EDUCATION MATTERS—SANFORD SCHOOL'S PRIVATE SCHOOL BLOG

As children get older, it’s important to help them healthy eating habits. Whether packing lunch, grabbing a snack after school, or ordering dinner in a restaurant, there are many opportunities for kids to control what goes into their bodies. Here are five tips to help you teach your child how to make nutritious choices.

Every year, students excitedly wait for the arrival of summer, a time when they get to escape the routine of school and try something new. Though the anticipation of summertime freedom can be exciting, often, when summer arrives, kids get tired of having nothing to do and bored with the lack of routine. A great way to get out of a summertime rut is to plan day outings for the whole family. Here are seven fun things for you and your family to do this summer in Delaware.

Elementary school is the perfect age to teach coding. Learning to code is fun, empowering, and provides essential 21st century skills. According to the US Department of Commerce, within the last ten years STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) employment opportunities have grown by 24.4% vs. only 4% in non-STEM fields, and STEM-focused employees make an average of 29% more than non-STEM workers. It is important that we provide our children with the computer science skills necessary to be successful.

The schedule says “language arts,” but, at first glance, you might think the fourth-grade class looks more like they’re having recess than writing. Students are scattered around the room and spilling into the hallway, happily chatting in pairs, drawing pictures, sticking and re-sticking multi-colored Post-Its on bright yellow paper, or laughing uproariously at a story being told by a teacher. But, believe it or not, this is what writing looks like in our classes! This past summer we traveled all the way to Barcelona, Spain and joined nearly 200 other teachers from all over the world at a summer writing institute created by Columbia University’s Teachers College Reading & Writing Project. The week-long training introduced us to new ways to think about, talk about, and teach about writing, and our classes at Sanford School haven’t been the same since. Now when we approach writing lessons we think about how we’ll support the three different types of communication that we want to see happening throughout the class: teacher-to-student, student-to-student, and student-to-self.

Parent-teacher conferences have been a staple of communication between home and school for many decades, and certainly, there is value in maintaining those important traditional conversations, which often take place without the student being present. This communication is a key to student success. However, the paradigm is shifting, and the age-old process has changed in many schools, as the students are frequently not only attending the conference but actually leading it. Monica Martinez, a senior scholar for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and co-author of a book that addresses school approaches that facilitate deeper learning, queried, “How many of us, as students, appreciated being talked about in the third person as if we were invisible?”

Student Led Conferences (SLC's) are not new by any standard, but they are gaining momentum and popularity, not because they are a “trend,” but because they encourage and empower students from the elementary level through high school to take responsibility for their learning in a way that might not have happened previously. The format for an SLC can vary widely, from the use of a questionnaire, sharing a portfolio, or highlighting a strength and area of growth in every subject, but the common denominator requires that the student communicates to the parents WHAT s/he is doing in school and WHY.

Personalized learning is when the planning, teaching, and assessment focus on the individual needs and interests of each student. It provides an education that includes differentiation and individualization, tools which support student success.

Schools provide opportunities for all students to participate in interscholastic, competitive athletics throughout the school year. The start of a new sports season is an exciting time, as our player's transition from one sport to another. With all of this excitement and the abrupt downtime of a break, early season injuries can be very common. However, by pacing one’s self and properly preparing the body, any athlete can take the initiative to ensure that they will start their season on the right foot.

Beat the winter blues by getting high…naturally!

Sanford is looking forward to welcoming Dr. Matt Bellace to campus February 28th. Dr. Bellace is a psychologist, comedian, and passionate public speaker who has been involved in youth drug and alcohol prevention for many years. In his book, A Better High, he shares the acronym L.E.A.D., which lists four ways to focus on achieving a natural high. Today, we’re taking his LEAD to share our thoughts on natural highs.

“Transform a wish into a goal by putting a date on it.” Peter Turla

Managing time is a universal issue; certainly, it is not confined exclusively to students. However, school provides the perfect place, along with limitless opportunities, for young people to begin to form habits to effectively use their available “free” time that will assist them throughout their lives.

The holiday break is finally here, giving our students time off from school to enjoy being home with family and friends. While breaks are intended to be a time for rest, they are also often a time of get-togethers that extend past bedtime, long car rides to visit relatives, and second (maybe third) helpings of holiday treats. As we interrupt our normal school and work schedules for a few weeks, it is important to pay attention to healthy routines for our bodies and our minds.