Head's Up, Kathleen McNamara

I’ve long been an admirer of Common Sense Media. They do good work, provide excellent resource information and have no ulterior motives. This app helps parents, as consumers, BEFORE you buy that_______ (fill in the blank: movie to stream, app, video game) to make sure it’s in line with your “house rules.” It also allows you to customize suggestions for each child.

Enjoy.

Common Sense Media Resources for Parents Summer 2015

This is a thought provoking and interesting Op-Ed by Kyle Redford. I am definitely one of those “just let them play” speech givers, but I understand what Kyle is saying here, and for students with learning challenges, summer can be a time of big gains. So yes, use this time wisely, but specific to the needs of each child.

Thanks, friend!

Rethinking summer and play…

Read more about Kyle and her work at Yale here:

Kyle Redford at Huffington Post

I love the rituals of schools. At TPS graduation last week, as I graduated with the Class of 2015, I gave a little bit of advice.

To our departing 8^th graders and all our Freshmen, some advice:

As you depart this graduation ceremony, remember who you are

what we have taught you and that you ALWAYS represent Tuxedo Park School no matter where you go.

Be your best versions of yourselves wherever you are attending school. Know that we are watching you and so proud of you and

that you are paving the way for those who will follow.

And I have four pieces of advice

1. Always be kind, fair and responsible. Those core values will serve you well in high school and in life.
2. Always display gratitude for what you have. Many of your future schoolmates have NOT had the love and nurturing and support that you have had here at TPS. Be generous and extend yourselves to them, all of them.
3. Make sure you try one new thing within the first month of school. It may open your eyes and your horizons to something you had not even dreamed you could do.
4. Remember this is your home and you can ALWAYS come back to Tuxedo Park School.

As I graduate with you, I promise to do the same.

I grew up in a household where everything we needed was within walking distance of our home: school, church, friends, groceries, curiosity, and intrigue. Growing up Catholic and of Irish, English and German heritage, there were many things we discussed openly, but a few things we did not. We were clearly instructed that in polite company, we did not discuss politics or money. These were taboo subjects, left for whispering or gesturing away from the eyes of children. We also were instructed that if we did not have anything nice to say, we were to say nothing at all. This second rule meant that as I made my way through high school and college and graduate school and into the adult world of work, acquiring the skill of debate and disagreeing tactfully was a long, sometimes painful process.

When my own children were young, we waded into some of these conversations: why some families go to Europe for the summer while others go to their community pool; why some children go to sleep away camp while others go to a local day camp. There are economic disparities in our midst, and I was uncomfortable having conversations about those disparities with my children when they were young.

This recent blog post in the Motherlode section of the New York Times by Ron Lieber about parenting and discussing uncomfortable topics with our children argues that these conversations (or lack thereof) are a way for us to share our values. Conversations about money and “who has what” can be uncomfortable, but they are still worth having.

Last weekend’s Sunday Times featured a great article by David Brooks in advance of his new book: The Road to Character.

For those of us in the business of “growing good people” I found this article very heartening. As educators and parents we are committed to thinking deeply about where to put our collective energy when educating our children in and around the rest of their academic lives, including the literal and metaphorical list of achievements we and they try to amass for them. It is a reminder that kindness matters. It is a reminder that both doing good and doing genuinely good work nets the best people who emanate goodness. I can think of many people who fit into this category, but most of them would not see themselves in that way. They are too humble. And that is their goodness.

“The stumbler doesn’t build her life by being better than others, but by being better than she used to be.”

I love this quote and the message of the essay. I will be buying the book to see what gems we can glean from all of this. My wish for all of us is that we can radiate an inner light.

We have had the great fortune of working with Dr. George McCloskey at TPS for the last two days. This well-timed piece confirms so many of the conversations he helped us have. And these are skills we can teach in schools! We do teach them at TPS.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/education/edlife/how-to-be-emotionally-intelligent.html?_r=0