Kids Need Play and Recess – Their Mental Health May Depend on It

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Today’s guest post is written by Michael J. Hynes, E.D., Superintendent of Schools for the Patchogue-Medford School District (Long Island, NY). 

As superintendents, principals and teachers plan for the upcoming school year, one thing is certain: We are serving a generation of children who are more anxious, depressed and suicidal than any generation before. A recent NPR Education Series broadcast states, “Up to one in five kids living in the U.S. shows signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder in a given year.”

Click the link below to continue reading

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2018/08/the_existential_mental_health_crisis_in_k-12_education_the_need_for_play_and_recess.html

Trauma can make it hard for kids to learn. Here’s how teachers learn to deal with that.

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There’s no debating that childhood trauma seriously impacts how students learn. Researchers have tied stressful events such as divorces, deportations, neglect, sexual abuse and gun violence to behavioral problems, lower math and reading scores, and poor health. The latest research, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, finds that children who endure severe stress are more likely to suffer heart attacks and mental health disorders.

Click on the link below to read the article…

https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/chicago/2018/08/01/trauma-can-make-it-hard-for-kids-to-learn-heres-how-teachers-learn-to-deal-with-that/

By Adeshina Emmanuel

The Secret Life of a Homeschooler

This is a post for my kids from summer class. Before our lessons came to an end, they worked on a project that had to do with the topic of homeschooling. Most of my students expanded on the issue and were mostly negative towards it, citing the drawbacks that came from this educational approach. Here, however, we can examine another point of view…