My school district has a strategic plan. I imagine that most school districts have one — maybe have to have one? I read our strategic plan when it was in draft form a few years ago; I re-read it recently, as I was musing about the purpose of education. I […]
Five years ago, we took our older kids for an intellectual evaluation (WISC-V for David, who was 6, and WPPSI-IV for Elizabeth, who was 4). They both tested in the 98th/99th percentiles on all the indices, right in that “moderately gifted” range. We’re not talking Little Man Tate here, by […]
Abigail is thriving in her school’s “hybrid” kindergarten program. She has a few advantages compared to her older siblings, which I mentioned before. First, kindergartners get to go to school in person 4 days per week, instead of just 2 days. Because of that, the teacher doesn’t have to teach […]
I interviewed David and Elizabeth about their thoughts on homeschooling v. the public school’s “hybrid” plan, now that they’ve experienced both. Clearly, the “hybrid” plan has its downsides. On in-person days, the COVID-19 safety protocols — wearing masks, keeping 6′ away from others, constantly washing hands — are hard. On […]
Over dinner this week, Adam and I were talking about the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, may her memory be for a blessing, and the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Elizabeth asked, “Was Ruth on the School Committee?” (There was a vacancy on our local School Committee recently.) Thereupon began […]
I think there’s been a creative homeschooling mom inside me for a while, trying to get out. Jews divide the Torah into 54 portions, and 1 portion (called a parasha) is read aloud in the synagogue each week. (The Jewish calendar is lunisolar — the number of weeks in a […]
Following my 3-part post about why my children aren’t in Jewish day school (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), readers may be wondering how we manage their Jewish education. In many ways, life in our home provides an immersive, informal Jewish education — reciting Shema before going to sleep, giving […]
I have been stewing about the seeming lack of a strong evidence base supporting the Common Core writing standards (see this post). In my search for answers, I came across the work of Prof. Steve Graham at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. He’s an expert in […]
The “snow plow” parents: they clear their children’s paths to success, pouring resources into their children’s happiness, exhausting themselves for their children’s sake: I get it. The post-Millennial generation (born 1997-2012) is on track to be the most educated generation in U.S. history, with parents who are wealthier than previous […]
I’ll be the first to say that for most students, distance learning can’t replace a great in-person experience. Pure distance-learning is suboptimal. Sal Khan, I Started Khan Academy. We Can Still Avoid an Education Catastrophe. Sal points out 3 shortcomings of distance learning: Kids don’t get the social-emotional experiences that […]