Hello Universe!
I can't believe another school year is coming to an end. It went by fast but did have its challenges. This time of year I have found can be hard on students. Students are struggling with their emotions for some reason. I have noticed more kids frustrated and sad. My goal is to help kids know that there is more to life.
I am proud to say that I have created an awesome nonprofit organization to help kids with life skills. It's called Education 4 Kids and can be found at www.education4kids.org. With the funds raised, I hope to bring in programs to help kids learn how to deal with stress. I also want to concentrate on individualizing education. All kids have special needs and this should be acknowledged.
This past week my daughter had made suicide threats. She is a very empathic girl and doesn't seem to know how to deal with these emotions. After counseling and ongoing talks, we have found that she uses these threats to get people to care about her. She is not the only one out there. The kids of today are very sensitive beings. I don't mean that parents baby them or kids just don't know how to handle things like we did when we were young. I mean that God made them more sensitive to their surroundings. Many of these kids cannot handle loud noises. They can't handle crowds. They get overwhelmed or upset in chaos. These kids need to learn how to let go of this intense energy. Drugs are not the answer. When they become adults, they will continue to be the same and need to have tools to deal with life stresses.
By helping all kids learn to deal with harsh energies, they will perform better in school and in social environments. It is very important that parents see this. Sometimes the harder we push, the more detached they become. It's time to start understanding these kids.
Now that I am teaching all kinds of kids, I'm learning that there is more to education than just teaching the material in books. Kids need people to get them. They need to be able to express themselves. They need to know the purpose of education and how it will help them be successful in life. They also need to have tools to help them focus. It is very hard to do at the end of a school year. Kids are so glad it is almost over that their energy is oozing. My mission in life is to help all kids "get" it. I hope I can provide the encouragement they need to know that they have a special role to play in our world.
Here's to another great summer cultivating new ideas!!!
Take care,
Keri
Friday, May 15, 2015
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
More Challenges of Parenthood
Hello Universe,
I cannot believe it is already April. My kids only have 6 weeks of school left before we start our summer break. My kids always look forward to our summers together. We have road trips, fun summer camps, and see people we haven't seen in a while.
This time of year seems to be challenging for kids. I don't know if it has to do with spring or they are just tired of being pushed. I think I now understand where the term Spring Fever comes from.
Raising kids is very challenging. Not only do they depend on us, we expect a lot of from them. This can cause kids to lash out or be defiant. I think my son has finally hit his limit. He is a very challenging sensitive soul. He will not do things if he doesn't want to. Violence is not an option. He will take all punishment you give him. Sometimes this becomes exhausting as a parent.
I am currently taking a HeartMath course so that I can learn how to transform anger into positive emotions. Once I am an expert in this, I will teach my kids how to live through their hearts and then I will move on to other kids. I really could have used this technique last night when my son decides to flip out on his family. He was screaming at the top of his lungs. We encouraged him to continue this so he could get his frustrations out which only made things worse. When his brother no longer wanted to be around him, he got more upset. He threatened his brother to the point of peeing on his bed if he didn't return to their room. You heard me right....and when his brother did not return to his room he peed on his bed.
Talk about a challenging moment. I could have yelled and screamed but as you can tell nothing works with this kid. Normally, I would have him take a shower to wash all of those negative energies away but we were way beyond this. Anyways, I told my son that if he was going to act like a dog that we would treat him like one. We made him go into the garage for a time out that he thought would last all night. We kept him in there for 5 mins to show him that he cannot be part of this family and act this way. His brother was so upset with us that he wanted us to give him a second chance. After 5 mins which I'm sure felt like forever to him, we let go of the door. He came in calmly but then threatened to call the police. Once I told him what they would do, he finally gave up and went to bed.
This left us exhausted and frustrated. There is nothing in any parenting book that teaches you how to deal with your own child. Each soul is different. What works for one child will not work for another. I am continuously learning each day how to handle the frustrated souls of my children. God gave them to me for a reason and hopefully I can do my duty and get them to adulthood. All we can do is the best we can and hope the next day we can do a better job. I will not beat myself up over this but learn from it and hope that I can handle the next outburst in a better way.
To all the parents out there going through this every day....hang in there. We must do what we need to do to help get these sensitive souls get to adulthood.
Take care,
Keri
I cannot believe it is already April. My kids only have 6 weeks of school left before we start our summer break. My kids always look forward to our summers together. We have road trips, fun summer camps, and see people we haven't seen in a while.
This time of year seems to be challenging for kids. I don't know if it has to do with spring or they are just tired of being pushed. I think I now understand where the term Spring Fever comes from.
Raising kids is very challenging. Not only do they depend on us, we expect a lot of from them. This can cause kids to lash out or be defiant. I think my son has finally hit his limit. He is a very challenging sensitive soul. He will not do things if he doesn't want to. Violence is not an option. He will take all punishment you give him. Sometimes this becomes exhausting as a parent.
I am currently taking a HeartMath course so that I can learn how to transform anger into positive emotions. Once I am an expert in this, I will teach my kids how to live through their hearts and then I will move on to other kids. I really could have used this technique last night when my son decides to flip out on his family. He was screaming at the top of his lungs. We encouraged him to continue this so he could get his frustrations out which only made things worse. When his brother no longer wanted to be around him, he got more upset. He threatened his brother to the point of peeing on his bed if he didn't return to their room. You heard me right....and when his brother did not return to his room he peed on his bed.
Talk about a challenging moment. I could have yelled and screamed but as you can tell nothing works with this kid. Normally, I would have him take a shower to wash all of those negative energies away but we were way beyond this. Anyways, I told my son that if he was going to act like a dog that we would treat him like one. We made him go into the garage for a time out that he thought would last all night. We kept him in there for 5 mins to show him that he cannot be part of this family and act this way. His brother was so upset with us that he wanted us to give him a second chance. After 5 mins which I'm sure felt like forever to him, we let go of the door. He came in calmly but then threatened to call the police. Once I told him what they would do, he finally gave up and went to bed.
This left us exhausted and frustrated. There is nothing in any parenting book that teaches you how to deal with your own child. Each soul is different. What works for one child will not work for another. I am continuously learning each day how to handle the frustrated souls of my children. God gave them to me for a reason and hopefully I can do my duty and get them to adulthood. All we can do is the best we can and hope the next day we can do a better job. I will not beat myself up over this but learn from it and hope that I can handle the next outburst in a better way.
To all the parents out there going through this every day....hang in there. We must do what we need to do to help get these sensitive souls get to adulthood.
Take care,
Keri
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Standardized Testing
I must say that the month of February flew by this year. I was spending lots of time working with kids in the classroom and a lot of time at home with a bunch of snow. Now that it is March, I'm ready for the snow to melt and the spring to arrive.
One thing that has arrived this time of year is standardized testing. This is another area that has lots of debate. I'm going to give you my 2 cents on this after a long time contemplating the meaning of life. I find that standardized testing is a waste of time. I work with kids and teachers and even superintendents. I have yet to find anyone who believes it is a good idea. There are classroom tests that kids take to determine what level they are at in reading and math. The teachers are able to evaluate each individual student to find out if they need more help or more challenging projects.
I believe this is all we need in our schools. Each of us decides where we want to live. Based on where we live, there are lots of schools to choose from. We can send our kids to the local public school. We might be able to choose a special charter school or even an alternative learning program. There are other options such as parochial schools and boarding schools. It is up to us parents where we believe our children will thrive. Well, I hope parents consider this when sending their children to school.
As I have learned, not all schools fit all kids. My kids are in 3 different schools. One is a parochial school, one is a public school, and one is an alternative learning school. I have found that each of my kids learns in their own way and should be able to attend a school that will help them learn, grow and love.
Now back to standardized testing...this is also different based on schools and states. I believe there should be no standardized testing at all. There is no reason for this. People may argue that there is a need to compare my kid to a kid in another state. Why I say? It doesn't matter. This isn't a competition. Kids need to learn basic skill sets to succeed in life. It is up to the parents and teachers to make sure they get this. It doesn't matter what Johnny is doing in Hawaii because Johnny doesn't have to deal with snow delays and feeding the horses. Schooling depends on where you live and what you will do in life. Education should be determined at the local level. Each school district should adjust their curriculum based on the kids that attend that school. Each child should be able to learn that education in their own way. Traditional learning systems need to change. Our kids are growing up in a technology environment where they can search and learn anything they want online. We need to adjust for this in our classrooms.
In the meantime, we need to let our teachers teach our kids and the parents parent the kids. We do not need outside people telling us what our kids need to know in order to succeed in life. They don't know our kids. We do and it is up to us to guide them to be the best person they can be.
So stop stressing the kids out with unnecessary testing. They get enough of that on a day by day basis.
Until next time....
Take care,
Keri
One thing that has arrived this time of year is standardized testing. This is another area that has lots of debate. I'm going to give you my 2 cents on this after a long time contemplating the meaning of life. I find that standardized testing is a waste of time. I work with kids and teachers and even superintendents. I have yet to find anyone who believes it is a good idea. There are classroom tests that kids take to determine what level they are at in reading and math. The teachers are able to evaluate each individual student to find out if they need more help or more challenging projects.
I believe this is all we need in our schools. Each of us decides where we want to live. Based on where we live, there are lots of schools to choose from. We can send our kids to the local public school. We might be able to choose a special charter school or even an alternative learning program. There are other options such as parochial schools and boarding schools. It is up to us parents where we believe our children will thrive. Well, I hope parents consider this when sending their children to school.
As I have learned, not all schools fit all kids. My kids are in 3 different schools. One is a parochial school, one is a public school, and one is an alternative learning school. I have found that each of my kids learns in their own way and should be able to attend a school that will help them learn, grow and love.
Now back to standardized testing...this is also different based on schools and states. I believe there should be no standardized testing at all. There is no reason for this. People may argue that there is a need to compare my kid to a kid in another state. Why I say? It doesn't matter. This isn't a competition. Kids need to learn basic skill sets to succeed in life. It is up to the parents and teachers to make sure they get this. It doesn't matter what Johnny is doing in Hawaii because Johnny doesn't have to deal with snow delays and feeding the horses. Schooling depends on where you live and what you will do in life. Education should be determined at the local level. Each school district should adjust their curriculum based on the kids that attend that school. Each child should be able to learn that education in their own way. Traditional learning systems need to change. Our kids are growing up in a technology environment where they can search and learn anything they want online. We need to adjust for this in our classrooms.
In the meantime, we need to let our teachers teach our kids and the parents parent the kids. We do not need outside people telling us what our kids need to know in order to succeed in life. They don't know our kids. We do and it is up to us to guide them to be the best person they can be.
So stop stressing the kids out with unnecessary testing. They get enough of that on a day by day basis.
Until next time....
Take care,
Keri
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Alternative Education a Must
Wow, it sure has been a busy month! 2015 has started off with a bang. I have so many ideas flowing in my head, I have been busy trying to implement one at a time.
I have figured out my mission in life is to change education for all kids. There is so much technology and knowledge out there that we must rethink how we educate our kids. Everything that is in our textbooks can be found online now. Kids are bored in the traditional classroom. Parents should not have to pay just to get an alternative education because the current one is failing our kids.
The kids growing up in today's society are more sensitive to the energies around them. They are forced to sit in hard chairs and listen to someone talk at them. How is that helping them to grow, learn and love? Not all kids can sit and follow the rules. Not all teachers have the right tools to deal with the energetic kids of today. They decide to label them ADHD if they do not conform. First of all, everyone knows the human attention span is only 20 minutes so why would we think our kids could sit there for 45 minutes doing the same thing over and over.
Classrooms must be redesigned to allow energy to flow and for kids to feel and release energies that are not serving them. I'm determined to help parents, teachers and the kids to get this done. Kids need wisdom not knowledge. They need to learn about real life and to find out what their true gifts are. After that, we build on those gifts on an individual basis. People don't learn the same way, so why do we continue to force our kids to fit in a square when they are a flowing circle?
The point I'm trying to make is that we all need to open our eyes and our hearts. We need to see that our kids are our future. We are here to guide them to make this environment a better place. We are not here to dictate to them what they need to do. It is not a competition with other countries to see who is the smartest. Kids know in their hearts why they were sent here. We just need to start listening. I have listened and I am answering. I will change things for them so that they can grow into awesome adults and be everything they imagined they could be!! I hope you will join me.
Take care,
Keri
I have figured out my mission in life is to change education for all kids. There is so much technology and knowledge out there that we must rethink how we educate our kids. Everything that is in our textbooks can be found online now. Kids are bored in the traditional classroom. Parents should not have to pay just to get an alternative education because the current one is failing our kids.
The kids growing up in today's society are more sensitive to the energies around them. They are forced to sit in hard chairs and listen to someone talk at them. How is that helping them to grow, learn and love? Not all kids can sit and follow the rules. Not all teachers have the right tools to deal with the energetic kids of today. They decide to label them ADHD if they do not conform. First of all, everyone knows the human attention span is only 20 minutes so why would we think our kids could sit there for 45 minutes doing the same thing over and over.
Classrooms must be redesigned to allow energy to flow and for kids to feel and release energies that are not serving them. I'm determined to help parents, teachers and the kids to get this done. Kids need wisdom not knowledge. They need to learn about real life and to find out what their true gifts are. After that, we build on those gifts on an individual basis. People don't learn the same way, so why do we continue to force our kids to fit in a square when they are a flowing circle?
The point I'm trying to make is that we all need to open our eyes and our hearts. We need to see that our kids are our future. We are here to guide them to make this environment a better place. We are not here to dictate to them what they need to do. It is not a competition with other countries to see who is the smartest. Kids know in their hearts why they were sent here. We just need to start listening. I have listened and I am answering. I will change things for them so that they can grow into awesome adults and be everything they imagined they could be!! I hope you will join me.
Take care,
Keri
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)