Best Education Possible: How to Get the Best Education Possible for Your Child

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Inequity in American Education of the Poor: Part 3

To ensure students are mastering the skills necessary to be college or career ready, measuring of academic success materialized. However, most racial and ethnic subgroups of children have improved their scores over time, performed better on mathematics, reading and science measures. Nevertheless, the achievement gap causes critic to blame the public education for failing to teach the poor students. For every critic pointing out the failures of the system, there’s a success story to be told that outlines the progress public education has made.

The U.S. Department of Education released a report in December 2011, documenting that school districts across our country are unevenly distributing their state and local funds, shortchanging schools that serve low-income students. The report reveals for the first time the extent of inequity in our nation’s per-pupil expenditures from state and local sources among the schools within a school district.

Weber was an early researcher to the literature school inequity. In his 1971 study of four effective inner-city schools, Weber focused on reading achievement that was clearly successful for poor children on the basis of national norms. All four schools had strong leadership and the principal was instrumental in setting the tone of the school; helped decide on instructional strategies; and organizing and distributing the school's resources. All four schools had "high expectations" for all students. All four schools had an orderly, relatively quiet, and pleasant atmosphere. All four schools strongly emphasized pupil acquisition of reading skills and reinforced that emphasis by careful and frequent evaluation of pupil progress.

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Inequity in American Education of the Poor: Part 2

High academic expectations for all students that are measurable and attainable are imperative in order to close the inequity gap in American public education. It all begins with our failure to have high expectations for the children of the poor. This simply requires that an effective school bring the children of the poor to minimal mastery of basic skills. Focus must be on student learning with a combination of discipline, intensity, concentration, and commitment. Research proves that our public schools know the methods and technics in order to successfully educate all children. An average student who attended “high rigor instruction schools” would learn about 78% more mathematics between grades 8-12 than comparable students in a “low rigor instruction school. We must stop throwing money or funding at the problem, and strategically educate these students with research based methods and rigor.

Despite several decades of reform, public schools in America are criticized by some as not teaching all children effectively. Consistently poor test results and low graduation rates prove the critics right. It takes a village to raise a child, but the same village must share accountability when many of their children are not learning in the public educational systems, especially the poor. Districts with higher poverty rates have fewer highly educated, experienced teachers and less stable teaching staff. These schools need highly trained and most effective teachers in their classroom. Highly effective teachers show passion, respect, caring attitude, fairness, skilled communication, creativity, sound knowledge of content, and have a positive impact on the lives of students, parents, and colleagues. Schools of underprivileged students must have educators with these traits.

Inequity in American Education of the Poor: Part 1

Public schools that teach poor children successfully must have strong leadership, an environment of high expectations that all children can learn, highly qualified teachers, and active parental awareness and support. Progress of society must be measured by our willingness to develop the least among us. Evolution necessitates public policy that begins by making the poor more educated and less underprivileged. This means the standard of education to public schools must be equitable and teaching poor children at least as well as middle-class children. This certainly is not happening in most schools for the poor in America.

Being a strong instructional leader is the challenge for principals in schools today, but even more challenging in schools with high poverty residents. Academic and social success is too complex for a principal to achieve alone. There must be a leadership team that works together to develop a vision and goals that are achievable. On the other hand, without strong instructional leadership at the helm to both create and manage the vision, teachers are not likely to form committees to improve the school. The principal must set high expectations, develop teacher leaders, and maintain a positive attitude toward students, staff, and parents. This is not always easy when you are dealing with an at-risk population.

9. Easy Reader

Cut down on storytime expenses and trips to the library with OverDrive media Console. The app lets you "borrow" e-books froma a selection of public and school libraries.

10. Nifty Note Taker

Evernote offers quick ways to manage your growing to-do lists: Record a voice note on the o for your partner or type up some tasks for your kids. Everyone has access to the notes on any of your family's devices.

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School Apps for Mom: Part 4

According to an article in the September 2012 issue of Parent magazine, your smartphone or tablet can turn into a command center with everything you need to plan, prep, and navigate your kid's year. The best part is these great apps fro Apple and Android devices are all free. Below are 7 and 8 of 10.

7. Team Player
For less stressful soccer games and basketball practices, the app allows you to organize your children's busy schedules, contacts for the players' parnts, stats, and other import info.

8. Class Aide
Designed for older students. inClass is great for parents who want to stay on top of all of their kid's assignments, due dates, and the other things that take up the school year. (Apple only)

School Apps for Mom: Part 3

5. Savvy Shopper

Save time and money on back-to-school shopping with RedLaser. Simply scan the item's bar code ad it compares online and in-store prices to locate the best deals

6. Student Tracker

If you're nervous about your kid taking the bus, get Life360 Family Locator. Register his cell (it doesn't have to be a smartphone), and this app will find him on the map. It also has a panic button.

School Apps for Mom: Part 2

3. Brain Booster

Kinder Town's team of parents and educators picks educational apps by age and subject so you don't have to. (Apple only)

4. Virtual Assistant

The Cozi Family Organizer will keep your clan on the same page with reminders for homework or doctor's appointments sent out from the shared calendar.

School Apps For Mom: Part 1

1. Digital Tutor

Need a refresher course in math, English, and other subjects? School A to Z helps you answer your student's homework head-scratchers and gives project suggestions on a variety of topics.

2. Kitchen Helper

Whether you're looking for lunch ideas or something you can whip up fast, allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner can help with its more than 40,000 options.

Come back tomorrow for 2 more tips for School Apps for Mom.

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Get Organized!

With schools in some parts of the country well into the routine, while others are about to start, handling the daily onslaught of kids' permission slips, bills and junk mail can be a full-time job. To keep track of your family's incoming and outgoing messages and mail, set up a "communication station" in a convenient location (like the mudroom or kitchen). A wall-mounted magazine rack gives each family member a slot for their papers, while a "look here: calendar is for quick references. Flyers, invites, and such stay in view on a bulletin board.

Below are 3 ideas that can help keep you organized during the busy school months according to an article in the September 2010 issue of Good Housekeeping.

1. Sort Smart. Stop mail clutter at the door in a tiered bin with three sections. IN, OUT, READ. The IN slot is for mail that needs to be dealt with fairly soon (bills, paperwork, etc. that should be addressed weekly); OUT is for outgoing mail; READ is for materials to peruse later (magazines, coupon books, and so on, to be purged monthly).

2. Make Notes. A sticky note on the door is the perfect can't-miss-it reminder. Tuck the notepad and pen in a bin (near your station) meant for holding outgoing items, like those library books that are due tomorrow.

3. Pen It In. A color-coded calendar (with a different color for each person) will keep the family on schedule. But don't write everything here, save personal activities for your own datebook. Just jot down events that involve multiple family members (things that require a driver etc.). Purge your bulletin board of no-longer-needed papers when you change the calendar page.

I truly hope everyone has a good working relationship with their children's school this year, 2012-2012. Make it a priority to get involved and stay informed. Your children need you to be a positive partner in their education and the school needs your participation and support. Most school districts are operating on limited or less funding, so any assistance you can give, I know will be appreciated.

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Tip 83: If Your Child Is Sick, Keep Him Home

A child who is ill has no business at school. That brings us to tip #83.

Tip 83: If your child is sick, keep him home.

There is nothing more frustrating for a teacher then a sick child at school. Children will come directly from their car to the teacher saying, "I told my mom I wasn't feeling well, and she said to go to the nurse if I don't feel better". If your child has a fever, headache, or diarrhea do not send them to school. This is how the flu and other viruses are spread throughout a school building. Make sure you have alternative arrangements if your child gets sick. It is not fair to the teacher and other students to be around a sick child all day and it's really not fair to your child. Be sure that a child is fever free without medication for 24 hours before sending them back to school. It is common curiosity for everyone involved.

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Tip 82: Respect School Hours

It is not unusual for a few kids to be habitually late for school almost every day and other kids that are picked up 15 minutes or so early. That brings us to tip #82.

Tip #82: Respect school hours.

Parents may think that being a few minutes late in the morning isn't important, but this is when the teacher is establishing morning routines and giving announcements. When a child comes in late they miss out on assignments that are not easily made-up. On the other hand, when parents want to beat the crowd and check their child out a few minutes early every day, their child misses out on reminders and last minute annoucements. Being 15 minutes late or leaving 15 minutes early may not seem like a lot of time, but teachers have less than seven hours to fit in a whole lot of learning of the school day and every minute counts and these minutes add up throughout the year. It also gives your child the idea that time is not important.

Tip 81: Watch Your Words

Children are always listening to what we say and how we react to situations. They learn from our actions. That brings us to tip # 81.

Tip #81: Watch your words

Whenever you are talking about school or your child's teacher, try and refrain from saying negative things in front of them. In many cases school was not a positive experience for the parent, so they think and speak about the school and teachers in ways that will make the child think and act negative at school. Try to be positive in front of the child and deal as positively with the teachers and administration, so there can be a partnership between the two to help your child have a good school year. Usually if a parent is calm and positive the school will do whatever they can to help.

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Tip #80: Encourage Writing At Home

Research shows that the entire brain is working when we are writing. Only part of the brain is active when reading or listening, but the entire brain is active when writing. That brings us to tip #80.

Tip # 80: Encourage writing at home.

Never limit your child's writing to school assignments and essays. Have your child write out birthday invitations, thank-you notes, and keeping a daily journal. Encourage your child to get a pen pal or compose monthly letters to grandparent, relatives, or friends. All these examples will boost their writing ability and make their brain totally active!

Encourage Your Child To Think

Curiosity is the key to student success now and in the future. Kids are naturally curious. Set them loose in a room full of craft supplies or a muddy sandbox, and you'll see their imaginations come to life. The following ideas are how to nurture curiosity for the beginning according to Todd Kashdan, author of Curious? Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life and clinical psychologist and professor psychology at George Mason University. The following are 6 ideas on how to nurture curiosity in the classroom according to an article in Instructor magazine 2010: Although this article was intended for educators, parents can take the same information for nurturing their own children.

1. Cue into students' interest. To enhance a student's curiosity, you must build activities around his/her interest, preferences, and sense of challenge. Focusing on rules, obedience, and inflexibility interferes with curiosity.

2. Satisfy that feeling of competence. Sparking curiosity take more than pointing out that something or someone is interesting, complex, or mysterious. After something new grabs their attention, students need to feel competent and understand it. That can make all the difference in whether they act on their curiosity or find something else to do.

3. Accept the negative and uncertain. Embrace uncertainty. By acting on their curiosity, students can explore this tension instead of trying to hide their feelings. As a result, they become better problem solvers and show a greater willingness to change, even if it requires a great deal of effort.

4. Knowledge opens kids' eyes. If you want students to be curious, help them accumulate knowledge. The more they know, the more they'll want to know.

5. Find the unfamiliar in the familiar. If you think you are an expert, you ma stop paying attention and curiosity can disappear. When you think you basically understand everything about your students' personalities, you start relying heavily on old scripts and categories.

6. Remember that things change. You learn to be curious when you recognize that there are few absolute answers in life. Flexible thinking leads to flexible people. Move away from black-and-white thinking to a greater appreciation of the beautiful gray area between.

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The Difficult Parent At School

I think it is extremely important for parents to realize that a teacher has the responsibility for satisfying many other students and parents besides yourself. You should be willing to forgive if your child's teacher makes a mistake or fails to devote full attention to your specific issue. Make sure you are being reasonable in every situation you address.

If you are constantly are confronting your child's teacher with questions about minor issues and request conferences, the teacher will quickly feel annoyed, and become increasingly evasive. Never storm into a meeting angry and ready for an argument. Calm yourself down and make sure you are ready to listen and evaluation the entire situation. According to Stacy DeBroff, author of " The Mom Book Goes To School", here are the things that make a parent difficult for a school setting.

1. Complainer: This is parents frequently calling the teacher or drops in on the classroom to gripe about minor details.

2. Confrontational: This parent constantly pesters the teacher and is unwilling to list to feed back and suggestions.

3. Meddler: This parent typically micromanages every detail of their child's education and personal life.

4. Needy: This parent is on whose hand the teacher has to hold thought every step of the child's education

5. Nowhere-to-be-found: This parent is almost impossible to track down and is never available when teachers need to meet.

6. Overreacting: This parent's first instinct is to barge into the school highly agitated, emotional and irrational.

7. Overachiever: This parent lives vicariously through the high standards they set for the child and the success that child achieves.

Work very hard not to be one of the personalities above. You will get better results from your child's teacher and working together will help your child get the "Best Education Possible".

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Information on Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a reading disorder that persists despite good schooling and the child usually has normal or above average intelligence. It's a handicap that affects up to 1 in 5 school children. Yet, the exact cause and nature of the problem has eluded doctors, teachers, and parents. Dyslexia was first described more than a century ago. The mystery and some of the stigma may finally be lifted. Researchers have found that it it not brain damage, but that a growing number of scientific evidence suggest there is a glitch in the neurological wiring of dyslexics that make reading extremely difficult. The most successful programs focus on strengthening the brain's aptitude for linking letters to the sounds they represent. The good news is dyslexia didn't stop very famous men and women from achieving greatness. In some cases it may have fueled their creativity. If you suspect your child has dyslexia, according to Christine Gorman, it is never too early to do something about it. Here are a few of her suggestions:

1. Get Tested (The International Dyslexia Association can help) (800-ABC-D123)

2. Monitor Progress - If the IEP goals aren't being met, you may want to get private instruction.

3. Create an IEP - Special Education should provide a special program with specific goals

4. Boost Strength - Don't let your child be defined by his or her dyslexia. These children need to be encouraged.

5. Get at Home Help - Computer based reading programs have shown great promise in helping children read.

6.Educate Yourself - You need information to be your child's chief advocate.

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Be On Time For School!

It is extremely important for your child to be on time for school every morning. The morning route will prepare your child for the day and settle them down for the morning lessons. In order to be on time in the morning do as much as possible the night before. According to, "The Mom Book Goes to School", there are somethings you can do to decrease stress on school mornings:

1. Load the car with the items you and your child need for work or school.

2. Place coats, bags, lunch boxes by the door, so you can grab them easily.

3. Design a shelf, basket, or area in which family members can place items.

4. Check the calendar in case your child needs sneakers for gym or a snack for a field trip.

5. Have your child pick out the clothes to wear the night before or lay out two outfits to choose between .

6. Set clocks ahead by ten minutes to help you stay on time in the morning.

7. Keep breakfast simple. Make hot breakfast items like, pancakes, French toast, and bacon ahead of time and reheat them. Keep muffins, fruit, or granola bars if you are running late.

8. Keep child-sized cups of milk and juice in the refrigerator so your child can get it.

9. If you are a coffee drinker, prepare you coffeemaker and set out mug, cream, and sugar.

10. Make getting dress a game or contest. Who can get completely dress first.

11. Mount an outdoor thermometer where your child child can easily see it, and teach your child how to read it and dress appropriately.

12.Banish TV in the morning to avoid wasting time.

Happy Labor Day!

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Best Education Possible, LLC wants to wish everyone a Happy Labor Day! Enjoy this holiday with family and friends and try to relax. After all that's what Labor Day is all about. Now that the 2012-2013 school has begun for most schools, please remember to make sure every child in your reach receives the Best Education Possible.

Yours in Education,

Debra West

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Activity: Is This School Right for My Child?

Written by Staff from momshomeroom.msn.com

Before you visit a school, print out this sheet so you know what to look for and what to ask about.

Observe:

1. The principal. A principal should be available to hear parents' concerns. Does she know the children, staff and even some parents by name?

2. Teachers. Small class size is a nice benefit, but having a talented teacher may be even more important, so look for:

- Group learning

- Differentiated curriculums

- How the teacher handles different students' learning styles

- Hands-on activities

3. Parents. Successful schools welcome parental involvement — not only with the obvious volunteer duties, but with strategic and long-term planning activities, like the work of the Student Advisory Council (SAC), which helps develop and evaluate school improvement plans.

4. Diversity. Children learn about different beliefs, attitudes and traditions from other children. Look for:

- Multicultural awareness in the classroom

- Teachers from various cultural backgrounds

5. High expectations. Not everyone is zoned for a top-tier school, so it's important to know what's being done to make the school better. Ask:

- What happens when a child falls behind? Is there tutoring?

- What do you do with students who excel? Do they have access to above-grade-level materials?

What you can do to improve your existing school:

1. Befriend your child's teacher. Know him and offer to assist with class projects, field trips and preparing class materials.

2. Join a parent-teacher organization. PTOs and PTAs not only raise money, they also harness community resources that can change struggling schools into thriving ones.

3. Attend school board meetings. School boards steer policy, so having input here can make a huge difference.

4. Be a solution. Always address concerns with an open mind and an eye toward helping to solve problems.

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RESPONSIBILITY

We all have things we are responsible for, and a student is responsible for always being prepared for class. This means having all the materials, tools, and mindset for learning.

The basic materials and tools that a student is responsible for are, books, pencils, pens, paper, or whatever the teacher may request for a particular class or project. Failure to have the basic materials could create time wasted and failure to complete assignments, which could hampers learning. This is what is called physical preparedness.

Once a student is in class they must be mentally ready to receive the information a teacher is trying to relay to them. If a teacher is prepared to teach and a student is ready learn the stars will align and the mission will be complete. This means the student must be focused by giving the teacher their undivided attention. This is called mental preparedness.

Make sure your child is well aware of "his/her responsibility" as a student. It will make the school experience more successful, rewarding, and happy. To learn more about getting involved in your child's education just order my book, "A Parent's Handbook: How to Get the Best Education Possible for Your Child K-6 Grade." You can order my book at www.besteducationpossible.com or www.amazon.com .

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Best Education Possible