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Fall 2020 education: flexibility is key

Posted on by Suki

Longtime readers know that my family has used almost every type of educational approach for our kids. We like to joke that the only type of school that we haven’t tried is Christian Military Academy!

My younger son is currently about to graduate from a mainstream public high school (his choice), and I have to say, I have been pleasantly surprised at how well they have handled this crazy situation that was dumped in their laps. I’ve heard lots of complaints from parents in other districts, but I share none of them. It’s not perfect, but my son’s teachers got well-trained, really quickly, and they are trying hard.

Teachers are doing their best to maintain connections with their students.

They’re even making embarrassing videos.

One of the things that our district is doing really well is parent communication. OK, perhaps they are overdoing it: I don’t actually need a text message to tell me to read my email!

This week they asked for parent input through ThoughtExchange, a nifty little tool for exchanging ideas.

I had one thing to say and I hope I said it well: the public school system needs to be more flexible.

Rooted in tradition is not necessarily good

Public schools have not grown organically. They were formed on a specific model of learning, and all changes have taken place as if that model is not worth questioning.

When people have come up with better ideas that built on top of that model, they were tolerated. The charter school system, for example, was built on top of the standard public school model.

When people have come up with ideas that require throwing that model out the window, like the great educational thinker John Holt, for example, public schools would have none of it. They had certain tenets that would not be questioned:

All students must learn in age-homogeneous groups.

All students must be required to be on campus a minimum number of hours.

All students must study state-mandated curriculum.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Enter the quarantine

This pause in school-as-usual can be seen two ways:

It can be seen as an irritating interruption, to be gotten past as soon as possible.

Or it can be seen as an opportunity.

I prefer opportunity.

Integrate home and school

Kids do better emotionally when they feel nurtured, loved, supported—all that stuff they have in a healthy home. We have cut families out of schools by design, and yet principals wail about lack of parent participation. Schools are simply not designed to be emotionally healthy and integrated with home life.

Now that we’ve got parents and home intertwined with school, let’s not give that up.

Stop demonizing alternatives

This is my teen attending an online class while jumping on the trampoline.

When you judge a fish by how well it climbs a tree, the fish comes out looking pretty lame. Alternative schools are for kids who need alternatives. That means that the alternative will not reflect the demographic make-up of the surrounding district. When students and families choose schools, they make choices based on themselves, not the society they live in.

Yes, we should make sure that all choices are open and welcoming to all families, but districts need to allow for differences. For example, stop demonizing a program that attracts struggling students for its low test scores.

States have to stop assuming that all cultural groups are the same. Programs that suit the unique needs of a cultural group are not equivalent to racism. Equal education does not mean the same education.

Principals have to stop coming into schools and trying to strip the individualism out of the school in the name of “quality.”

Offer maximum flexibility

In a world where families can choose 20 different types of toothpaste, education is presented as a monolithic single choice.

That doesn’t fit with our culture. Some students, certainly, not only need to be at school for the allotted time but also need aftercare. Some students thrive in standard curriculum with a typical school day schedule.

But many students don’t. Parents around the country are remarking on the positive changes they are seeing in their children:

My kids are learning so much more at home.

My teen is sleeping—finally! And waking up a reasonable human being.

My kid who was bullied has had a huge dip in her anxiety level.

We started following my kids’ interests and suddenly they love education.

Live and LEARN

If public school administrators and teachers don’t learn from this experience, they’re in the wrong profession. Teachers talk about creating lifelong learners—this should be the goal of everyone. We should all look at this situation and see what we can take away from it that is positive and good.

I was happy to see that I wasn’t the lone voice for thoughtful reconsidering of what school should be in the ThoughtExchange conversation initiated by my district. Let’s make sure the districts hear our voices, and don’t think that reversion to the status quo is any sort of achievement.

Resources:

3 things you can do to help your child with Covid-19 anxiety

Posted on by Suki

Something I notice is that advice articles for mental health often speak to adults about adult problems. But our kids often face the same challenges—especially these days and especially when it comes to anxiety.

So this isn’t my advice, per se, but rather distilled from a bunch of articles I’ve read. But it is mine in that as a teacher of a pack of highly sensitive, perfectionistic, creative kids…I know a little about dealing with kids and anxiety!

So here’s the advice, from parent/teacher to parents/teachers:

Give them accurate information

Kids know when we’re lying. And when we don’t give them full information, they go try to find it online or from their friends or siblings.

Yet parents are tempted, over and over, to withhold information from their children. Whether it’s how babies are made or the effects of illegal drugs, parents can be tempted to hope that by sticking their heads in the sand, they’ll save their kids some heartache.

Jacob Chayat on Wikimedia

But accurate information is the key to figuring out the root of anxiety. And kids of any age can handle accurate information that is offered in an age-appropriate manner. Telling your kids “don’t worry about it” isn’t really going to fly, whether the issue at hand is making babies, taking drugs, or a worldwide coronavirus epidemic.

If you haven’t done so, make a regular habit of having conversations (formal or informal, whichever works best in your family). Update your kids on what is happening and what’s being done. Make sure they trust you enough to go to you first for answers.

Let them know that they can’t think their way out of this

Jacob Chayat on Wikimedia

This is a classic situation for runaway anxiety: Fear in humans starts in our “lizard brain,” the deeper brain that we have little conscious control over. But the part of our brain that we think about as our “thinking” brain, the prefrontal cortex, is pretty darn egotistical. It thinks it can think us out of any problems we face.

But we can’t think ourselves out of fear of something that really is fearful and really is menacing us. We have to accept that this coronavirus is scary. For your kids, it’s the realest, scariest thing they’ve probably ever faced.

Help your kids accept that fear is part of this situation, but that trying to think ourselves out just sends us into a brain spin. If your kids were already prone to anxiety, you know what it’s like. They think and think and with each think get deeper into the spin of anxiety.

The only way out of this is forward, and the only way out of this without fear taking over our lives is to accept that this situation is fearful, but to focus on what is being done to fix it.

Give them a positive role to play

For a long time, American parents have operated on the premise that kids are better off not knowing about or taking part in the problems around them. We want to protect our kids, and modern day American life has given us the tools to do so.

But even in normal times, protecting our kids from everything does them a huge disservice. Remember a lifetime ago when we were preoccupied with helicopter parents? Well, we’re still helicoptering. We need to land that copter and find a way to include our kids.

Use whatever resources you have to give them a role to play, however small. Can they make videos for other kids? Can they sew masks? Can they help you choose a food kitchen to donate to?

It’s not pollyannaish to put a positive spin on this situation—it’s a survival mechanism.

I hope you are all weathering this as best you can, staying healthy, and enjoying more time with your children.

Resources:

How is your favorite nonprofit doing?

Posted on by Suki

Soon after the quarantine was announced for Santa Cruz County, I got a query from Kate Pavao, the leader of a local nonprofit:

Hi Suki: If you’re interested in writing an article about the virus and non profit budgets and impact on kids, please consider Live Like Coco as a source. Angela Farley at Teen Kitchen Project and I had a good conversation about this yesterday.

I was intrigued. Of course nonprofits are front and center in this epidemic, providing food and medical supplies and so forth. But what about the nonprofits that can’t function? What about the nonprofits that serve at-risk populations?

I talked to Kate and Angela for my article, which was published in Growing Up in Santa Cruz. I didn’t actually mean to make a podcast of it, but our conversation was so much bigger than a short article could convey. So here it is, the recording is rough, but the thoughts are worth hearing!

Conversation with Kate Pavao and Angela Farley, March 14, 2020
Nonprofits are being hurt by the quarantine more than most people are aware.

This April there’s no foolin’ for musicians and other independent artists

Posted on by Suki

Here I sit on March 31, editing the Jazz Society of Santa Cruz County’s weekly newsletter, and I’m trying to think of something funny to add. It’s my first April 1st edition of the newsletter, and I love a good laugh, but everything I think of seems in bad taste.

The Jazz Society jam brings out musicians from pro to beginner to play together in a supportive atmosphere.

April is the time when outdoor music starts up in earnest in Santa Cruz.

April is the time when bands start busking on fine afternoons downtown.

April is a month full of fundraisers and parties where musicians make money.

April is full of classical music concerts for which professional musicians often get paid a flat fee.

Except this year.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the plight of local businesses during the quarantine. You can read my article about businesses that serve families in Growing Up in Santa Cruz’s April issue. Business owners are starting to balance paying rent on their empty place of business with buying food for their families.

Not a good choice to have to make.

Performers have a uniquely different situation.

Although many musicians make money on the side teaching lessons, professional musicians these days largely make their money in performance. The days of making a living income by selling albums are gone. Getting out there and performing is everything.

This shutdown isn’t going to hurt Taylor Swift or Beyoncé. It may even help some artists who are reminding their fans how much they love them by giving live online concerts for free. The editor of GUiSC, Brad Kava, texted me in ecstasy while watching Richard Thompson’s Facebook livestreaming event. We’ll probably even see some new stars born during this time.

But my heart goes out to the musicians I know:

An online jam leads to some….interesting sounds!
  • My professional friends are sidelined, watching. They’re trying to focus on planning for summer, learning to use Zoom to teach, and beefing up their online presence.
  • My more advanced amateur friends are trying to jam together online (not terribly successfully, but it’s fun).
  • My friends who are rank amateurs seem to be watching, unwilling to expose their lack of skill to a medium that is much less forgiving than an in-person jam. [A note to rank amateurs: Don’t worry about it! Play! Turning on your phone to livestream on Facebook is weirdly exhilarating.]

What can we do?

What can we do to support professional musicians and other performers? Right now, I’m really not sure. But I encourage everyone to be vigilant. Make sure your musician friends, who were probably not making such a great income in the first place, are having their needs taken care of. Actually buy (I know this is a weird concept) your favorite artists’ albums. They make very, very little money when you stream their music.

And let’s all commit to supporting musicians once they’re back out there on the streets, in the cafes, in the restaurants, and up on stages big and small.

Our country is suffering, but as in all disasters, this one isn’t going to hit us all equally.

April Fools? It seems pretty serious this year.

Support your teen who is learning at home

Posted on by Suki

The other day I wrote about homeschooling tips you can use with your suddenly-at-home younger kids. Today I’m addressing your teens, who may have quite different needs.

Whether your teen is homeschooled or at school in regular life, things have changed. They are now home 24/7 and that can exacerbate existing tensions. Teens thrive with independence because that’s what they are programmed to seek. If your teen doesn’t seem too thrilled at your suggestion to play a board game with the family, well, that’s not too surprising.

Trust them

First, let’s get this over with: Teens who have their parents’ trust are more likely to trust their parents, more likely to confide in them, and more likely to heed their advice. Make it clear to your teen that you trust them. Don’t forget to tell them what you admire about them.

But then, be frank with them. Make sure they’ve been exposed to non-alarmist, fact-based information about what’s happening. Then make it clear that you trust them to do the right thing.

Let ’em out

A number of my teen students have told me that their parents are keeping them inside, and not, apparently, because that’s warranted. Find out what your local and state health departments are advising. Ours, both in my county and state, are advising that non-symptomatic people get out and get fresh air and exercise—as long as they follow social distancing rules.

This is especially important for your teens. Encourage them to get out in the natural light and get some exercise. It will be good for their emotional health as well as their physical health. If they absolutely must be inside, go back to the question of trust: Make sure they understand why they’re cooped up and what the parameters are.

Explore with them

My teen and I like to give ourselves facials. And I am definitely going to ask for a fun stripe of colored hair!

Whether you are out or in, you can join your teen in their explorations. Maybe you can both learn a new skill, like bread-baking or chess. Maybe you can go to a park for a walk.

Ask your teen to show you funny videos. Do your hair together. Watch a show. They might reject you, but you can always try!

Support but don’t pressure them about academics

Chances are your teen’s academics are going to look a little different for the rest of the semester. Ask them what they need from you, but if you weren’t involved on a day-to-day level before, back off and give them some space. Remember: every single kid applying to college is going to have a story to tell about what happened this semester. A bad grade or an incomplete really won’t be the end. And it’s certainly not worth destroying your relationship over.

Love them

So many teens believe that their parents don’t love them. So many parents are convinced that their teens disdain them. In any case, we have to fight against that. Remind them that you love them, even as you let them have the independence that they seek.

Further reading: Nice article from Greater Good magazine

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