Now that students are back in school, let’s set them up to build strong study skills. I’m teaching these skills to students of all ages – even my high school seniors – to improve their grades and to reduce their stress.
To start, they’ll need to get organized so they don’t stress out when facing their long lists of things to do. By using Google Calendar (GCal), they’ll see how and when each homework, paper, or test prep will be done. I like GCal because it’s easy to use and it’s right on their cell phones so they have it with them all the time.
Here are the 8 steps to building strong study skills using GCal:
1. Set up GCal
Enter each class in GCal for the entire week, and make it repeat (recurring feature) for the school year. Some schools have the same class schedules Monday through Friday. Others have block days with longer classes. Refer to your school’s bell schedule to get the approximate times for each class. Then look at the school’s minimum days, teacher in-service days, and school holidays. Make sure that their GCals are accurate for the entire school year.
2. Enter Due Dates
Looking at each class’s syllabus or online homework reminders, enter homework, test dates, and other deadlines on the dates that they are due (not the days they are assigned). This will help your child prioritize what should be done first, and allow enough time to complete all necessary steps. If teachers don’t give students official due dates ahead of time, your child will need to adjust the study plan daily.
3. Add Extracurricular Activities
Next enter in all extracurricular activities and include time for transportation. They might block off 2 hours for practice plus 15 minutes of driving to and from the game. Remind them about sports, music lessons, doctors’ appointments, and social activities. Consider dinner time; do you have a set time for dinner each night? Block off time for all after-school activities including showering after games.
4. Plan When to do Homework
Now that you know when homework is due, your child could block off time to do each facet of the assignment. If they have to complete all math problems on page 8, have them block off one hour to complete it at a time that works for them. They could plan homework around commitments so they could see how they might juggle homework and baseball practice.
5. Steps for Test Preparation (not cramming)
Test preparation will take a little more planning than homework. First, make a list of each step needed to prepare for the test. They may need to read a chapter, review lecture notes, make a study guide or flash cards, meet with a study group, and research other sources (Khan Academy, Google searches). By blocking off time to do each of these tasks over a week in GCal, they’ll learn the concepts at a deeper level than cramming the night before a test. This also gives them time to ask the teacher for help if they don’t understand something before the test.
6. Organize Writing Papers
Writing a book report or research paper will take even more planning than for tests. They’ll need to select the topic, research the subject, write a thesis statement, make an outline, write a rough draft, edit the paper, add a bibliography, include other required materials, and submit it. Some of these steps may take several hours over several days. Like preparing for a test, make a list of all of the steps they’ll need to take to complete the assignment a few days before it is due, and then block off time for each task in their GCal. This will reduce the stress and give them plenty of time to write their report or paper.
7. Reschedule for a Healthy Balance
Review the GCal to see how much time is dedicated to school and after-school activities. Some students create different calendars (school, extracurricular activities, friends, college prep) with different colors so they can quickly see how balanced their lives are. If there isn’t enough time to relax and have fun with friends, then your child could move tasks to another day to ensure that there is a healthy balance of academics, exercise, and social activities. Just check deadlines and test dates and prioritize accordingly.
8. Prepare for Finals Now
Once a week, have your child review everything covered in classes to date. They can glance over previous quizzes and tests, flashcards, and lecture notes over the weekend. Simply block off time to study “Alls” each week. This will help build a deeper conceptual understanding of the material and improve long-term memory. That way, when they need to prepare for midterm or final exams later in the year, they won’t have to cram because they’ll already be prepared.
9. Highlight the Activity When it’s Done
After your child goes to class, does the task, or participates in an activity, they could highlight with their favorite color. That way, they’ll see what they’ve accomplished throughout the day. Success begets success. If they didn’t go to class or do an assignment, they just need to move it to another time or day so they can still meet the deadline. If they know it’s going to be late, they could email the teacher to let them know ahead of time. This teaches responsibility and good etiquette.
Now that students are back in school, let’s set them up to build strong study skills. I’m teaching these skills to students of all ages – even my high school seniors – to improve their grades and to reduce their stress.
To start, they’ll need to get organized so they don’t stress out when facing their long lists of things to do. By using Google Calendar (GCal), they’ll see how and when each homework, paper, or test prep will be done. I like GCal because it’s easy to use and it’s right on their cell phones so they have it with them all the time.
Here are the 8 steps to building strong study skills using GCal:
1. Set up GCal
Enter each class in GCal for the entire week, and make it repeat (recurring feature) for the school year. Some schools have the same class schedules Monday through Friday. Others have block days with longer classes. Refer to your school’s bell schedule to get the approximate times for each class. Then look at the school’s minimum days, teacher in-service days, and school holidays. Make sure that their GCals are accurate for the entire school year.
2. Enter Due Dates
Looking at each class’s syllabus or online homework reminders, enter homework, test dates, and other deadlines on the dates that they are due (not the days they are assigned). This will help your child prioritize what should be done first, and allow enough time to complete all necessary steps. If teachers don’t give students official due dates ahead of time, your child will need to adjust the study plan daily.
3. Add Extracurricular Activities
Next enter in all extracurricular activities and include time for transportation. They might block off 2 hours for practice plus 15 minutes of driving to and from the game. Remind them about sports, music lessons, doctors’ appointments, and social activities. Consider dinner time; do you have a set time for dinner each night? Block off time for all after-school activities including showering after games.
4. Plan When to do Homework
Now that you know when homework is due, your child could block off time to do each facet of the assignment. If they have to complete all math problems on page 8, have them block off one hour to complete it at a time that works for them. They could plan homework around commitments so they could see how they might juggle homework and baseball practice.
5. Steps for Test Preparation (not cramming)
Test preparation will take a little more planning than homework. First, make a list of each step needed to prepare for the test. They may need to read a chapter, review lecture notes, make a study guide or flash cards, meet with a study group, and research other sources (Khan Academy, Google searches). By blocking off time to do each of these tasks over a week in GCal, they’ll learn the concepts at a deeper level than cramming the night before a test. This also gives them time to ask the teacher for help if they don’t understand something before the test.
6. Organize Writing Papers
Writing a book report or research paper will take even more planning than for tests. They’ll need to select the topic, research the subject, write a thesis statement, make an outline, write a rough draft, edit the paper, add a bibliography, include other required materials, and submit it. Some of these steps may take several hours over several days. Like preparing for a test, make a list of all of the steps they’ll need to take to complete the assignment a few days before it is due, and then block off time for each task in their GCal. This will reduce the stress and give them plenty of time to write their report or paper.
7. Reschedule for a Healthy Balance
Review the GCal to see how much time is dedicated to school and after-school activities. Some students create different calendars (school, extracurricular activities, friends, college prep) with different colors so they can quickly see how balanced their lives are. If there isn’t enough time to relax and have fun with friends, then your child could move tasks to another day to ensure that there is a healthy balance of academics, exercise, and social activities. Just check deadlines and test dates and prioritize accordingly.
8. Prepare for Finals Now
Once a week, have your child review everything covered in classes to date. They can glance over previous quizzes and tests, flashcards, and lecture notes over the weekend. Simply block off time to study “Alls” each week. This will help build a deeper conceptual understanding of the material and improve long-term memory. That way, when they need to prepare for midterm or final exams later in the year, they won’t have to cram because they’ll already be prepared.
9. Highlight the Activity When it’s Done
After your child goes to class, does the task, or participates in an activity, they could highlight with their favorite color. That way, they’ll see what they’ve accomplished throughout the day. Success begets success. If they didn’t go to class or do an assignment, they just need to move it to another time or day so they can still meet the deadline. If they know it’s going to be late, they could email the teacher to let them know ahead of time. This teaches responsibility and good etiquette.
In my previous article, “Ramifications of Affirmative Action Ban on College Admissions,” I addressed how affirmative action really affects college admissions by creating substandard classes and dumbing down our best universities. Instead of giving free passes to students who meet ethnic and socioeconomic numbers, let’s level the playing field so all students have similar opportunities to compete for admission based on merit. We need to start teaching academic skills in preschool and offer cutting-edge courses in K-12. Remember there are over 4,000 colleges in the United States, and most will accept all applicants. For the sake of this article, we are only addressing the super selective colleges with acceptance rates below 10%.
Academic preschool for all
We need to offer FREE academic preschool programs for all children. The poor, inner-city students should have the opportunity to learn reading readiness skills at 3 years old and be reading chapter books by the time they enter kindergarten — just like the wealthy students. Teachers should be paid more to teach in inner city schools and be paid bonuses when their students reach or surpass grade-level standards and/or win science fairs.
Set up your own preschool
Parents can set up free preschool enrichment programs for their children in their homes. This will give their children a solid academic foundation before entering kindergarten. I successfully did this for 9 years and my daughters went to Stanford University and Claremont McKenna College. By inviting 3-4 tuition-paying students to cover the costs, hosting families receive free preschool for their children. That means that all children can experience the crème-de-la-crème preschool that only rich kids receive today. This model also works for elementary, middle, and high school students. Parents can set up after-school support to build critical reading, essay writing, and math skills. Hosting families receive these services for free. Check out my book and the curriculum.
Improve K-12 education
Enhance the quality of education in primary and secondary schools is crucial to prepare students for college. Providing modern resources, qualified teachers, and an academic and STEM curriculum can help bridge the educational gap between the haves and the have-nots. Teachers should be paid double what they make today. We have a massive teacher shortage across the United States – college students don’t aspire to become teachers because they don’t want to live in poverty.
Encourage students to do projects
Schools can set up mentorship programs with retired professionals to guide students as they brainstorm, initiate, and complete projects. This exposure can introduce students to lucrative careers and fascinating college majors. Projects give all students the opportunity to build their portfolios and increase their odds of admission to top colleges.
Expand pre-college programs
Implement pre-college programs, such as academic enrichment programs, mentorship initiatives, and college preparatory courses, can help disadvantaged students gain the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in college. These programs can offer guidance on the college application process, standardized testing, and financial aid options.
Increase financial aid
Access to financial aid is a significant barrier for many students seeking higher education. Increasing the availability of need-based scholarships, grants, and loans can alleviate the financial burden and make college more affordable for students.
Target support for underrepresented groups
Address historical inequalities. Specific support programs can be developed for underrepresented groups, including Black, Hispanic, Native American, and first-generation college students. These programs can offer mentorship, academic support, and resources tailored to their unique needs and challenges.
Strengthen community college pathways
Community colleges can bridge the gap between high schools and a 4-year colleges. Enhancing transfer pathways to provide academic support and ensure seamless credit transfers can facilitate a smoother transition to bachelor’s degree programs.
Expand student bodies at selective colleges
If these high-demand colleges opened up 50% more spaces each year, it would take off some of the pressure to select under-represented ethnic students who may not meet admission standards. More spaces could allow for a more diverse student body. With the massive endowments these selective colleges have, building more dorms and classrooms wouldn’t put a dent in their budgets. Besides, more students means more tuition.
These are 9 ways to level the playing field for admission to the top universities so that all children receive the academic and social exposure needed to prepare them for higher education. Students should be able to take advantage of early reading and math preschool programs so they can excel in K-12. By having access to excellent teachers (regardless of your zip code) and programs to prepare them for the rigorous college admissions process, qualified students will not be a concentrated group of upper class and White/Asians. In an ideal world, during senior year of high school, colleges should admit students based on their academic prowess, innovation, and what unique characteristics they will add to the incoming freshman college class – not their ethnicities.
Who benefits from Affirmative Action?
Affirmative action policies were designed to address historical and ongoing inequalities by providing preferential opportunities to Black and Hispanic students that have been marginalized or disadvantaged. These policies were aimed to promote diversity, inclusion, and equal representation in education.
Who is targeted by Affirmative Action?
Critics of affirmative action argue that it is unfair to Asians and Whites who may be denied admission to as a result of these policies. They believe that affirmative action can result in reverse discrimination by favoring individuals based on their race or gender, rather than their individual merit. It undermines the principles of fairness and equality; students should be evaluated solely on their qualifications, skills, and abilities, rather than their demographic characteristics.
What about minimum admission requirements?
Most selective colleges claim that all students meet their admissions standards. However, I work with students who have been admitted to elite colleges through affirmative action and they often come to me because they’re struggling to pass their classes. When students don’t have the critical reading or essay writing skills needed to succeed at these top universities, they often feel like imposters or failures, and these negative experiences can haunt them for the rest of their lives.
What about legacies?
According to Insider Higher Ed, University of Southern California (USC), Pepperdine University, and Vanguard University admitted some legacy students who did not meet the minimum admissions requirements. USC admitted eight students over the past 4 years who were related to donors or alumni but didn’t meet admission requirements. Two of these students hadn’t even taken Algebra 2 in high school and two others hadn’t graduated from high school. Over the past 3 years, Pepperdine admitted ten legacy students and Vanguard admitted nine students who didn’t meet the university’s standards.
When colleges select their incoming students based on family legacies and large financial contributions, they dumb down their incoming classes. When parents donate large sums of money to get their children into selective colleges, they send heartbreaking messages to their children that they don’t believe their children can get into college. Some parents involved in the Varsity Blues Scandal went to prison when they were caught bribing admissions officers, paying off SAT proctors, and buying coaches to lie about their children’s athletic talents. Why would a parent want their child to be the bottom of the class and struggle to graduate because they don’t belong there?
Should top universities admit the best students?
There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States, and only a few are highly selective (acceptance rate lower than 10%). That means that most colleges will admit just about anyone who applies. But those elite colleges, should be allowed to enroll the smartest students to work with world-class professors so these institutions can create innovative and inspirational think tanks. Imagine the synergy in discussion groups and the solutions to major problems that these brilliant students and professors could solve. Here in the United States, we have produced more patents and started more innovative businesses than any other country in the world, but we may be losing our winning edge to China and Japan.
We shouldn’t lower the productivity of these institutions by focusing on ethnicity-based quotas, which reduce the space to enroll the best students. Seeking a diverse student body from various socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds makes this mix of students even more dynamic, but should only be considered for tie breakers when two students have equal talent and brilliance.
The key is finding a way to select students for these exceptional higher education institutions without having to fulfill quotas and lower academic standards. I’ve addressed productive and realistic ways to make top colleges accessible to a diverse group of students in another article. Let’s keep this discussion going!
When spell check and grammar check features became available in the late 1970s, critics feared that we would rely on technology to edit our work and that the quality of our writing would diminish. Then when the internet first appeared in 1983, critics worried that people would lose the ability to think critically.
Both the internet and spell/grammar check features have become a mainstay in writing and we rely on them for research and editing our work. Today ChatGPT – an artificial intelligence software program that provides instant research results and can write an original essay in a matter of seconds – is the new obsession. Teachers and administrators are anxiously searching for ways to ban it and penalize students for using it.
Now that the genie is out of the bottle, there’s no putting it back, so we best find how we can make GPT a positive educational tool.
One of the benefits of GPT is that all students have equal access to it. It’s like having a private tutor, 24/7, to answer questions and help write essays. Up until now, only wealthy students have had access to private tutors who teach concepts that they didn’t get in school and help them prepare for exams. These students have also had the luxury of private tutors who organize, edit, and even write their essays. With GPT, all students will have the opportunity to get individualized attention and guidance. It actually evens the playing field between the haves and the have nots.
I recently opened a GPT account to experiment with it. I recommend that everyone do this before condemning it. Go to https://chat.openai.com/chat to enter a question. Ask it to write an essay. You’ll see that it writes a good essay using proper grammar and spelling. It may suggest that you add information to personalize it. As you read the responses, you’ll see that GPT functions like a personal search engine and secretary. The writing style is basic; nobody is going to win essay contests with GPT.
While we have become dependent on spell check, has created a generation of poor spellers. Likewise, grammar check helps us keep pronouns matching their antecedents, and reminds us of parallel structure and verb agreements, but sadly, has not helped us learn these skills as they autocorrect our writing. In other words, spell check and grammar check features temporarily help students with assignments but they don’t make them better writers.
Recently, teachers now have access to software that will be able to detect if ChatGPT (or other programs) were used in writing students’ essays. This will be a never-ending challenge for the AI and the software-detection developers, similar to the programs that teachers use to detect plagiarism.
Some teachers are now requiring students to handwrite in-class essays. Others are providing students with word processors that allow them to type their responses in class without access to the internet. GPT is forcing us to quickly adapt to new ways of doing research and writing essays.
When classes were conducted online in Zoom during the COVID pandemic, teachers cleverly administered exams (without access to search engines and textbooks) while students were at home. Naturally, some students found ways to cheat by finding ways around GPT-detection software.
Since OpenAI released GPT-3 in June 2020, there’s been an uproar about how to grade student performance. Maybe we’re going to have to rethink what we are testing and how we are evaluating student learning. With search engines at our fingertips 24/7, do we really need to make students memorize facts like dates and names? If we want students to identify their beliefs or perspectives, should we allow them to use GPTs to write the first draft but require them to personalize their ideas by incorporating them in further drafts? Maybe teachers will ask students to defend their writing or request that they add new material that will require critical thinking, research, grammar, and style to their essays.
If GPT helps everyone produce well-written essays and comments that reflect their ideas, should we welcome this refreshing opportunity? Over the past decade, the ability to communicate ideas in writing have dwindled away with the vast expansion of text messaging. Without an emoji, many text messages are incoherent and often don’t make sense. Has good writing become a lost art?
The future of GPT programs and software to detect machine-generated text will be ever improving. I hope that students will learn how to use these powerful resources to improve their written communication skills by giving them a start with GPT drafts. Educators have a new opportunity to teach concepts, utilize these AI software programs, and evaluate student learning and progress. We are in the midst of a huge paradigm shift – whether or not we like it.
Kids these days! We’ve left them holding the bag of unintended consequences of our own indulgences, yet our children are still vested in righting our wrongs. What solutions might they find if given the opportunity and resources?
Ishan and Alisha Bhatia are twins. People ask: Do you think alike? You could say so. Both tackled the same global crisis: water pollution, each from a unique perspective. Before they were out of high school, each had discovered viable solutions and showcased them in talks at TEDxMeritAcademy.
Here’s what they have to say:
Ishan
Imagine a contagion that popped out of nowhere, threatening 385 million lives with cancer, birth defects, and DNA degradation. It travels through the air, through our food, and even worse — through water. Seemingly innocuous streams meander along, spreading this contagion everywhere.
Unfortunately, this is our reality. Every year, 5.6 billion pounds of pesticides are used worldwide, contaminating our water and food supplies.
After years of research, I discovered an alternative to deadly commercial pesticides that’s just as powerful yet completely safe: Cordyceps militaris.
This is a mushroom specialized to kill insects, using spores that breach their exoskeletons, disarm their immune systems, and extract nutrients until the critters die. Only 8% survive the mushroom, versus 5-10% against conventional pesticides.
But to you and me, Cordyceps militaris is a friend, used for thousands of years as a health supplement. That’s as safe as it comes for a pesticide.
At TEDxMeritAcademy, I encouraged gardeners to use Cordyceps militaris to rid their plants of common pests like aphids. You can do the same, just by visiting my website, cordyceps-pesticide.com, for instructions for making your own Cordyceps militaris spray.
Try it! Let me know which insects and plants it works with. Let’s identify all the insects that Cordyceps militaris can attack, and start replacing toxic pesticides today.
There’s a role for each of us in making our food and water safe. Will you join me?
TEDx Talk: bit.ly/3CXXFyW
Alisha
Flames spew from a garden hose and smoke permeates the sky. Laughter-filled playgrounds become toxic cemeteries of childhood memories. In 2015, there were 300,000 hydraulic fracturing wells in the US. Today, there are over 1.7 million.
Noxious fracking fluid infiltrates our aquifers. Communities unknowingly ingest water with over a thousand of volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and bacteria. The result: cancer, neurological disorders, organ failures, and high-risk pregnancies.
Starting in middle school, I channeled my hope into devising an affordable water filter specialized to capture fracking toxins. I developed a prototype using a pump sprayer, activated carbon, an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid resin, and a 0.2 micron filter. My filter significantly removed total organic carbon, copper, and microorganisms, though I plan to continue fine-tuning the design.
I was just getting started.
Energy companies were still recklessly drilling. The cries of people petitioning for clean drinking water were lost in a sea of corporate control. Poisoned families were targeted with public ridicule and relocated from their homes under gag orders, preventing them from exposing the deadly truth about fracking.
My years of research culminated in my TEDxMeritAcademy talk, We Have a Big Fracking Problem!. I exposed the companies responsible, sounded the alarm over fracking-induced fatalities, and detailed my water filter solutions.
Wanting to do more, I developed America Is Fracked Up, a national organization. Through its website, www.americaisfrackedup.com, people can locate fracking wells, learn more about commercial water filters, and sign a petition to make gas companies provide them. Instead of spending millions to fight the truth, companies must channel their resources to repair the damage they’ve done and provide Americans with clean drinking water.
Will you join me?
TEDx Talk: bit.ly/3HeRSHD
We count on our young people to see the world with fresh eyes. Four million teens in this country start high school every year, each of them brimming with potential. Imagine if all students had the opportunity Ishan and Alisha did to start projects and discover practical solutions to the challenges we face. How much more would these students learn? How much more self-assured would they be, knowing what they’re capable of? And how much better off would we all be, as beneficiaries of their powerful contributions?
As expected, students suffered academically during the COVID pandemic. While students are now back in the classrooms, math and reading scores plummeted this year in 2022. Compared to 2019, math dropped 8 points in eighth grade and 5 points in fifth grade across the nation. Scores dropped 3 points in reading for both grades.
In California, fewer than half of the students (47%) passed the English language arts test, which was a 4 point drop from pre-pandemic 2018-2019. In math, only one third of the students passed, which was a 6% decline. Stanford, USC, and the UC system say that this massive decline has never been seen before and that this is an unprecedented challenge that we have to face. The disparities plaguing ethnic groups remain high, with 70% of Asian students scoring above the national standard, which is triple the rate for Latinos and Black students.
So what does this mean? We need to support our students as we ramp up our curriculum. But there’s a huge teacher shortage across the United States.
Remember when we used to give teachers shiny apples and gifts for the holidays? Those memories are long gone as students face classrooms with revolving doors for teachers, substitutes, and teacher aides. Some teachers are required to teach students with disabilities or English learners in addition to their regular classes because special education teachers are absent or didn’t return for the school year. Many schools shut down when 30% of their staff and 25% of their students call in sick. Imagine that? Other schools are reverting to remote learning when there aren’t enough teachers to cover classes. Principals are even stepping in to teach several classes at once just to fill staffing gaps.
Teacher shortages aren’t equally spread out among subject areas. Special education teachers ranks the highest in shortages, followed by mathematics, science, and foreign language. And many teachers are having to step up to help in the cafeteria work and to work without instructional aides.
So how do we recruit and encourage college students to become teachers? First we need to pay them and give them benefits like the professionals they are. Consider this report that considered teacher wages in 26 industrialized countries: teachers in the United States ranked dead-last on the list of average pay – making only 60% of what other college graduates make. In countries like Sweden, Germany, and Australia, teacher compensation is higher than 80% of other college graduates. And, US teachers work more hours than other countries.
Fewer college students are entering teaching careers today. Back in the 1970s, about 12% of students planned to become teachers. Today, only 4% of college students are pursuing teaching degrees. That comes as no surprise when teaching has become a thankless job that won’t even pay a livable wage.
With increased teacher vacancies, and a dramatic drop in college students entering the teaching field, several states have eased teacher certification requirements. Some schools issue emergency teaching credentials just to speed up the process to secure the certification. In high schools, teachers are normally required to have a bachelor’s degree in the subjects they are credentialed to teach. While that makes sense because they need to have in-depth understanding of the subject to effectively teach a wide range of students to prepare them for higher education.
But some states, like Arizona, students can enter teacher training programs without a bachelor’s degree. The only requirement is that they enroll in college and they are supervised by a licensed teachers. In Florida, military veterans without bachelor’s degrees can receive a 5-year teacher certificate as long as they have 60 college credits (AA or community college degree) with a 2.5 GPA and pass a state exam to demonstrate their mastery of the subject-area knowledge.
This is appalling. Have we really devalued the education of our children – the youth who will take the reins and lead our nation? Teachers should be our most valued profession. They guide, mentor, and prepare all of our children to go out into the world. How will we be able to maintain our superpower status when our future leaders don’t have the academic acumen to compete on a world stage?
I started a private school for my daughters when the California reading curriculum implemented the “Whole Language” approach and stopped teaching phonics in 1994. I worried that as the pendulum swung to the extreme left, we would have a generation of students with reading and spelling problems – something I didn’t want for my girls.
I tried to understand the “Reading Wars” and researched the benefits of each approach.
The Whole Language method teaches children to read by recognizing a group of letters as an entire word. They don’t learn that individual letters make different sounds. Instead, young students memorize these sight words and put the words together in a sentence using context clues to understand the general meaning of the sentence.
The Phonics-Based method teaches children the sounds that each alphabet makes so they can string the sounds together to make new words. The students learn spelling rules so they can decode words. Next they learn blends and digraphs (ch, gl, st, fr, etc) to expand their vocabulary.
I found that teaching reading in the English language was difficult and frustrating because English doesn’t consist of just phonemes or sight words. How can a young reader sound out “fight”? It’s not phonetic. But then how can a child tell the difference between “through” and “though” when they look similar and they haven’t learned phonograms (ight, ough, tion, etc.)?
I couldn’t believe that there was just one way to teach children to read. After consulting with reading specialists, I designed a curriculum that gave students all the tools they would need to read. It included phonics, phonograms, sight words and whole language — in this order.
Starting at age 2, we taught phonemes (individual speech sounds). There are 44 phonemes in the English language. The students learned all of the sounds that each alphabet makes (A= ah, ay, uh; S=s, z). This gives the child basic rules to begin to see how words are simply a string of letter sounds. They enjoyed reading C-A-T and making that successful connection between the spoken and written word.
Next, we taught phonograms (fixed combinations of letters that make one or more sounds). There are 49 multi-letter phonograms. By learning phonograms, students use these tools to read much more than the basic consonant-vowel-consonant words. Children can sound out words using phonemes and phonograms: S-IGHT. By encouraging students to make lists of words with the phonogram of the week, they learned that the “ite” sound can be spelled either “ITE” or “IGHT.” Students who learn phonograms are better spellers than those who memorize groups of letters in sight words.
While students master phonemes and phonograms, we also introduced sight words. Certain words are just too difficult to sound out – even with phonograms – so we introduce certain words that they simply need to memorize. Words like “the” or “what” need to be memorized and recognized by sight.
Students begin to apply their knowledge of phonemes, phonograms, and sight words as they read, and then they use context clues to increase their comprehension and fluency. That’s where we incorporate the Whole Language approach to reading. I also found that having children write words, and then sentences, paragraphs and stories, reinforced their reading skills. As we read classics to children, we pointed to the words to build their sight vocabulary.
By giving students the tools to divide words into sound bites and to memorize words that are rule breakers, they can become confident readers. Both of my daughters learned to read at age 3 and started writing 2-3 page stories at age 4. Introducing a variety of reading instruction strategies ensures that all children can find their way to reading that works for them.
Although most schools in Santa Cruz have adopted a hybrid approach that includes an eclectic way to teaching reading, these “Reading Wars” continue in many places across the United States.
California children born on or after July 1, 2022 will qualify to receive up to $100 for newborns and up to $1500 for low-income students. CalKids is a state-funded college savings program designed to encourage all students to consider higher education by giving them a small, long-term college savings account.
Research shows that children, and their parents, consider college as a viable route to future careers when they have a dedicated savings account set aside for college. There are over 120 similar programs nationwide, but California has almost 3 times more students enrolled and more money allocated than the 120 programs combined. This year, California will enroll about 3.4 million school-aged children, and about 450,000 newborns annually.
All of the funds for California children will be in a single account owned by the state, with a sub-account designated for each child. The best part: families can watch their accounts grow, but they can’t withdraw it or use it for other purposes.
When the child graduates from high school and enters college (community or a 4-year college) or a technical/vocational program, the state will send that child’s money directly to the institution for education expenses. The money won’t be taxable to the parent or the child. If the money is not used before the child turns 26, the money stays in the fund for others to use. The student must live in California for at least one year immediately before funds are distributed to the postsecondary institution.
While parents can open separate 529 accounts (college savings programs), they cannot mix the 529 account with the CalKids account. Parents can open 529 accounts with ScholarShare (https://www.scholarshare529.com/documents/ca-checklist.pdf) and they can view their CalKids account with their 529 plans to see the collective savings account together.
The state allocated $1.9 billion last year for low-income students (1st-12th grades). This year, the budget includes $170 million for children entering 1st grade (2022-2023). Every year, the state will open an account for any child born after July 1, 2022, regardless of income or school child will eventually attend, and has set aside $15.3 million for these newborn accounts.
To qualify for the $1500 low-income student account, the student must meet at least one of the following criterion:
• National School Lunch Program
• CalFresh
• CalWorks
• Foster Youth
• Homeless
• Migrant Students (immigration status is not considered)
• English Learners
To get the full $1500, students would have to be low-income, homeless foster youth. All low-income students will automatically receive $500, plus $500 if they are foster youth, plus $500 if they are homeless. California has identified 1,250 students who will qualify for the full amount. This is a one-time grant.
The only recurring grants will be for newborn children and incoming low-income students entering first grade. The state will deposit $25 for each newborn child. When the parent registers the account, the child will receive another $25. If the parent links their child’s account to a new or existing ScholarShare account, they’ll receive an additional $50. They’ll receive a maximum of $100.
Parents must register their child’s account at CalKids.org. For newborns, they’ll need to provide the child’s birthdate, county where they child was born or attends school, and the Local Registration Number found on the birth certificate or the code provided on the notification letter.
For school-aged students, parents must provide the student’s statewide student identification number (SSID) or the code sent on the notification letter. The SSID can be obtained from the child’s school or district office.
The CalKids account can be opened without a Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification number. But, both parent and child need either Social Security or ITIN number to open the ScholarShare account.
Share this information with all new parents so they can start a CalKids savings account for their newborns or children entering 1st grade. The $1500 funds for low-income students can be an incentive to stay in school and seek higher education.
As teachers prepare for the new school year, besides books and class supplies, some teachers are stocking their classrooms with military-grade devices to protect their students. One Bay Area teacher purchased a metal bat and the Barracuda, a metal bar that prevents entry, for her classroom. She also plans to run drills for her elementary school students to teach them how to stay quiet and to listen to her directions when there is an intruder who can harm them.
Seems to me that when our teachers need to arm themselves with active-shooter backpacks loaded with bullet-proof vests, bullet-proof plates/shields, and tourniquets, we need to rethink who we allow to have weapons and under what conditions. No teacher can realistically protect all of the students from a mentally ill person carrying an AK-15 rifle. Consider Uvalde, Texas, where 400 good guys with guns wouldn’t stop one bad guy with a gun for over an hour because they were afraid of the destructive power of a weapon of war in a classroom. 19 children and two teachers were killed.
Schools in 10 states allow teachers to carry concealed weapons to deter would-be shooters. These states are Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. A teacher’s job should be to build strong academic foundations to prepare our youth to be literate, to move on to higher education, and to understand how to function in our society. Many teachers have also taken on parenting roles to feed students who go to school hungry and mentally support abused students. Providing weapons to teachers and administrators will neither protect students nor make schools safer. Instead, it will make guns more available to students and teachers who would not normally have access to them – causing opportunities for more devastating deaths.
Allowing college students to carry concealed weapons on college campuses already exists in 10 states today. These states are Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. That means that these 18-22 year old students, whose ability to control and self-monitor their behavior is not fully developed because their frontal lobes are not completely formed, have access to guns. So when college kids party and get drunk, instead of fighting with their fists, they can pull out their guns? This sounds like a terrible idea.
Whether we’re talking about guns on elementary, middle school, high school, or college campuses, we’re opening doors to more carnage. Guns, especially AK-15s, are designed to kill. In a civil society, disputes should be settled by discussions and compromises – not murder. To protect myself, I carry pepper spray and keep a bat by my bed. Both are good defensive protections, and they don’t kill.
Protecting your family, home, or business should be done in a way that deters invasions. Because we can mistakenly think that an intruder is going to kill us, our actions should be to disable, not to murder. I remember the time my daughter surprised us with a visit at 2:00 AM. My husband could have shot her – thinking she was a burglar. We need solutions that allow for human error without killing.
Our Founding Fathers did not have access to security cameras, alarms, pepper spray, and 9-1-1 (established by AT&T in 1968), and that’s why they used muskets to protect their homes. We no longer need to have guns to protect our families. In fact, only 13% of colonial Americans owned a gun. The muskets built in the 1770s were not accurate weapons; they’re nothing like the pistols, semi-automatic pistols, rifles (AK-15s), and shotguns that about 72 million Americans own today. Maybe we should take the Constitution literally and allow people to own muskets with lead balls instead of bullets. They would most likely miss their targets and they would only be able to shoot once every minute or so.
During the past 6 months of 2022, about 200 children were killed and about 500 children were wounded by gunshot. Guns make our homes less safe for our families. The press didn’t show images of the carnage from the Uvalde School massacre. The AK-15 is a weapon designed for war. The bullets fire at such velocity that it can decapitate an adult leaving the body like a grenade obliterated it. Children’s bodies were so blown away that it took parents over 6 hours to identify their children through DNA and other means.
In an ideal world, guns would be available only for sport and under careful supervision of gaming and sportsmen’s clubs. Our world is not the same as it was in the 1770s. Today, people handle pressure in different ways and their mental health is not predictable. What we need is a more effective way of screening for mental illnesses. Some states consider family, neighbor, and fellow worker input to get a more accurate read on people who are applying for gun carrying permits.
Other nations like Japan and Singapore have the lowest mortality rate (by firearms) in the world because they have strict gun-control laws. When their citizens get angry, they deal with their anger in non-lethal ways. Guns are a coward’s way out. We need to think smart and stop the carnage now. Let’s make it an inalienable right for every American to protect themselves with security cameras, pepper spray, and bats – not guns.