Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome to College of Southern Idaho Early Childhood Education Parent eNewsletter.

WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER
We want to provide a forum for parents to benefit from the expertise of CSI's Early Childhood pro's. This is a place that parents can ask questions and get suggestions and answers from Ellen Neff or Evin Fox. We hope that all may utilize this opportunity for learning about our kids and the best ways to help them learn and grow.

Please check out this website to find out the latest news on the classrooms, authors, toys, and upcoming events.

Ino our upcoming news section we have a review on the newest toys and books in our toddler lab. our parent advisory board section is to inform parents and students of the conversation and decisions made at the meeting. please try and come; everyone is welcome, if not check out the information given.

Waiting for Superman Review

          Waiting for Superman, directed by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) is an eye-opening, emotional, jaw-dropping insight into America’s failing educational system. The controversial film depicts how far America’s school systems have dropped down the ladder in all studies as well as graduation rates. Consider the following statistics cited in the film: the annual cost of prison for an inmate is more than double what is spent on an individual public school student. Eight years after Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act, with the goal of 100 percent proficiency in math and reading, most states currently hover between 20 and 30 percent proficiency, and 70 percent of eighth graders can not read at grade level. By 2020, only an estimated 50 million Americans will be qualified to fill 123 million highly skilled, highly paid jobs. Among 30 developed countries, the United States ranks 25th in math and 21st in science. How can this have happened in The United States of America, where we once prided ourselves on the education of our Children? Well the answer depends on who you ask.

          Both sides of the political spectrum agree that the American educational system needs a massive overhaul. Republicans and Democrats both are fighting to better every child’s chance at a great education; obviously with different means to an end result. However, in Waiting for Superman, the controversy is not necessarily brought on by politicians but by the educators themselves. The documentary depicts the ongoing debate in this country about the fight over the abolishment of teachers unions and tenure granted to teachers after only two years in the profession; which happens whether they produce good results or not.

At the forefront of the reform of education is Geoffrey Canada, a charismatic educator and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone, who is on a quest to improve the odds for low-income children in Harlem. He works tirelessly to decrease dropout rates and to enhance the number of college-bound students graduating from the city's public schools, and the results are encouraging. Of the students who participate in Harlem Children's Zone programs, 90 percent go on to college. Next in the fight stands Michelle Rhee, chancellor of the District of Columbia school district (the 7^th chancellor in 1o years; the DC school district is undeniably one of the worst districts in the country). Rhee, a controversial figure, has gone head to head with the DC school district and single handedly shut down numerous “drop out factories” and fired hundreds of underperforming teachers; which she made a lot of enemies doing so. Rhee made the proposal to the Washington Teachers Union that teachers would be paid much higher salaries based on merit if they chose to give up tenure; not a single teacher voted toward the proposal. The resistance to change is personified by Randi Weingarten, the fiery and articulate former head of the United Federation of Teachers, who now runs the American Federation of Teachers. Weingarten, who is somewhat demonized by the film, is the first to admit that public education is in crisis, however she represents thousands of teachers who depend on tenure.

Michelle Rhee makes it clear in the movie that it has become about the adults not the children. The movie places five faces to the emotionally draining challenge that many children and their families face in the American educational system today- Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily. These kids are talented, hard working, and all they want is to go to a good school, so they have a chance to get into a good college, and have a fair shot at a great life. The chances of this happening are extremely limited due to their economical background or simply because of the neighborhoods in which they reside. Their only glimmer of hope is boarding or charters schools; which by law must hold a “lottery” when only so many spots are available. In the film, Francisco, a fifth grader from the Bronx, is 1 of 792 applicants who hope to claim a golden ticket to acceptance at Harlem Success Academy. There are only 40 spots available. The ending of the documentary sends you on an emotional rollercoaster as it pans back and forth from one student to the next as each wait anxiously, with countless others, hoping to hear their magic number be called out loud. It is sad that the direction of a young life depends on the dropping of a numbered ball from bingo spinner.

We are very lucky to live in the area we live in; the chance at a great education isn’t such a far reach for our children here in Twin Falls, Idaho. However, the American education system needs to change if America is going to compete in this global economy. At this point in time, America is facing a lot of difficult challenges: national security, the economy, healthcare, unemployment, and poverty. To resolve these challenges America’s sinking education needs to be resolved first and foremost.  Waiting for Superman leaves you with a simple, beautifully typed message across a black screen: It is possible to give every child in America a great education. To find out what you can do to help please visit http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/ and please see this documentary.

Waiting for Superman is available for check out in the parent resource room.
we invite you to comment on the following questions-
Is this relevant to our community? how?
what is the role of parents in improving public education?

Review of John Medina’s Brain Rules for Baby

        Try to imagine this ever so real scenario: A soon- to- be mom walks into her local book store looking for a book that will educate her about what she can do to help raise her child to be happy and smart. This should be easy right? A couple things can happen here: this expecting mother, after standing in the parenting aisle for two hours, can settle on a few books or DVDs that claim to have the secret to raising a well adjusted Einstein. Or, mom can choose to read Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina. Unfortunately, there is no elixir we can give our children to make them who we want them to be. As parents we have extremely high standards for our children; we want them to be extremely intelligent and comfortable with whom they are as individuals. Brain Rules for Baby is a ground breaking book on the science to raising our children. Yes I said science. All the information in this book has been published in the refereed literature and then successfully replicated; some replicated dozens of times. I want to say this again: this book is science. This book is the quintessential guide to raising a smart and happy child. John Medina wrote this book after Brain Rules to emphasize the importance of how influential the first five years of life are in adulthood.

        Brain Rules for Baby is compiled of five chapters: pregnancy, relationship, smart baby, happy baby, and moral baby. Here are summaries for each chapter in both my words and John Medina’s words.

Pregnancy-

John Medina states that the best thing we can do for our child in utero is not to stress out and to just leave the baby alone. One factor contributing to a child’s temperament and IQ is how stressed the mother felt while pregnant. It’s hard for parents not to want to do something right away to give their baby’s brain every advantage. But babies, it turns out, mostly want to be left alone in the earliest stages of pregnancy. That’s when their brains are creating an astonishing 8,000 neurons per second. You’d want peace and quiet, too. To me the most fascinating part of Medina’s pregnancy chapter is what he states about the benefits of morning sickness for baby. One study, yet to be replicated, looked at children whose mothers suffered from severe morning sickness during pregnancy. When the children reached school age, 21 percent scored 130 or more points on a standard IQ test, a level considered gifted. If their mothers had no morning sickness, only 7 percent did that well. Why? One theory is that two hormones that stimulate a woman to vomit may also act like neural fertilizer for brain development. The chapter states that the best way a mother-to –be can boost baby’s brain development is to: gain the proper weight, eat a balanced diet, exercising moderately, and reducing stress.

Relationship-

More than 80 percent of marriages suffer when baby comes home, with increasingly hostile interactions causing marital satisfaction to plummet. That’s a surprise to many rookie parents, perhaps because it’s rarely discussed. You know things will change, but not how very much. There are four chief culprits, and if you know about them in advance, you can prepare for the storm—preserving not only your relationship but your child’s nervous system. Medina claims that the four most common sources of marital turbulence are: sleep loss, social isolation, unequal distribution of household workload, and depression. Children are highly attuned to whether their environment is safe; even infants younger than 6 months can detect and respond to hostility between parents. But if you develop an “empathy reflex” with your spouse, your marriage is nearly divorce-proof.

Smart baby-

We all want our kids to do well academically. Fifty percent of a child’s intellect comes from genetics, the other fifty percent environment. In his book, Medina refers this as “seeds and soil”; most of us know as nature vs. nurture. Great accomplishments often take effort more than smarts. There’s a way to encourage such intellectual elbow grease. Praise your child’s effort “I’m proud of you; you really worked hard on that” rather than innate ability “You’re so smart!” (Read my review on praise vs. encouragement on our blog). What doesn’t work? Hyper parenting, for one. Viewing a child’s development like a competitive race creates the kind of stress that actually damages the brain. TV before age 2 doesn’t work, either. Every hour of TV creates a greater likelihood of attention problems and bullying once your child starts school. One of the best things you can do for your baby’s brain power is devote lots of time to playing, in a certain way. Surprisingly, it builds that self-control Medina talks about. Intelligence has many ingredients, including a desire to explore, self-control, creativity, and communication skills.  

Happy Baby-

Research has uncovered four distinct parenting styles: Authoritative, Authoritarian, Indulgent, And Neglectful. Only one parenting style produces the happiest, most emotionally stable children. Which category you fall into depends on your comfort level with emotions, especially your own. (You’ll need to get comfortable real fast.) How you deal with your child’s emotions—the intense, inappropriate ones—fundamentally affects your child’s happiness. Actually, it affects everything from their self-calming ability to rates of violence to parental loyalty to infectious diseases. One trick: teaching your child to label emotions. It helps connect the nonverbal and verbal pathways in the brain. Another is empathizing, which calms the nervous system.

Moral Baby-

Brain Rules for Baby asserts that babies are born with moral sensibilities. These are remarkably similar around the world. Evolutionary anthropologists think that’s because having rules of social conduct allowed our ancestors to work in teams, necessary for outsmarting stronger predators. Still, kids don’t just do the right thing. Your discipline helps shape your baby’s moral sensibilities. Brain science has some things to say about discipline. In a recurring theme, Medina talks about the importance of emotions and the role they play in moral (or any) decision-making. Indeed, the areas of the brain that process emotions and logic are so intertwined, one cannot happen without the other. In this chapter, Medina reveals the simple phrase that a parent can help their child internalize moral behavior. And no discussion of discipline would be complete without a study or two on spanking. A side note in this chapter affirms that a 3 year old spanked more than twice in a month were 50 percent more likely to be aggressive by the age of 5. After the discussion on spanking comes a relief chapter of the discipline kids prefer. Children’s moral behavior develops over time and requires a particular kind of guidance.

I highly recommend this book; it has completely changed my perspective on my child and how I want and need to raise her. I recommend to parents all the articles, journals, movies, and books that come my way. However, I really feel that Brain Rules for Babies is the end all to parenting. If you are expecting a child, or already have children, this book is essential to understanding your children and learning to guide them, especially in the ever so important first five years, so that they can develop a sense of self; happy and smart.

About John Medina as posted on his website brainrules.net----

DR. JOHN J. MEDINA, a developmental molecular biologist, has a lifelong fascination with how the mind reacts to and organizes information. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School" -- a provocative book that takes on the way our schools and work environments are designed. His latest book is a must-read for parents and early-childhood educators: "Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five."

Medina is an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University. Medina lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife and two boys.

Check out this link-Research by University of Chicago psychologist Susan Levine shows that children whose parents talk with them more about numbers do better in math than children whose parents talk with them less about numbers. Here Levine discusses her findings. http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_images.jsp?cntn_id=117953&org=NSF

***Self regulation has been an ongoing topic for us this semester. here are a few tools to help you along the way of learning how to help your child self regulate. 

Here is the link to Ellen Galinsky's video of the marshmallow test. please check it out- its quite interesting! 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu1V9GM6BXE

here is the link for crickets in a basket- a great article about self regulation in early education.http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200803/BTJ_Primary_Interest.pdf

Seven Life Skills to begin in Early Childhood

From:  Mind in the Making by Ellen Galinsky

1. Focus and Self Control – children need this skill in order to achieve their goals especially in a world that is filled with distractions and information overload.
2. Perspective Taking – children who can figure out what others feel and think are less likely to get involved in conflicts.
3. Communicating – children need to be able to determine what they want to communicate and how. This is the skill teachers and employers feel is most lacking today.
4. Making Connections – children who can make unusual connections are more creative and can go beyond knowing information to using information well.
5. Critical Thinking – children need to be able to search for reliable knowledge to guide their beliefs, decisions, and actions.
6. Taking on Challenges – children who can take on challenges instead of avoiding or simply coping with them will do better in school and in life.
7. Self-Directed Engaged Learning – lifelong learners can change as the world changes in order to reach their full potential.

   Full review on all 7 skills in Latest Reviews tab.