Field trips to museums, band trips to competitions, and “away” games with the football team are all opportunities in which parents are recruited to serve as chaperones.

Chaperoning is a way to meet your child’s friends, teachers and coaches. It is way to learn the scuttlebutt as you ride along on the school bus or the caravan to the field trip or the competition. Especially for non-custodial parents, getting involved as a chaperone can raise one’s knowledge level of the child’s activities significantly, and serves to demonstrate the parent’s active investment in the child’s school-related activities. In fact, where the parents are fighting over visitation schedules, the opportunity to serve as a school chaperone may provide a significant opportunity for the non-custodial parent to get extra time with the child without offsetting the established visitation timetable.

Billerica’s Spelling Bee is mentioned in this Globe article – enjoy!

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2012/01/09/spelling-makes-comeback-schools/D4cwBWsIYEHQvNJk8sGwvO/story.html

The public state-run schools are free, but charges and fees for books and general materials throughout the year do come up. Going to school from first to at least ninth grade is mandatory and there is no homeschooling in Germany. You generally start out with Kindergarten, which is more like Preschool in the United States. It is not required and you don’t really learn anything.

Then you enter the Grundschule (Primary School), which lasts from 1st to fourth grade. You begin to learn English from first grade all the way until graduation. In first and second grade, you don’t receive grades. In fourth grade, the grades you make will depend on which secondary school you are placed into for fifth grade until you graduate. If you grades aren’t good enough to make it into the higher schools, you can take qualifying exams. If you pass, you’re in, if not, you’re out. That simple.

Secondary education in Germany is split up into three levels. The Hauptschule (secondary general school: prepares you for employment and ends with the Hauptschulabschluss dipoma after ninth or tenth grade, depending on which type of diploma you are on track to getting),
the Realschule (intermediate school: more intense and prepares you for either a further school to eventually lead to University or employment and leads to the Mittlere Reife after tenth grade) and the Gymnasium (grammar school: prepares you for University, ending with the Abitur diploma after twelfth or thirteenth grade).

• If you end up in the Hauptschule, and your grades are good enough in the first year, you can be placed either in the Realschule or Gymnasium, which requires repeating the fifth grade. You also have the opportunity to take the exams again. If your grades are good in sixth grade, you have one last shot at the Realschule, but no longer the Gymnasium. Most people I know who got the general Hauptschulabschluss ended up working as craftsmen (mechanic, carpenter, brick layer etc.), but some also went on to the Berufsschule (job school), where you receive training and education at companies and part time vocational schools. However, there are two types of grade 10: one is the higher level called type 10b and the lower level is called type 10a; only the higher level type 10b can lead to the Realschule and this finishes with the final examination Mittlere Reife after grade 10b.

• In the Realschule, you are required to choose an education track in seventh grade: math, art, language and business, which will offer you specific classes to your interest. After graduation, you generally continue on to the Fachoberschule (Vocational upper secondary school), which can lead to University.

• In the Gymnasium, you are required to chose a second foreign language (French, Latin, Italian etc.) in sixth grade, which you will take until you graduate.

School generally starts at around 8 AM. You go to your homeroom, where you will have all your classes with the same people in the same seat. (Acception: classes that can’t be taken in a homeroom such as chemistry or PE) Your class schedule is different every day and takes a little while to memorize. Each class is generally around 45 minutes. After your first three classes of the day, you have a “Pause” (recess and snack time). In the Grundschule, it is about half an hour long and it secondary school, it is about fifteen minutes. There is usually a small area where bread, sandwiches, pastries, snacks and drinks are sold during this time. After the Pause, you have between one and three more classes before going home. If extra curricular classes are offered after school, such as band, volleyball or french conversation, you have an hour lunch break where you can either bring your own lunch or eat in the cafeteria.
After school, you come home, eat lunch (which in Germany is generally a hot meal, like the American dinner) and have an hour long “Ruhezeit” (quiet time). During this time, most stores are closed for a few hours and you aren’t allowed to play loud music or make a lot of noise and disturb your neighbors. This time is mainly used for resting and napping. Homework and studying takes about as much time as it would in America.

Other little differences about the school systems:

• at the beginning of every class/day with a teacher, the whole class stands up and chants “Gu-ten-Mor-gen-Frau/Herr-___”.
• in the Grundschule, you wear house shoes/slippers in the classroom. There is usually a place to hang coats and put shoes either inside or right outside the classroom
• throughout school, you either have a Catholic, Evangelic or Ethic religion class, which is required.
• when you raise your hand, you raise as if you were to tell your teacher you need to use the restroom; with one finger pointed up.
• from first through fourth grade, you are required to use special lined paper, to teach you correct penmanship
• from first through fourth grade, you are required to use only blue-inked fountain pen
• pencil is not allowed for ANYTHING but art class in Germany. Even math. If you need to erase something, you are recommended to cross it through with a ruler or use a special fountain pen eraser. Wite-out is discouraged.
• German school desks seat two people. They are long and have two spots underneath to put things under the desk. It is a smart thing to pair up with a pal quick or arrive early on the first day of school, because in most cases, you will be stuck there all year and not be allowed to switch.
• dress code is not very strict in Germany. Of course, there are limits; you shouldn’t be walking to school in a mini skirt and a tube top on a daily basis, but you aren’t going to get in trouble for crazy hair, a lip ring or ripped jeans.
• there are no hall passes. If you need to go to the bathroom, raise your hand and ask. Most teachers are okay with it.
• there are no lockers. Since you are generally in the same room all day, you have no need for one. You can leave things under your desk or at your seat. The risk of anything being taken is very slim…theft is not bad an issue in Germany as it is in the states.
• there is no student parking. Since you have to be eighteen to get a license in Europe, student parking isn’t very necessary. If you do, however, have your own transportation besides a bike, such as a scooter, you’re going to have to find your own parking spot.
• chalkboards aren’t mounted to the wall. They can be adjusted up and down and even open up. Certain parts of the chalkboard are even with normal lines or graphing lines. They are not cleared off with American erasers. In Germany, you use a wet sponge and a squeegee. Most classrooms come with a sink and a mirror to clean the chalkboard and wash hands. (Germans are very hygienic people…and the girls love to crowd around the mirror between classes to retouch their makeup ;D)

1.  Educating Esme ~ Diary of a teacher’s first year   by Esme Raji Codell

2.  To Miss With Love ~ One inspirational teacher.  One extraordinary year.  Hope & heartbreak on the front lines of an inner-city school.   by Katharine Birbalsingh

An excellent description of the second book’s main points can be found here:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8362188/To-Miss-with-Love-by-Katharine-Birbalsingh-review.html

Educating Esme was entertaining & inspiring.  To Miss With Love was quite an eye opener…the author brilliantly captures the big picture & consistently reaches for what is best for each pupil.  Excerpts from the book:

• “parents are everything…”
• “I think it’s our job to help all children, whatever their class or colour, to achieve their potential.”
• “I feel for those poor children, both bright and not so bright, who are being taught, or indeed not taught, in a system of political fantasy…”

Praise for teachers.  And, by the way, if you are a parent, you are a teacher, too!  24/7 by example & environment & dialogue…

“A teacher affects eternity:  he can never tell where his influence stops.” 

~ Henry Adams

Ironically, the same mechanism that has ensured our survival for thousands of years has the tendency to hold us hostage.

When the amygdala runs the show, our brains are alerted that anything new, different, successful or unknown is a perceived threat.  While the function of the amygdala is still important to our survival, it is up to each of us to become conscious of its influence and act accordingly.  I bow my head in silence to all of the great innovations, new ideas and potential loving connections that died with brains that allowed the little fear-based brain to run the show.  Gives a whole new way of “thinking with our little head” does it not?

Nowadays, safe is risky because it holds back innovation and new thought.  Comfort and convenience ensure our consent and complacency to an oppressive ideology.  Growth is uncomfortable and comes with risk.  Again, the irony is that if we as a species do not grow we will perish.  The very mechanism put in place to ensure our survival will kill us unless we become aware of this.

The brain is a problem solving machine.  It is natural to feel uncomfortable when we do not have an answer and our brain immediately gets to work on the appropriate solution.  When we input problems into the brain, we create unrest and the brain must re-organize and make new connections until the problem is solved.  The brain has a natural state of rest but it must be consistently challenged and kept sharp.

The absolute best way to grow muscle is through a method called “muscle confusion”. If you do the same workout routine day in day out you will eventually experience a plateau.  The muscles recognize the pattern and adapt to the routine.  They are done growing because they have successfully reached optimal size to support what is being asked of them.  Muscle confusion works by placing the muscles under constant challenge so that no adaptation is possible.  The result is that the body begins to form an optimal state in order to deal with the unknown stress that it is consistently subjected to.

The brain is similar in that it will form an optimal state of functioning the more it is kept on its proverbial toes.  A great danger that we as humans have is an identity crisis.  Ask; what are we fundamentally?  We have become conditioned to respond by mentioning a title or position.  I am a doctor, teacher, dad, janitor, manager and so on.  In this we create stasis and stagnancy.  Our brain has done its job and is running purely on maintainance mode.  The trouble is that when something new, different and perhaps completely desirable comes along, we perceive threat and seek to protect our comfort zone.  Also, you may find yourself relieved from your job as (insert title/position here) and could be devastated.  Who are you now?

What we are is an opportunity.

If we had “how to use your brain” manuals in school we would not be in the predicament that we as a species find ourselves in.  That being said, it wouldn’t be in the best interests of those who seek to control us to freely give us that manual.  Instead we are subject to 15 years or more of public indoctrination via schooling.  Education is entirely different.

Thank God we have a choice to become aware and activate the potential are brain holds.  After all, the brain is a success mechanism.  Make getting out of your comfort zone your new comfort zone.  You are fundamentally, an opportunity.

Let’s Work Together! This was found over at The Ed Buzz.

In this article the author suggests that public schools and charter schools work together. You don’t need to have a good knowledge of either system to get behind this very valid point. Here’s what I got from the article:

• Charter school have 2 different ‘camps’. One that is super awesome and wants to educate kids, the other is a less awesome side that’s more focused on the business side of things.
• Charter school teachers have no tenure/union, get paid less. They also may not have handicapped students in the classes (as the schools can not ‘accept’ those students)
• Public school teachers are ‘protected’ by a union, and have a salary grid. They also have to follow the rules that govern the schools.

What would happen if we mixed the public system that protected the teachers and had a few good rules with the passion and edu-business side of the Charter system?

It was almost like a life review about why I lamented school so much.  I usually received a C average and missed a lot of class due to fake illnesses that my parents believed every time.  I almost gave myself mercury poisoning once because I put the thermometer into hot soup so that they’d think I had a crazy fever.  This back-fired because the thermometer broke and I drank mercury.  My dad was a doctor and induced vomiting.  This was not part of the plan. 

It’s not that I was stupid or afraid of school.  I just thought it was a waste of my time.  So, I ended up doing  just enough to get through it and graduate.

The other day when asking myself why this was I had a memory…

In Grade 1 we were given an assignment.  I was to research snakes, write a report and draw a picture.  I remembered how excited I was because I loved snakes and I worked as hard as any 6-year-old could on a research project about snakes.  I was really proud of my accomplishment. 

I brought the finished product to class and enthusiastically showed my teacher.  She started to yell.  In front of the entire class, she scolded me about how I didn’t color the snakes that I had drawn and took my assignment away while crumpling it.  Subsequently, I didn’t get a good mark. 

Last week I distinctly remembered how I felt in that moment and the decision I made at age 6.  I was shamed and embarrassed.  Here was the sub-conscious logic…

If I work really hard at a project/school and put a lot of passion or effort into it then the world will reject  or yell at me.  It doesn’t matter.  So why bother? 

Apparently, this experience affected my experience of the remaining years of school.  I was way too sensitive.  The teacher was probably just having a bad day or maybe she just hated uncolored snakes.  Whatever the case, I have since healed this trauma.  This post however, isn’t about blaming that stupid bitch teacher who ruined my life.  I’m kidding:) 

This post is about encouraging kids no matter what and not taking our bad day out on them.  I am really careful about what I say to kids regarding the creative ideas or projects that they’ve put themselves into…

No matter how lame or stupid these ideas or projects are. 

After all, we are all still children learning how to play and interact with one another.     

Love the cohort settings in moodle 2, so much easier ton add a bunch of kids now. The problem is removing students, it is hidden in the enrollment method for some reason…

Moodle attendance module link
Running moodle 2.0.4+

1. We live in the computer age…enrollment should be available ONLINE. Imagine the money we’d save in stock paper and copier ink! (last I checked our state is broke) Imagine the time it would save the school secretaries since they put it all in the computer anyway…

2. Link families together in the computer. I had to fill out SEVERAL times on each

child’s enrollment form their home address, siblings, ages, schools attended, etc. Serious writers cramp when I was done.

3. Have one central enrollment office for the school district. Saves gas money and time going between schools.

4. Do not bounce a parent from one secretary/administrator to another and back again to answer each little question. Communicate with each other so you can communicate with the parent.

5. Change the schools back to K-6 in their own district. Parents with multiple children are almost always forced to travel to more than one school everyday. You would relieve traffic, save time, and give families some continuity. (oh, and back to that part where family information could be linked together….at least siblings in the same school??)

6. Allow us to sign one piece of paper each year that says no information has changed from the previous year(s) this child was in school. Birthdate is the same – CHECK! Address is the same – CHECK! Siblings still have the same names – CHECK! Social Security # is the same – CHECK! Their mother and father’s names have not changed – CHECK! etc, etc, etc. Again – huge amount of money saved on paperwork, copier ink and secretary time.

ok – I have more…I’d be happy to share the ideas with the Governor when he is available.

I want to clearly state that most people I dealt with were not rude or unkind – in fact, for the most part, they were very friendly…just handcuffed by a system that is frustrating in it’s inefficiency. I would like to point out a few people that were extremely helpful to me: Sandra Cortez (high school principal’s secretary), Isabela (high school registrar), and the lady at the Health Clinic who saw my look of complete frustration and was willing to talk to the district office on my behalf about the shortage of vaccinations.

I’ll end with the statement made famous by the great philosopher, Frank Costanza:  SERENITY NOW!

1. Socialization.

I can’t address this to satisfy everyone, because I am sure, my views on public school systems and the type of socialization that goes on there is skewed. I honestly don’t believe that the public school system helps us to learn how to socialize. How many people leave high school with the ability to make friends and keep up friendships outside of school and/or work? I don’t know many. Home schoolers are not thrown in a room with their “peers” and told to socialize. They are not split up by age, sex, financial class, or race. They go to a park or a museum, or an activity, and they find kids that they like, that share interests with them. They make friends through having discussions, being out going, and being KIND.  Yes, it takes work, but as an adult, friendships take work as well. We also go to karate class, where they have many friends (one of which has a HUGE crush on Lyla, and she has a crush on him, too). They have neighborhood children that they play with on a regular basis, and they have each other. They will also be able to make friends online via their school, and in real life via school activities. They are plenty socialized. They are very good at socializing. Connor’s style of socializing is different from Lyla’s. He tends to favor observing and playing with other kids quietly. If he doesn’t like the games they are playing, he doesn’t argue or try to get them to do it his way, he just goes off and does his own thing. He reminds me of Carl!  :)

2. How can someone who is not a teacher, teach?

Um. Well,  in my opinion anyone can teach. IF they know the material (I am pretty sure I have, at the very least, k- 9th down. I am confident that I can learn anything I don’t have a firm grasp of) IF they can present the material in a way that the student can learn it, and IF they are receptive to feedback, either via questions, grades, or actual feedback. I know there are teachers that can’t do this, but remember they are teaching the masses. Home school parents, are not.

I tutored college students in how to write essays. I got paid to do it. I got offered a college TEACHING job, because someone in the room heard me tutoring and assumed I had my BS in English. I know how to teach.

Even if I didn’t know how to teach, there is NO ONE that knows my children better than me. I can read material and know exactly HOW I need to present it to my children for their individual learning styles. For example: Lyla loves a challenge, and is a kinetic learner. Connor shies away from a challenge, but he can’t resist a puzzle. He learns best through play, and visual aids. I taught Lyla to count to 10 by repetition and rhythm. She got it down in a day. I taught Connor how to count to 10 by giving him a dinosaur mask, and putting numbered dinosaur feet on the floor and letting him “dino stomp” to each number as he said it out loud. He got it down in a day. Two kids, two distinct learning styles. Two different lesson plans. I can do that, because I am their parent and I know them better than a teacher does. I also have the time and resources to do so. Teachers can’t do this. It isn’t their fault, it is the way the system is designed. 25 distinct learning styles, and 25 distinct lesson plans are NOT feasible for one person to do.

Let me get one thing straight. I love most teachers. I had fantastic teachers growing up. I was very lucky in the teachers that I had, and I am grateful to them. The ones I am talking about did the best they could while operating in the oppressing system they were forced to operate in. Yep. My problem with public schools? 95% of it is the system. NOT THE TEACHERS. So, teachers and people who love/work with/know teachers? My beef is not with you. I love my teachers. I miss some of my teachers, and I have NOTHING but the utmost respect for teachers.

As a home schooling parent:

• I have a curriculum. I can either buy one already made, or I can make one. I chose to make one the first year, and I am using one already made and provided by a charter school this year.
• I have a lesson plan
• I have a gradebook
• I have teaching aids
• I have a caring and nurturing community that I can look to for help

I am well prepared for my duties as a parent AND a teacher. I am not unsure about that in any way. As their parent I want them to learn EVERYTHING that they need to know in order to be well-functioning people in our society. I take my job of providing them with this information seriously.

3. Home school kids are sheltered

Hahahahaha… hold on… really? hahahahahaha. Okay.

Um, yeah, SOME home school children might be sheltered, but those are the same kids that would’ve been sheltered in public school as well.

In our house we have a policy of:  ”ask a question, get an answer”. This pertains to EVERYTHING and ANYTHING they ask. I will answer. I’d rather them get an honest opinion/correct answer from me, then possibly not get an honest/incorrect answer from another source.  Also, since our curriculum doesn’t have to pass through censors, parent groups, advocates, politicians etc. we can have a more rounded discussion of things like literature, sex ed, science, religion… etc etc. Learning is much more powerful when the information is 100% complete and from all sides. Being the person that I am, I embrace knowledge and think that having open discussions that aren’t hindered by what you might get in trouble for saying is VERY important.  I know very many parents that feel this way.

And for the reasons we choose to home school? Well, they are numerous. Flexibility is a big one. Not pushing a kid ahead in all things, when they excell in one and not holding them back in all things because they are struggling with one. Obviously, the ability to have the kids at a grade level that is appropriate to them is important to us.  Also, not having to deal with a BUSINESS and a bureaucracy that cares very little for the individual child and is more concerned with the bottom line and how the scores look. And most of all: These are MY children. There is not one person in this whole entire world that cares for them more than I do. I know what they need, and I will do anything it takes to get it for them. I can’t say that of a collection of strangers that see thousands of kids every year. It is my job to do whatever it takes to take care of them. If that means that it becomes my job to be their teacher?  Bring it on.

Everyone at work has multiple reasons for being there. While people need the job to provide a living wage, they want more. They want purpose. A purpose can be different things, like personal accomplishment, corporate success, selling better food, or providing critical medical care. People want to accomplish something that matters.

The organization takes care of its employees and they take care of it. This ends up feeling a lot like family, where we are in it together, need to help one another, and have the common good at heart.

There are many ways to build that family-like feeling in your organization. You build it by encouraging it, by the right attitude, and by the little things people interpret as family.

• Set up teams where workers participate in decision-making and responsibility for their outcomes. Workers should be a part of designing the success of the organization.
• Engage employees by soliciting their ideas and feedback.
• Foster a sense of group cohesion and togetherness through identity, shared mission, mutual dependence. Do this conceptually and through little things like company shirts, a logo, and community projects. Provide a shared meal for them once in a while.
• Make sure every supervisor listens to employee concerns. Make sure every supervisor discusses the employees’ needs.
• Provide opportunities for growth and development.
• Link organizational success to personal employee success. Acknowledge contributions to the organization.
• Encourage workers to get to know each other through informal and formal means.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate. Share plans, solicit input, be as open as possible.

Building a family-like atmosphere is not overly complicated. And there are many models and ideas in other organizations about how it can be done successfully. Mostly you have to decide that it is a valuable part of maximizing the satisfaction and productivity of your staff.

Tom DeMaio, PhD

HerschDeMaio.com

Didn’t that paint a happy scene in your head? Well, it doesn’t really happen like that in high school. There are smiles and friendly waves to old friends and familiar teachers, yes. But! Don’t forget the complaints about having to return to school “so soon”. The uncomfortable feelings of not knowing how you’re going to b.s. the summer reading essay, and how that girl gave you a dirty look on the bus. Oh yes! Let school begin. Let the hierarchy of cool students, not-so-cool students, and the just-don’t-care students begin. Let the stress and anxiety begin.

Just to be fair – with the start of school, some really wonderful things do happen. New friends are made, kids learn more (with those few really amazing teachers), and kids are given opportunity to learn social skills. See? I’m not completely cynical…

But, guess what? I’ve been given the opportunity to skip over all of that. Today, I began my first day of unschooling.

Unschooling Definition 1:

• (unschooled) lacking in schooling; “untaught people whose verbal skills are grossly deficient”; “an untutored genius”; “uneducated children”

Unschooling Definition 2:

• Unschooling is an informal method of education in which a child learns through his own experiences and follows a course of learning largely determined by his own interests.

I definitely mean the second definition when I say unschooling. It’s considered a legitimate branch of homeschooling. (For more information click here) I learn the things I need to know in ways that interest me. For example, everyday I’ll study music for two hours, read for 1.5 hours (and then write some sort of response to whatever book I read when I finish), write for one hour, study Spanish and prepare for the SAT for 30 min. each, and all around enjoy my freedom to learn other things as I am inspired.

It really is an interesting life. This definitely is a venture into the unknown, but that’s where you have to go in order to accomplish something truly great.

When we first put our new book, The People Side of Business, out for comment we had a colleague and good friend, Skip, complain about this notion. “I keep telling people in business that the workplace is NOT a family. It is about performance and the mission of the organization.” Well, we actually agreed. The workplace IS about performance and mission. But the best performance comes from people who feel secure in their jobs and where there is a family-like system of caring for employees.

People feel most comfortable in a work culture where they are in concert with the prevailing values. When they “believe” in what their organization stands for, they will contribute fully. When employees believe that the company wants the best for them (as well as the organization), they push themselves to meet goals.

There is just no escaping the fact that humans bring a family lens to groups in which they participate. They see peers as siblings and supervisors as parent figures. Employees want exacting sibling fairness (with rules, pay scales, and overall treatment), and complete support and encouragement from their supervisors (with fair evaluations, individual attention, and personal recognition).

One of the reasons that leaders can have such power is that we humans are wired to look for someone to give us direction. Leadership is not just about visionary acumen, but about people connection such that others will follow. It is our natural instinct to want, respect and appreciate parent figures.

Now, while there are great advantages to understanding family phenomena in the work environment, there are also easy mines to step on. In my coming posts I’ll discuss the implications of the family lens, ways to achieve the family-like atmosphere, and the great value in teaming.

Tom DeMaio, PhD

HerschDeMaio.com

1)Bad attitudes: “My boss is chronically annoyed.” This is how one employee described his boss. He assumed it was because work production was not up to par and he was worried that the blame would eventually be pinned on his tail.

2)Dangers in the physical environment: “They didn’t bother to contain the dust from the construction down the hall; they don’t care about our health.” A worker explained that despite her expressed concerns there was an unwillingness to make sure her area was safe. The episode left her assuming no one cared about her as a person.

3)Judgmental management: “My manager reminds me regularly that I am their difficult employee.” Struggling to improve and succeed, this person kept hearing judgments that effectively told her she would never succeed.

4)Dishonest or disingenuous behaviors: “These people asked for my feedback, but I saw Sally get in trouble when she complained.” All too often management says that things are open and that feedback is desired. Well, not always.

5)Lack of commitment to employee success. “They’ve let me know I am replaceable.” An employee complained about an unnecessary process. The answer she heard was that they could find someone who didn’t mind their processes. She’ll never contribute again.

6)Negativity about employees or others: “I heard my manager talking to another about how she disliked Sally.” From this employee’s point of view it could just as well be her next time the managers chose to be negative about someone. It left her uncomfortable. She even wondered if she should inform her friend Sally.

7)Preoccupation with rules or ways of acting unrelated to outcomes: “There are a bunch of stupid rules here about lunch times, dress, and behavior that have nothing to do with doing my job.” Sometimes management wants to control, thinking that the controls matter. Usually there is too much control.

8)Not appreciating success, because it is expected. “We’ve been pushing and pushing to get things done by the deadline. Will this ever end?” Especially when there is growth, too often more and more is expected. When it is not acknowledged people lose the willingness to continue pushing hard.

There are many ways to ruin the environment that makes it safe and secure for workers to operate at their best. Most of the time the problematic behavior is inadvertent. This can only be prevented by having a clear commitment and vision to creating a healthy, emotionally safe work environment.

Tom DeMaio, PhD

HerschDeMaio.com

Blanking used to be writing, but now it seems children do not need to know how to write. Indiana has become the latest school system to eliminate the mandatory teaching of cursive writing. Writing is a lost art. Simply look at the writing of your kids and you will surely weep, but the sad fact is why do they need to learn how to write? An educator in Florida recently said “Nowadays, parents would be pretty upset if we sent kids to handwriting camp.  Kids just don’t write letters now. They send e-mails or text messages. … A lot of those old ways are going away. How many bills do you pay by writing a check anymore?”* So my question is should children still be taught cursive or is it a waste of time?

*USA Today