Struggling student? Maybe he’s sleepy!

Researcher: Daniel Willingham, University of Virginia

Question: “If you could magically make parents do ONE thing this coming school year to support their child, what would it be?”

Answer: Sleep!

Why?: The consequences of sleep deprivation can be harsh: depression, anxiety, inattention, conduct problems, drug and alcohol abuse and impaired cognitive functioning. Sleep deprivation also affects emotional regulation; a mother can tell when her child is tired just by how easily she gets irritated.

Read more!

Successful Living Abroad: Global Lecture Series

Check out our new favorite site!

‘Successful Living Abroad,’ an 18-part on-line global lecture series based on the expatriate family book series by ExpatExpert. It’s FREE and devotes most segments to Raising Global Nomads.

About the author:

“As the Expat Expert, Robin Pascoe is well known abroad for her inspirational and informative articles, corporate presentations, and best-selling books. She is the author of five widely-used books on global living. Since 1998, her popular website has served as an international meeting place, discussion group, and source of advice and information for hundreds of thousands of expats world-wide.”

Congratulations Robin!

Families on the Move: Challenges and Opportunities

Liz Perelstein recently published Families on the Move: Challenges and Opportunities (pg 42), in Mobility Magazine.

The personal tale of the heartache and immense growth due to a relocation is a must-read for any family considering international relocation!

Here’s a snippet ~

“You know what personal trainers say: “no pain, no gain.” Now a member of the “global mobility” world, I am almost embarrassed that my only overseas assignment was 12 years ago in a Western, English-speaking location—London—and for a predictable three years. But for me and for my family, even that relatively sheltered adventure provided an abundance of pain, out of which came infinitely more gain.”

Going Local… in India

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This American family sent their daughter to a local school in India… hear more about their experiences, including some very funny stories!

See a previous post on the same family.

Relocating with Children: When Divorce Enters the Equation

By Liz Perelstein, President of School Choice International

Excerpt from ExpatExchange.com

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Over the past few years I have been asked to provide expert testimony concerning education and relocation. These cases have been associated with two scenarios:

• a potential move in a family where parents had divorced or were divorcing, or,
• where parents have separated while on assignment and the custodial parent wants to move home while the working parent remains abroad.

As society has become more peripatetic, this issue is bound to arise increasingly. The five-year legal battle of David Goldman to gain custody of his son Sean was highly publicized because it was identified as an important precedent in custody battles during the current era of mobility. As the relocation of separated families has become more common, states within the United States have enacted legislation that addresses the issues inevitably raised. These laws vary considerably by state. Parental consent may be required so that when the non-custodial parent does not consent, the issue may be decided by the legal system. Intrastate moves are allowed more frequently than interstate moves which suggests that proximity and ongoing contact is considered crucial.

I have not found articles that deal specifically with legal considerations in international relocation for divided families; however, there have been a few studies (despite small sample sizes) that support the belief that ability to successfully maintain relationships with both parents is significant to a child’s well being (Journal of Family Psychology, 2003). Accordingly, legal requirements for international relocations most likely would be more stringent than those for domestic transfers because of the obvious fact that distance affects the ability to maintain relationships with both parents.

Families need to think about:

• the child’s age;
• how important the move is to the parent;
• whether there are pros as well as cons for the child;
• can parents keep conflict away from the child and his/her education;
• how the child can maintain a relationship with both parents;
• and what is the child’s personality like, in particular, does the child adapt easily to change?

Companies that relocate divorced parents have to consider:

• the child’s age
• legal implications,
• timing in view of these legal issues,
• cost and emotional impact on the employee as well as child.

Study Tip: Dream!

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Dreaming can help you memorize what you’ve learned.

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The researchers, Dr. Robert Stickgold and Dr. Erin Wamsley of Harvard Medical School, asked participants to remember a 3D computer maze, which they would have to navigate later. After, some were asked to nap. Those who napped, AND remembered dreaming, also performed better at the maze navigation task.

According to the authors, dreaming may signal that the brain processes the same task on many levels.

What does this mean for students?

Students might consider studying right before bedtime, or napping after a study session.

Find the whole article here!

Boycotting Standardized Tests

Recently about 1,900 schools in England

boycotted the Sats.

What are the Sats?

They are NOT the American college admission exams called SATS.

The Sats are national assessments taken by 7, 11 and 14 year olds. Basically they test reading, writing and math in 4 exams that last less than an hour each.

The exams are sent to external markers who grade the papers. The results also form School League Tables, which allow schools to be compared.

What is the controversy?

The Pros

Parents like the Sats because it allows them to compare schools and as well as keep tabs on their child’s performance.

The government likes the “factual statistics,” which allows some transparency on schools’ effectiveness.

The Cons

Teachers and staff feel they have to “teach to the test,” rather than creating the best curriculum for their child.

Pupils face immense pressure to perform well on test day.

There are also concerns about the fairness of the marking.

How does School Choice International weigh in?

It is hard to ignore the multitude of studies on the (extreme!) inefficacy of standardized tests in predicting future academic performance. Standardized tests have also long been criticized for gender, culture and class bias.

“Longstanding gaps in scores between males and females of all races show that females on average score 35-40 points lower than males on the SAT I, but receive better high school and college grades.” www.fairtest.org

Regardless, at School Choice International, we believe strongly in best fit when we place a child in a school. Some students might thrive in a highly competitive environment, while others may find it stifling and have high levels of intrinsic motivation. Tests like the Sats tend to create excitement around schools that score well, but not excellent schools that cultivate well-rounded students.

How do YOU weigh in?

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Read the full BBC article.

“America’s Best” ~ Another Perspective

By Liz Perelstein

President,  School Choice International

The article entitled “America’s Best Prep Schools” that appeared in Forbes (April 30)  hurts kids.  The article relies on the flawed assumption that the best school for one child will suit another.  Anyone who understands children or child development is aware that not every child thrives in the same academic environment. Despite this obvious reality, impressionable but well intentioned parent readers of this article will feel, more than ever, that their child is being shortchanged by receiving inferior education.  Parents today already use every tool in their arsenal to “get their children in” to the schools that someone has identified as the “top” or the “best.”  The sad result has been revealed to me in countless conversations with private school admissions officers and psychologists: “getting in” isn’t enough. These are the children who fail, get counseled out or inevitably suffer low self-esteem when even daily tutoring can’t help them succeed in an incompatible environment. Is it responsible to foster the prep school frenzy – at the expense of children – by simplistically elevating a handful of prep-schools while effectively diminishing all others?

Moreover, using university admissions as the major criterion for rating schools is imperfect, at best.  While there is little doubt that small classes, individualized attention and access to faculty provide students with unparalleled opportunities, are these the key to Ivy League pipeline that these schools enjoy?  Might the large endowments boasted by this “top 20” (ironically another, and self-reinforcing, criterion for rating the schools) suggest that these prep school parents may be disproportionately represented among alumni and major contributors to these universities, a known factor in college admissions?

Parents need to learn to ask the right questions to assess whether these schools are right for their children.

Unfortunately, parents and students take these lists very literally; they reinforce the natural insecurity in human nature and encourage those seeking prep schools to focus exclusively on the name brand. Do children need – or even benefit from – country club like campuses?  Should parents be looking at access to facilities rather than facilities per se?  Who gets to play on the 15 tennis courts or the eight lane competition swimming pool or the golf course?  Will their child have that opportunity?  Do these schools use their lavish facilities to teach sportsmanship or to win?  Is the risk-taking behavior and self-confidence encouraged by favorable teacher/student ratios undercut by the exclusivity and competitive spirit that mark some of these schools?  Parents need to learn to ask the right questions to assess whether these schools are right for their children. Forbes has successfully promoted its magazine through this article.  Can it use its prominence to promote kids?

Snow Days

You may or may not have heard that we are getting hammered with the snowstorm in the Northeast today. My son’s school, Georgetown University in Washington, DC, has been closed since Saturday; unheard of! Anyway, all these blizzard conditions have allowed me to reflect back on various snow days in my children’s school life. While snow days are a child’s best friend, it can be a real hassle for the parents; either the working mother who needs to find alternative child care options or the stay-at-home mom who has to figure out how to keep the kids busy. My personal experience with snow days also brings back memories that at this point, I can only laugh about it, while at the time it was definitely not funny.

Before schools had great websites and mothers were comfortable with the internet, the way we were notified that school was closed was through what was called the “phone chains”. The superintendent or head of the school would decide very early in the morning whether or not it was necessary to close school for the day. They would make a call to the first mother, which was would then start a phone chain where all the families would get notified by a phone call. As a head class mother, I would get one of the first calls which was very early in the morning. It was always interesting to get that call at 5:30 am to be told that you can sleep extra late because no one has to get up to get the school. Anyway, I remember getting that call one year at maybe 5:45 in the morning. I was still very asleep, but I had my list of mothers that I had to call right next to the phone. So I made those calls and went back to sleep. The problem was that I had children at two different schools, and I had called the wrong list of parents.

So I had mothers who were trying to get their kids to a school that had been closed and then I had a whole group of kids that never showed up for school that day. I realized my major mistake when I got the call from the school about where was my son and I realized what I had done. I had to apologize to all the mothers who fought to get their kids to a school that was closed (because they never got “the” call)  and then had to call the other mothers at the other school and tell them that they had to hurry and get their kids to school. Needless to say, I was not made a class mother the next year and I love the school website that now posts these types of announcements and has allowed schools to get rid of the phone chains.

Another time, the kids had gone to school and the snow started to really come down. So all of the parents were notified that school was closing early and we had to come get the kids at school. I was already out and volunteered to get a group of the neighborhood kids. I rounded up the first girl who was the oldest of the group. She was very quiet and easy to attend with. I then got the other kids who were younger and much harder to get moving in the right direction. As the snow was really coming down at this point, I was concentrating on getting everybody to the van safely. It’s that time when you think a sheep dog would really be a big help in rounding them in the right direction.

Anyway, I cleaned off the car as best as I could and yelled at all the kids to put on their seat belts, be quiet and let’s get home. As I turned down the street to take the oldest girl home, (the one who was the first one I had gotten from the principal’ office, the one who was very quiet, but always very cooperative), one of the other kids in the car said, “Why are we going this way?” And I said, “I am taking Nicole home first”. At that point, they pointed out to me that Nicole who always sat in the seat behind the driver’s seat was not in the car. In all the commotion of getting the others to the car, I had left her at school. Needless to say her mother said, “Don’t worry. I think I’ll take it from here.”

Anyway let us know your snow day stories. Also, what is the equivalent of a snow day for kids who go to school in a warm climate? Have fun, stay warm and be safe!

A New Role for Boarding Schools

In the last decade, the role of boarding schools in America has been in transition.  Schools that began as  finishing schools for children of wealthy American families have become a vehicle for opportunity as enrollment of Asian students, in particular, has grown.  Now considered a conduit for overseas students interested in American universities, boarding school attendance in the USA during secondary school years ensures that students become proficient in English and possess the academic requirements to attend American colleges and universities.   Currently the percentage of international students in American boarding schools exceeds 15%, with numbers from South Korea, China and India significantly on the rise. 

For further information on attending boarding school in the United States from abroad, contact info@schoolchoiceintl.com.