Never a dull moment

Several of us saw a bob cat walking along the Parker driveway and up in to the woods - see the tracks?!  In other locales:

Skiers and snowboarders hit the slopes at Jiminy Peak!

Cross country skiers took to the trails at Pine Ridge.

Swimmers had a blast at the East Greenbush YMCA!

Sooner isn't better

How does the magic skill  - reading - come about?  At Parker, it comes from children's desire to understand the world around them - the best motivator for an emerging reader. 

Through stories read to them, and stories they tell; from describing a bird's feather to deciphering a friend's message of the day, Parker kindergarteners and first graders acquire the tools and the desire to read, to write, and to communicate.  And they master it on their own timeline, just like when they learned to talk or walk.

Children practice translating sounds into letters and words: phonics.  They keep personal "word walls": sight memory.  They interpret the meaning of a story or the facts in a research book because they really, really, really want to know all about it: purpose.  They publish a book about butterflies or a poster on poultry farmers for a Show of Work: audience.

In our K-1 classrooms, reading is bound up with everything that happens: the morning meeting, research, science and social studies, or writing and performing a play.  And it is formally scheduled for over an hour every day.

Over the last two summers our language arts teachers revised our curriculum with specialist, Miriam Raider-Roth, a professor at the University of Cincinnati and a former Parker parent.  They consulted state and national guidelines and adapted them to our own high standards.  They published the school's curricular document and now it is on our website. Click here and scroll to bottom.

I hope you will take a look, so when someone asks you why Parker kids aren't filling out workbook sheets to learn to "read" in kindergarten to take state tests - you can say with confidence, "Sooner isn't better."

Go Jesse!

Parker grad, Jesse Pickard '98 was recently honored by Forbes Magazine in its 30 under 30 Games and Apps section, and also featured in the Times Union.  Jesse's company makes an app for learning languages through games.  Parker kids use Mindsnacks for Spanish - and I've talked to students who have tried the Italian version, as I have.  The games are fun and they adjust to your level of mastery. 

Jesse started the company with venture capital and now has about 25 employees in San Fransisco.  The TU article said: Pickard attended Parker School in North Greenbush, which he credits with stoking his entrepreneurial spirit.  (Yay!)

I am fascinated by the alumni who are doing jobs and using technical and media tools that didn't even exist when they attended school.  I'd like their feedback about what parts of their education prepared them best for what they are doing now - like stoking the entrepreneurial spirit!

Another article about Mindsnacks in Tech Crunch

The nature cure

"Take two hours of pine forest and call me in the morning..." The Nature Cure by Gretchen Reynolds in Outside Magazine, tells about the latest brain research on the benefits of being outdoors in nature.  Seems that even five minutes of time in the woods increases attention and short term memory, and decreases heart rate.  In Japan they even schedule "forest baths" as a restorative - like sun-bathing. Just smelling pine scent has a positive effect on the human system! 

Scheduling time to be outside - daily recess, Muddy Boots Club, science classes and other times in the woods  - is making a difference, I believe, for Parker kids.  The children express how much they love it and the teachers do, too.  It certainly seems to add to their ability to concentrate and handle the regular stressors of childhood - and it mitigates the screen time that has increasingly crept into our lives.  It's nice when brain science backs up what we instinctively know is the right thing!

Where life is a picnic

It's great to be back!  Happy 2013!

Here is a little good financial news for independent school parents - you can read about it in this New York Times article Tax Break That Helps Private School Parents is Made Permanent.

Ann Carrns explains how you can set up a special account to which you can add $2,000 annually and use the earnings tax free as long as they go towards tuition.  Every little bit helps... 

Some curricular highlights for 2013:

• 6 and 7th grade Rube Goldberg contraptions demonstrating forces of motion
• Fossils and woolly mammoth pieces in a soil sample from the Museum of the Earth for 2-3's science class
• Ten Spanish visitors for a week in March in Middle School
• Pen and Skype pals for 4-5's to connect with a class in Arizona taught by Parker alum JD Devane
• K-1 creating a play from Jan Brett's story, The Hat
• Writing a book about algebra for younger students by the 7th grade math class
• Pasta week in Pre K, where life is a picnic (see above!)

Peace

There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children.  There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they grow up in peace.
                                                                                                                                      - Kofi Annan

Real work for a real purpose

2-3's presented essays, three-dimensional models and murals showing the changing landscape in Rensselaer County from Native American times to today at the Rensselaer County Historical Society.  Their exhibit opening was held on Thursday night for assembled families, teachers and docents.  At the end of the evening, students presented items for a time capsule that will be kept in the museum archives.  This article about the event appeared in the Times Union.

Walt Disney

Joan of Ark

Amelia Earhart

Samuel Morse

4-5's presented a Living Museum of History Makers today.  Their displays included posters, PowerPoints, timelines, masks, artifacts, and oral presentations.

Having an audience raises the stakes for students - it enhances the quality and importance of the research and presentation and gives incredible meaning to the whole project!

Coping

The unthinkable events in Sandy Hook so deeply affected all of us.  For teachers who care for precious children every day and for parents who release them into our care, the horror was especially acute.  Parker teachers communicated all weekend with each other and with parents.  Monday was handled with sensitivity and wisdom as teachers met the children where they were.  I found that this article from the Dougy Center for Grieving Families was a good one out of the many to help parents figure out how to talk to their children about tragedy. 

Being part of a caring community like Parker has helped everyone cope. 

Can altruism be taught?

Parker middle schoolers sort items at the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

Making bowl selections at the Empty Bowls hunger awareness evening last week.  8th graders organized the event and raised over $1,150 for Joseph's House, a homeless shelter in Troy.

Developing empathy, sympathy, compassion, kindness and charity is a process that takes lots of practice.  Offering opportunities for children to do good, to "see themselves and frame their own behavior as generous, kind, and helpful" is critical.

For the last four weeks, the whole middle school has gone to the Regional Food Bank on Friday afternoons to do what ever needs doing there: sorting rotten from good cucumbers or organizing boxes of toiletries.  It is truly "hands-on" and it helps them understand the massive logistics of  ameliorating local hunger.  It gives them practice in what we hope will be a life-long habit of helping others. 

What is their reward? As I used to tell my own children, "Your reward is the satisfaction of a job well done."  Research shows that material reinforcement is not the most effective way to stimulate generosity - it's the "warm glow" that works.  In the New York Times article, Understanding How Children Develop Empathy, Perry Klaus, MD, tells about the brain chemistry that makes this so.

A-buzz

Preparations.  We're getting ready for the Museum display at the Rensselaer County Historical Society on historic land transformation (2-3's), The Show of Work for Farm to Table (K-1's), a mock murder trial (8th grade) with a jury (6-7's), a mock trial with parent and judge, Michael Melkonian, Justice of the New York Supreme Court presiding (4-5's), the Living Museum of History Makers (4-5's), Empty Bowls (8th grade), The Peace Assembly (everyone)!  Essays, scripts, artwork, analysis...singing...we're buzzing around here!