Seminar alert!

At last! Raya and Nest join forces to give you one of the best seminars about Progressive Education in January 2017. Teacher Ani Almario of Raya School  and I will talk about a topic closest to our teaching hearts. We will also open the doors of Raya and Nest for a field trip as part of the seminar! Here are the details and we hope to see you all there!

Facebook Events Page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1155044611250691/?active_tab=about

Registration Link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_7tBNnYYRpTPz2wimYRiZLtqoUnkE0xI5Hdtn92k2hEl0vQ/viewform?c=0&w=1

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Is your child ready for school?

*Sponsored content via Smart Parenting

Click on the picture to read the article  I wrote for Nido Fortigrow via Smart Parenting ! You’ll be surprised that it’s not all about reading and writing to be school-ready!

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A School-ready kid has curiosity

Studies show that a child’s curiosity and creativity decline drastically by age 10 because their primary caregivers (parents and teachers, mostly) do not encourage them to ask questions but rather want them to sit still in a classroom while the teacher speaks the whole time OR keep quiet at home because the parents are too busy to answer their questions. Encourage them to ask questions because being curious about the world is a sign of a school-ready kid!

In Your Opinion (IYO): Should students still ‘copy’ notes?

I just came across a mom who was problematic about his son. She was worried that he wasnt getting high grades because he doesn’t copy from the board FAST ENOUGH. In the same week, I heard of a 6th grader who couldnt copy the 5 slides of notes FAST ENOUGH that come exam time, she had incomplete notes to study from.

So what is all this copying for? I have no clue. But if I make an intelligent guess, it would have to be … to kill classroom time.

Why will you make students copy notes on the board in this day and age? The only difference these teachers are doing now is making students copy from slides rather than the blackboard or manila paper. If every teacher only has 50-60 minutes to teach, why waste more than half of it making students copy notes? What is the teacher doing while this is happening (aside from clicking the PLAY button of her note slides)??

Then when a student can’t finish copying, he is labeled as a “slow writer” or his fine motor skills are judged as weak. So before I go and rant more, if you’re a teacher, a parent or a student, please ENLIGHTEN me on WHY should students still need to copy notes…. Then I will post WHAT teachers should be teaching them during these precious wasted minutes..

Progressive Classroom Activities (PCA) for August

For this month we have 4 classroom activities for you! From Dr. Seuss to Pacman, from green eggs to fruit salad, from Math to English, from preschool to the early grades…click on the links to check out the activities.

PRESCHOOL

EARLY GRADES

Progressive Classroom Activities (PCA) for July

I believe that all teachers should write about their classroom activities. Not only will this give parents an idea on what they do in the classroom. It also teaches other teachers on what activities they can plan for certain topics. Every month, we will feature several Progressive Classroom Activities (PCA) from Nest School teachers.

This month, we have a variety of activities for you!

For Nutrition Week, we have “What is in the Mystery Bag?” wherein preschoolers will guess the Mystery Food in a paper bag using their senses..

How do you teach Nouns to second graders in a fun way? You go on a “Noun Hunt”!

Heroes come alive in this Grade 6 Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) activity called “Caricarton”!

and, the easiest way to teach Alpabetong Filipino (Filipino Alphabet) to first graders is through a game with puzzles!

Is your child still crying in school?

gracepointwellness.org photoWhat would you feel if you were brought to a new place, without any familiar face and made to do things you haven’t done before? I would probably cry, too! Now, you may ask why the other kids aren’t crying and your child is.. Kids handle stress in various ways. I remember my eldest crying on the first day of Fourth Grade because she had just transferred schools. What makes them stop crying? A feeling of security. How do they achieve this?

  1. Familiarity. Preschoolers usually hate surprises! They feel more safe in familiar surroundings. Also, the more they get to know their teacher, the more familiar the teacher would be to your child. Teachers would usually calm the crying students by staying close to them during class or assigning a co-teacher to focus on those experiencing anxiety.
  2. Transitions and Routines. If you notice preschool schedules, it has repeating blocks of time or routines. This allows your child to expect what will happen next. Knowing this gives your child a sense of control and security.
  3. Positive Images. In order for school to be a happy place for your child, he should have a positive image of it. He will eventually enjoy the activities, the playground and games with classmates. Encourage him to talk about it at home by asking him about his day.
  4. Assurance from YOU. If your child reads stress in YOUR face as well then that will also be his prevailing emotion. Try to keep a reassuring demeanor when you are dealing with your child’s separation anxiety. Keep your statements short and clear, “Mommy, will pick you up after school.” “Mommy will leave now. Teacher will take care of you in the classroom.” Promising that you will “just be outside” or saying “I’ll give you a reward if you stop crying.”usually does not help. It gives your child a false sense of security.
  5. Working with your child’s school and teacher. Your child’s teacher is an expert in child development and separation anxiety. Listen to what they have to say about the issue and follow their advice on how your child can overcome it. What do teachers usually suggest?
    • “Leave and Cleave” – When dropping off your child, it is best to leave as soon as you drop your child off. We had a student who cried when he would arrive in school with his mommy. Out of worry, his mommy would stay with him until classes would start. We noticed that our student would stop crying when his mom leaves. When we asked the mom to just drop him off and leave, our student had an easier time overcoming her anxiety.
    • Have someone else bring your child to school. We had a case once that a student would cry when Mommy would bring her to school and wouldn’t cry when Daddy brings her. We asked Daddy to bring her for the first month of school.

In my 15 years of teaching, all our young students who experienced separation anxiety eventually overcame their anxiety after a few weeks of attending school. Believe me, they WILL stop crying… if both you and the school do your parts well. If your child is still crying after a month of going to school, it is best to ask for a meeting with your child’s teacher to discuss what further steps you may take. You may ask your school the following questions:

    • How does the teacher manage crying students in the classroom?
    • Do they have set routines in class?
    • What is the teacher:student ratio or aside from the teacher, is their another adult who can attend to students experiencing anxiety?
    • Does your child cry the whole time or are there random triggers during class? (some kids cry when teachers turn off the lights during rest time, or when it’s snack time because they’re used to their parent or caregiver feeding them)?