Parental Engagement

June 17, 2015

Parental Engagement History Series

Several months ago, I published a new series on parental engagement in teaching history. You can read the whole series on the Demme Learning blog. Here’s a short video that introduces the series.

Part 1 – The Importance of Family History

Family history provides an answer to the question, ‘where did I come from?’ Family reunions, for example, are often a great opportunity for grandparents to share stories about when they were growing up or for aunts and uncles to talk about favorite memories like sibling pranks or shared experiences. Building a family tree and tracing the family genealogy can be another great way to explore family history by showing roots.

Part 2 – Discovering State History

Here’s a fun fact; the Rockville Bridge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is the longest stone arch bridge in the world. Constructed between April 1900 and April 1902 by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it has forty-eight 70-foot spans, for a total length of 3,820 feet (1,164 m). This is just one little bit of trivia but a quick Google search can bring up even more fascinating history and trivia about Pennsylvania, my home state.

Part 3 – National History

History belongs as much to the present as it does to the past because it is history that has forged our collective identity as Americans. Experiencing American history with your children will give them a foundation that will allow them to become shapers of the future.

Part 4 – Signs of History

Growing up, I remember many times when we would travel as a family. I always wanted to get where we were headed as soon as possible, but often my dad would spy a historical sign along the side of the road and pull the car over. We would huddle around the sign in order to learn what great thing happened at this great place a great long time ago.

June 10, 2015

Parental Engagement Arts And Culture Series

Back in March, I wrote a series on parental engagement in arts and culture. You can read the whole series on the Demme Learning blog. Here is a short video that introduces the series.

Part 1 – Art Is Not Mere Luxury

One of things that makes art so important and even crucial to our lives is that art expresses ideas. And not only does art express ideas, but by very nature of art being rooted in the physical materials of the earth, art expresses abstractions in concrete form. In this way, art transforms ideas into flesh-and-blood — art gives a body to the thoughts circulating in a creative mind.

Part 2 – Expose Your Family to Art

Even though we weren’t the most artistically gifted, my parent made an effort to expose us to culture and the arts. I remember visiting museums, going to free classical concerts in the park, and even driving to Annapolis MD to experience Handel’s Messiah performed by Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Part 3 – Getting Your Kids Engaged in Culture-Making

During the 1860s, a writer and artist named William Morris began a movement that would later become known as the Arts & Crafts movement. Originating in the British Isles, this movement eventually swept all of Europe and North America as well. William Morris encouraged people to “have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

Part 4 – Art is Irreplaceable

When school districts are facing difficult budget cuts, one of the first things that gets tossed out the window is the arts: the marching band, the theater troupe, the painting class. STEM – science technology, engineering, and mathematics – often take precedence over the humanities. However, research continues to suggest that art is valuable, beneficial, and even essential.

June 1, 2015

Dr. Gordon Neufeld On The Importance of Attachment

Dr. Gordon Neufeld is a pioneer researcher on attachment within families. He speaks and writes on the importance of parents as the primary attachments. Following up on the work of Bowlby’s “Secure Base” and other work such as, Anna Freud’s “Infants Without Families”, Dr. Neufeld demonstrates the potency of the natural design for deep parent-child bonds.

In an article on Dr. Neufeld’s blog, Shoshana Hayman shares about attachment and religious faith. In her article “And Thou Shall Teach Thy Children….” Linking the Generations Together Through Centuries, she shares about attending a traditional Passover Seder. She writes how she “expected to hear deep insights into the Haggadah, the ancient text that relates the story of the exodus of the Jewish People from Egypt to become a nation in their own homeland” but was surprised when “the rabbi directed all of the discussion to the young children who sat at the table. He told them stories, listened to their ideas, and encouraged them to ask questions. And there was a lot of joyful singing, adults and children together.” Hayman says that:

The fulfillment of the commandment “thou shall teach thy children…” unfolded before my eyes, and brought back my own wonderful childhood memories of the Passover Seder, when the story of Passover became part of who I am.

What causes a child to accept the teachings and values of his parents so they become his way of life? Children learn best from those with whom they have a close, safe and loving relationship. Children must always feel the warm invitation to exist in the presence of their parents and other adults in their lives who care for them. This kind of relationship, called an attachment relationship, must be nurtured and protected so that it can deepen over the years. This is the context within which parents can instruct, direct and correct their children, and children can remain open to their parents’ influence.

Here is a video interview of Dr. Neufeld which provides a great overview of his core insights on attachment. It’s 17 minutes long but it’s down-to-earth and full of practical wisdom.

May 29, 2015

Parental Engagement Writing Series

A little while back completed a new series of blog posts on Parental Engagement and reading. You can view the entire series over at the Demme Learning Blog.

Here are some snippets from each of the four posts:

Part 1 – What, Not Where

We need to teach our children the ‘universals’ of writing, principles that transcend the limitations and structures of each medium. If we teach our kids how to write clearly and concisely, they can successfully learn to write in any medium. In fact, the greatest thing we could ever do is teach our kids that writing is valuable and a skill worth developing. If we do that, our kids will be more likely to grow in their writing ability.

We as parents need to encourage our children to write in whatever medium they naturally gravitate towards. Once they have developed a love of writing, we can challenge them to experiment in different mediums and genres.

Part 2 – Writing to Reflect

Besides the benefits of keeping an individual journal and encouraging our kids to do the same, keeping a family journal is also a great way to preserve memories and reflect on experiences together as a family. A family journal can be as simple as recording birthdays and noting important activities (such as a family vacation to Disneyland) or as detailed as writing about every single day. Family journals can also provide a written records for future generations to learn from and enjoy. We have a tradition in my family which we call a “thanks book.” Our goal is to look back at a previous week or month and record things that we are thankful for. My parents started this tradition, and it is still going a generation later.

Part 3 – Do Your Kids See You Write?

Simply resolving to write or to just write when you think about it is not enough. We need to actively work to fit writing into our busy schedules — and the best way to do that is to develop a routine. Of course, creating a routine requires experimenting to see what will work best for you: maybe writing in the mornings as everyone is getting ready to face the day won’t work for you and your family — perhaps writing in the evenings after supper might work better. The important thing is to develop a routine … and then see how it works. Success isn’t the activity, it is the communication of value.

Part 4 – Research Says Writing Is Important

Writing is both a ‘marker’ of high-skill, high-wage, professional work and a ‘gatekeeper’ . . . People unable to express themselves clearly in writing limit their opportunities for professional, salaried employment.

Writing also has health benefits. In the world of counseling, a newer field has emerged called “writing therapy”. Research has found that expressive writing, such as writing to reflect in a journal, has therapeutic value and can help us cope with emotional trauma or even just the normal upheavals and stressors of life.

May 28, 2015

College Calculus: We Should Trust Parents

I recently came across a study with data on how homeschoolers perform in college calculus classes (how’s that for alliteration?) compared with their public and private school counterparts. The blog over at International Center for Home Education Research (ICHER) has a great summary.

This study, Are Homeschoolers Prepared for College Calculus?, found that homeschoolers tended to have similar SAT/ACT scores as their peers but homeschoolers tended to earn a better grade in college calculus. ICHER summarizes:

As for calculus scores, the mean grade of public-school students was 80.6% and the mean grade for homeschool students was 87.2%. Even though homeschoolers had the highest average of any school type, it did not reach statistical significance because of the low number of homeschoolers in the sample. Rather than school type, the most powerful predictor of calculus success seemed to be SAT/ACT math scores.

It is fairly intuitive that a math SAT score can predict performance math class. What is more interesting to me is that the study found that a home environment of learning is a more significant factor than the educational attainment status of the parents. From the study itself:

Yet it appears that “home support for mathematics” is a better (positive and significant) predictor of college calculus grades—yielding some evidence that parental support for mathematics matters more than parental education.

A parent who doesn’t have a college degree can still create a home environment that supports the mathematical education of their child in such a way that this child can excel even in higher level college math courses. And this holds true regardless of whether the student is homeschooled or attending a public, private, or charter school.

Of the various factors the study examined, parental education level, race, income, gender – none of these factors mattered as much as that home environment. Because a parent is a parent is a parent. And if we want our students to be prepared for STEM related studies and careers, a good place to start is trusting parents.

(If you found this to be interesting, check out my earlier article Want More STEM Students? Trust Their Parents which looks at another interesting study along similar lines.)

Parental Engagement History Series

Parental Engagement Arts And Culture Series

Dr. Gordon Neufeld On The Importance of Attachment

Parental Engagement Writing Series

College Calculus: We Should Trust Parents

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