Courage and Self-Confidence Building

The preoccupation with children's safety  has changed childhood. Now a counter-move is arising based on the statistics that today's parenting is doing more harm than good.

Imagine a playground with filthy mattresses, piles of used tires, and mud! Would you allow your child to play here? Probably not. These playgrounds became popular in the UK in the 1940's as a what  Lady Marjory Allen called "asphalt square" playgrounds.  She wanted to encourage "free and permissive atmosphere with as little adult supervision as possible.. She believed  that kids  should face "really dangerous risks" and then conquer them alone. How much time does your child spend unsupervised?  This is what builds self-confidence and courage.

It's hard to believe that parenting norms have shifted so much in one generation.  Today, third graders walking to school alone and  playing ball in the street are unheard of in my neighborhood. Parents sit at the corner of my street and wait --- in their cars ----  for the school bus to come, pick up the kids,  and deliver them  to the school less located less than half a mile away! Absurd. In 1971, 80% of third graders walked  to school alone. By 1990, that figure dropped to 10%. Now it's even lower. 

We have gone too far, says Joe Frost. "Reasonable risks are essential for children's healthy development." We are saying that our kids are unintelligent or too fragile to asses the risk of any given situation. We are raising kids to be fearful and with increased levels of psychology. Peter Gray, A Boston College professor wrote The Play Deficit and  attributes the millennials' list of ills including depression, narcissism and a decline in empathy, as a result of the lost of the old childhood culture. The percentage of college aged kids taking psychiatric meds has spiked.

Remember you can not create the perfect environment nor can you create the perfect child. Crime rates are NOT higher today than they were a generation ago except for child abduction by a family member possibly to to the high rate of divorce.

So encourage active independent play in your child. Remember your childhood?

April is Autism Awareness Month.. Learn the Signs

The following "red flags" may indicate your child is at risk for an autism spectrum disorder. If your child exhibits any of the following, please don’t delay in asking your pediatrician or family doctor for an evaluation:

• No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter
• No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles or other facial expressions by nine months
• No babbling by 12 months
• No back-and-forth gestures such as pointing, showing, reaching or waving by 12 months
• No words by 16 months
• No meaningful, two-word phrases (not including imitating or repeating) by 24 months
• Any loss of speech, babbling or social skills at any age

early intensive behavioral intervention improves learning, communication and social skills in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)

On March 27, 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data on the prevalence of autism in the United States. This surveillance study identified 1 in 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 

.http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/learn-signshttp://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/learn-signs

Working Memory... Does yours work?

I remember when i could rattle off someone's phone number without looking it up... Do you? Well, that is working memory. With cell phones, I never have to do that but working memory still plays a vital role in my daily life.
Memory can trip us all up and if you or your child has a learning disability.  her e are some steps to help.

Tracy Packiam Alloway, UNF in Jacksonville, FL says  working memory is your brain's post it notes. It makes all the difference to successful learning.

It involves short term-use of memory and attention. It is a set of skills that keeps information in mind while using that information to complete a task.. Working memory helps us stay involved in something longer and keep more things in mind.

There are two types of working memory that both develop during childhood at a similar rate.
Verbal (auditory) working memory taps into the sound system (phonics). Silently repeating a phone number while dialing it  and does following multi-steps of oral instructions uses this verbal system

Visual-spatial working memory  allows you to picture something and keep it in your mind's eye. We use this to skill to do math problems and remember patterns, images and sequences.

A fifth grader sounding out words reading is relying heavily on working memory.  At this stage, you want reading to be more automatic. If a child can't rely on working memory, reading becomes so painful. If a child can not remember four pieces of information, like a five year old can, and the  teacher talks fast, how can one keep up? Eventually the child disengages.

How do you know if a child has working memory problems? Alloway has helped develop a 22 item checklist. Some behaviors include: fails to complete assignments, raises his hand but forgets what he wanted to ask, forgets how to complete assignments even after it was explained, mixes up materials inappropriately like combing two sentences, or looks like he is daydreaming.

What can you do? Consider formal testing for working memory and not just short-term memory. Students with poor working memory often compensate in other areas. Without intervention students with poor working memory won't catch up over time. Fortunately there are more ways than ever now to help.

For more info, go to
http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/executive-function-disorders/what-is-working-memory-why-does-matter

New SAT... Again!

Changes to the SAT??  Why? Saying its college admission exams do not focus enough on the important academic skills, the College Board  believes its college admission tests do not focus on the important academic skills. 

The last  change in the SAT occurred in 2005 when writing component was added.
Now nine year later, here we go again!

In summary,  here are the changes:

No penalty for incorrect answers.
Cutting obscure words.
Essay will be optional and scored separately.
Math will focus on linear equations,  functions and proportional thinking. 
Calculators will not be allowed on all math sections.
Reading and writing will be on a broad range across disciplines.
One reading passage will be from one of our nation's founding fathers or  a relevant text.

Critical reading and math scores remain the same. 
800  maximum Math score.
800 maximum Reading score.

Total score again is 1600.

We will have to wait  and who knows, maybe analogies will be added to the next SAT!

For more details,
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/education/major-changes-in-sat-announced-by-college-board.html?hpw&rref=education&_r=0

GED Changes!!!

Starting January 1, 2014, the GED will be a computer-based test that correlates to the Common Core Standards, according to the GED Testing Service LLC.

Test-takers will no longer use paper and pencil; everything will be completed on computer at an approved testing center. Keyboarding skills will be a must. 

Increased proficiency in math will be essential. 

More content knowledge will be required, especially in science and social studies. 

There will be two separate scoring categories: high school curriculum knowledge and preparedness for entering college or a career.

HIGHLIGHTS of the new 2014 GED Test:

* Test is computer based

* New test format includes 4 testing content areas: Reasoning Through Language Arts (Reading and Writing), Mathematical Reasoning, Science and Social Studies

* Test questions will no longer be just multiple choice, but will include:

    ~ Fill in the blank

    ~ Brief short answer

    ~ Technology-enhanced items (drop-and-drag; hot spots)

    ~ Extended response 550-650 words

* GED test takers who have not completed and passed all 5 subjects of the current test (2002-2013) by January 1, 2014, will have to start over with the new test; scores from the current test will not transfer to the new one. 

Time to  prepare!!!

http://www.centralaz.edu/Home/Academics/Community_Education/GED_Program_Information/GED_Class_Information/GED_Test_is_Changing.htm

Bullying... Harm Continues so Watch For It...

Intervening early to stop bullying is important because the health effects – including anxiety, depression and impaired self-worth – can persist even after bullying stops, a study shows.

The study examines "how the effects of bullying can compound over time or snowball" by focusing on students' past and present bullying experiences, says Laura Bogart, a social psychologist at Boston Children's Hospital and lead author of the study. It is in the March issue of Pediatrics and published online Monday.

Using surveys collected from 4,300 public school students in Houston, Los Angeles and Birmingham, Ala., researchers found that 22% of students reported being bullied in the fifth grade. As in other studies, the likelihood of being bullied declined as students got older, with 5% reporting being victimized in the seventh grade and 3% reporting it in the 10th grade.

The analysis shows that students who reported both past and current bullying scored significantly worse on various health measures, followed by those who reported being bullied in the present only, then those bullied in the past only and those reporting no history of being bullied.

For example, on measures of:

•Psycho-social health (such as anger, fear and anxiety), 45% of 10th-graders bullied in both the past and present scored low compared with 31% of those bullied in the present only, 12% of those bullied in the past only and 7% of those never bullied.

•Depression, 30% of 10th-graders bullied in the past and present exhibited the worst symptoms, compared with 19% of those bullied in the present only, 13% of those bullied in the past only and 8% never bullied.

•Self-worth, 29% of 10th-graders bullied in the past and present had the lowest scores, compared with 20% of those bullied only in the present; 12% of those bullied only in the past and 8% who were not bullied.

•Physical health (such as a student's comfort with playing sports and being physically active), 30% of seventh-graders bullied in both the past and present scored low compared with 24% of those bullied in the present only, 15% of those bulled in the past only and 6% of those never bullied.

At 10th grade, 22% of those bullied in both the past and present scored low on physical health, compared with 26% of those bullied in the present only, but those two percentages are not statistically different, Bogart says.

"The results still support the general pattern of more recent and chronic bullying being related to worse health, as compared to kids who are not bullied or bullied in the past only," she says.

They also reinforce the importance of intervention to stop bullying and the need to intervene again, even if the bullying is not ongoing, to address the persistent effects, Bogart says. "Every adult who's involved in a child's life needs to be aware that bullying is out there," she says. "It really can put a child on a downward trajectory with their health over time, so adults need to look for the signs."

The study's longitudinal approach and examination is important and revealing, says Susan Strauss, a consultant and author of Sexual Harassment and Bullying: A Guide to Keeping Kids Safe and Holding Schools Accountable.

What's often referred to as bullying is in fact harassment and a violation of civil rights, says Strauss, who was not involved in the new study. Harassment is abusive behavior that targets someone's gender, religion, race, sexual orientation or national origin, compared with bullying, which is "status-blind," she says.

Failure to distinguish the difference is one of the things that "prevents harassment from being dealt with adequately," Strauss says.

The federal government's stopbullying.gov website says these signs may point to a bullying problem:

•Unexplained injuries

•Lost or destroyed clothing, books, electronics or jewelry

•Frequent headaches or stomachaches, feeling sick or faking illness

•Changes in eating habits, such as suddenly skipping meals or binge eating.

Difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmares.

•Declining grades, loss of interest in schoolwork, not wanting to go to school.

•Sudden loss of friends or avoidance of social situations.

•Feelings of helplessness or decreased self-esteem.

•Self-destructive behaviors such as running away from home or talking about about suicide.

suicidehttp://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/17/bullying-school-health/5462541/

FREE Info on ACT vs. SAT

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These questions and more will be answered.
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