by Techbridge. We challenge them to work with students that they don’t know and measure success when we see them supporting each oth...