Resources for Parents

Parents information from the N.Y.State Education Deptartment

Grades 3-8 Testing Program in English Language Arts and Mathematics - A Parent’s Guide, PDF

A comprehensive parent guide for the Grades 3-8 Testing Program in N.Y. state.

InsideSchools.org

A program of Advocates for Children of New York schools, a non-profit organization that provides support, legal, and advocacy services.

MyED.gov Information for Parents

U.S. Department of Education (ED) web site, this award-winning site includes the latest on the No Child Left Behind Act.

NCPIE.org

National Coalition for parental involvement in education.

Discovery School Parents Resources

DiscoverySchool.com is rich with features that are helpful for parents and students as well as teachers.

Learning Network Parent Channel

Parents find practical guidance, grade-specific information about their children’s school experience.

FEMA FACTS

The Federal Emergency Management Agency Kids Web site is a safe and fun place where children could learn what to do before, during and after a disaster.

Classs Size Matters

An organization of parents and others dedicated to the goal of smaller classes for the children of NYC.

Women’s City Club of New York

Studies school issues like pre-k and class size reduction, charter schools. Works against school vouchers.

Parent Smart

Guide to the best and most helpful information about how to help your child succeed in school.

National Education Association Parent’s Resources

Useful guides in English and Spanish.

Home Schooling

Arizona, which has more than 32,000 children being home schooled, including almost 13,000 in Maricopa County, requires parents only to file an affidavit promising to teach reading, writing, math, science and social studies. There’s no mountain of paperwork, no army of bureaucrats looking over their shoulder

Personally I think it’s an interesting decision why parents choose to homeschool. The fact is Arizona has a large enough community to sustain this, and I think it is a powerful testimony to the home schooling movement across the world.

Here are some basic issues raised:

1. Socialization as an issue - a local community of home-schooled children are important for socialization. However, most can also communicate with adults, giving it the thumbs up for socialization - nothing better than to be more flexible in communicating with people of any age group!

2. Loss of a good second income - parents who home school their children will eventually discover that they have sacrified income for time. I’m not sure where this is coming from, but I do know that parents who can organize their time effectively will find leverage in a couple of things - first, development of enthusiasm for learning in their children. Second, development of autonomy so that their children take responsibility for developing themselves. Third, using income generation AS the schooling approach. Why not? It’s effectively simpler now to learn about business because everything is online.

A great source is www.InternetMarketingSingapore.com -  I know most of you may be away from this part of the world, but still, the content there is fantastic for anyone who wishes to start a learning journey together with their children. Who says your children can’t help you to earn an income while you school them?

3, Pressure and stress. I know many parents experience tremendous pressure. Curriculum issues abound - TOO MUCH INFORMATION! You will need to cope effectively. However I strongly believe that parents who have it together will realize that it’s not just about taking matters into their own hands - it’s about leveraging. With the right community and the right approach, community based learning can take on a brand new meaning. Perhaps while you are undergoing your periods of stress would be the best time to educate your own children, so that learning is even more authentic. 

Home-school guidelines (Arizona)

State law: ARS 15-802 says every child between the ages 6 and 16 years shall attend a school and shall be provided instruction in at least the subjects of reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies and science. The person who has custody of the child shall choose a public, private, charter or home school.

Home-school definition: A school conducted primarily by the parent, guardian or other person who has custody of the child or instruction provided in the child’s home.

Home-school registration: If the child will attend a private school or home school, file an affidavit of intent with the county school superintendent stating that the child is being provided with instruction in a home school.

Interscholastic activities: A child who resides within the attendance area of a public school and who is instructed at home shall be allowed to try out for interscholastic activities at the public school.

High school education with home schooling: A guardian can provide the high school curriculum and teach that program to the student and a GED test can be taken at age 16. If an accredited diploma is desired, the guardian must use an accredited online or correspondence program as their curriculum base. Guardians can also issue their own diploma.

Special education: If federal monies are provided to a school district or a charter school for special-education services to home-schooled or private-schooled pupils, the school district or charter school shall provide the services to both the home-schooled pupils and the private-schooled pupils in the same manner.

Testing of home-schooled students: Not required under state law.

 

More British teenagers leave school with good qualifications and go to university than ever before.

Youth unemployment has fallen dramatically in the last 25 years.

Today’s parents are richer than ever before and young people have access to an extraordinary range of activities and opportunities undreamt of even a generation ago.

And yet the mental well-being of our adolescents is among the worst in Europe: one in 10 teenage girls has self-harmed. Child obesity is increasing.

One of the biggest worries Is behavior. During this period of socialization, many of the UK students and up being with their peers and engage in fairly unsavory and bad behavior. However, it seems pretty much the same here in Singapore!

it seems reminiscent of students who have not developed a high enough sense of self efficacy . If the students in the UK are experiencing greater self worth interacting with the teenage friends, then it begs the question, what is going on in the family? Cultural evidence shows that as we become more distant from our parents, a large proportion of our separate and coping mechanisms rest on peers who don’t necessarily have the same level of experience and skill or even common sense to help us. The effect of what we often refer to as the generation gap, widens.

I guess this doesn’t just like in with a soft skills are being taught to these children. It is far more than just that. After all, how many skills have you learned that you don’t put into practice? It is more the ability for parents and their teenage children are like to see eye to eye with each other, gain the new found respect for each other, and be able to connect at some level other than just in an argument.

What I find most disconcerting is this statement from the research body that brought up this problem with the teenagers.

“Young people who do not have access to the factors that develop their non-cognitive abilities are increasingly vulnerable to failure, while their better socialised peers will increasingly succeed.” 

 Isn’t it time for all the adults both in Singapore and in the UK alike to own up to the fact that they probably aren’t as well cut out for the new generation of children as they thought they could be? Most parents are now involved in commercial activities such as starting a business running it and making money. That’s why parents are far richer than they were ten or twenty years ago. However, this also increases the divide between Parents and their children. we need to remember that children do not have a concept of the working world. It is very simple for us to say that we’re working very hard, but there is no empathy. This ties in with the fact that I believe parents need to be aware of — that is they need to communicate the everyday experiences to mentor the children in the ways of the working world. After all, if I don’t know what you’re up to, it’s easy for me to think that what you’re doing is not important.

Is this a motivational issue? Is this a skill issue? Is this a cultural issue?

The answer is quite plain and simple. If we are going to continue to put all blame on teenagers now on parents now and skills not learned, then I think we’re missing the point. The fact is, every family has its dynamics. Everybody has played a part to contribute to the problem. Now, it’s time for everybody to play a part to contributed to the solution. I know it’s not easy to accept responsibility for something so large and so huge. After all as a parent, how would you would know that the pace of information would explode so quickly? As a child how would you know that you had so many extra expectations to live up to in this new information age?

The truth is we’re still finding our way and coping. Hopefully, there will come a day where parents and their teenagers alike will be able to share their thoughts and dreams the way some great families do. Perhaps it’s time in this day and age to be aware that a family of excellence is what it takes to really succeed. This really calls for a new attitude towards bringing up children, running a household, communicating with your parents, and dealing with school. With the increase in divorce rates, single parent families, and media influences that a fairly unsavory, it is not the world we used to know.

Once we begin to acknowledge this, new solutions can begin to flow. Perhaps this is a good time to hear from those of us who are children and have had to “deal with” our parents, and those of us were parents will have to “deal with” our children.

Looking forward to seeing some of your comments!

Topics include setting clear expectations, giving positive and negative consequences for behavior, staying calm, teaching self-control, using Effective Praise and Preventive and Corrective Teaching, helping children make decisions and solve problems, reaching goals with charts and contracts, and teaching social skills. Also provided are strategies for dealing with the influence of the media, peer pressure, and problems in school. You will read examples, sample behavior charts, and step-by-step breakdowns of 16 valuable social skills.

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