Social-Emotional
Educators and clinicians across northern Virginia are seeing a significant increase in the number of youth who are experiencing some level of anxiety. We’re also seeing the onset of anxiety start at a younger age and many children are significantly compromised by its affects. There is an increased prevalence of school avoidance, school refusal and somatic complaints. Anxiety can take many forms and some students are very good at masking it. Some students wear their emotions on their face. For those students, the anxiety is quite apparent. A student might have a look, their cheeks get red, their speech quickens or their expression changes. Other students hide their anxiety quite well, but parents report that when their child comes home, he or she falls apart. Some students start to exhibit physical symptoms, such as headaches and stomach aches. Other students start having difficulty sleeping. The question weighing on our minds…
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Summer is a good time to reflect on your child’s school and think about whether it’s a good fit. Did your child seem happy at school? Have friends? Enjoy learning? With back-to-school upon us, is your child upset about going back? Here are five signs your child’s school is not a good fit: School avoidance: Does your child not want to go to school? Does he/she struggle to get to school on time? School avoidance is a good indicator that something is not right at school. It could be academic, social or both. Unhappy: Does your child come home unhappy? Many parents report that their child is able to hold it together at school but when they come home, they fall apart. This is a signal that they feel anxious or stressed and are using a lot of energy trying to keep it together at school. Other children complain about…
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by Karyn Ewart, PhD. “He used to love school,” is a common refrain I hear from parents. Too many students are falling out of love with school after elementary school, when school transitions from hands-on learning to rote memorization, layered with a lot of homework and a culture of acceleration. Schools are holding college preparedness workshops at the end of elementary school; middle schoolers are taking numerous high school credit courses; then, in high school, students are encouraged to take as many AP classes as possible, so that they can earn college credit. The result of this acceleration? Students are constantly worried about how to get ahead instead of being present. How do we stop this vicious cycle of stress and help our kids learn how to learn? Parents are afraid to ask this question. They need to understand that we can’t engineer a good life for our kids by…
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It’s SOL testing season, a time where teachers are stressed out and kids are wishing school was done for the year. What are SOLs? SOLs are the Virginia Standards of Learning. They describe the commonwealth’s expectations for student learning and achievement in grades K-12 in English, mathematics, science, history/social science, technology, the fine arts, foreign language, health and physical education, and driver education (Virginia Department of Education, 2017). The SOLs include curriculum frameworks, scope and sequence guides and standardized tests that determine minimum competency in a subject area. Unfortunately, the SOL testing pass rates impact school ratings, school funding and are one of the criteria for obtaining a Virginia high school diploma. The Negative Impact Virginia public schools are increasingly resorting to scripted teaching, requiring teachers to teach in a prescribed manner, with identical scope and sequence. In short, teachers are not trusted to independently teach and assess their students…
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This article first appeared in early March 2017 in the Arlington Sun Gazette and InsideNOVA. The 2017-18 school year will bring the arrival of a new option in local education with the opening of The Sycamore School – a nonprofit, independent secondary school in Arlington. The inaugural class will include students in grades 6 to 8, eventually growing to 12th grade. Learning will be self-paced, and the school is “a good fit for students who are bright, curious and may not be thriving in their current school environment,” school officials said. The Sun Gazette recently queried Dr. Karyn Ewart, the founder and head of The Sycamore School, about how the institution will stand out among public and private education in the community. Questions and answers are below. One Arlington political leader used to always ask, when tackling an issue, “What problem are we trying to solve?” What problem, or challenge, in…
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We’ve lost another Northern Virginia teenager to suicide. We shouldn’t be surprised. Northern Virginia high schools have turned into the Bermuda Triangle of stress: high achieving students + high achieving parents + high achieving school system = teens who are overloaded, over-scheduled, stressed out, sleep deprived, overly focused on grades and pushed to their limits. Stress has become the norm and the damage it’s causing can’t be underestimated. The 13 Reasons Why TV show on Netflix, based on a book of the same name by Jay Asher, has sparked controversy among mental health professionals, educators, parents and teens. Some people think the show is powerful and sparks meaningful dialogue with teens. Others feel it glamorizes suicide and has led to increased teen self-harm and suicide attempts. Blaming the show for teens increased risky behaviors seems to be missing the point. Kids who are emotionally healthy don’t hurt themselves or make…
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The world of a parent can feel unrelentingly fast paced, chaotic and stressful, with no indication that it will ever slow down…at least not until all our kids are grown. There is an increasing need for us as parents to set the pace and create an environment at home that can help buffer our children and ourselves against a world that sometimes seems intent on sucking the life out of us. Especially in Northern Virginia, there is no shortage of activities, events, responsibilities and commitments vying for our time. How many times do you think to yourself “I don’t have time for that” or, “if only I had time to ______”. At times, it feels like we can’t even enjoy or savor our best moments because we’re thinking, planning and worrying about what’s next. The irony is that we’re rushing so much to do everything and do it right that…
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Stressed out, overwhelmed, anxious. Sound familiar? I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about your kids! As families prepare to take a much needed spring break next week, now is a good time to talk about why our kids are more burnt out than some corporate executives, and how parents can help their kids chill out on spring break, and even when they return to school. Middle and high school students are under pressure: Social pressure is high and social acceptance can now be measured by social media stats. Worse yet, kids never get a break from the social pressure, even after their school day is over. The Sycamore School is addressing social issues by giving students a place to talk about socialization as well as adolescent development and explicitly teaching students skills to increase self-awareness, self-regulation and effective communication skills. Extracurricular pressure is mounting. Particularly in our highly competitive region, our kids…
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Parents and other professionals often ask if The Sycamore School is a Montessori School. The short answer is no. The more complete answer is that TSS shares many commonalities with Montessori programs and would be a good fit for students with a Montessori background, as we strive to cultivate many of the same attributes of Montessori programs: curiosity, creativity, initiative, independence, intrinsic motivation, respect, and love of learning. What is Montessori? According to the American Montessori Association, “The Montessori Method of education, developed by Dr. Maria Montessori, is a child-centered educational approach based on scientific observations of children from birth to adulthood. Dr. Montessori’s Method has been time tested, with over 100 years of success in diverse cultures throughout the world.” Ways that TSS is similar to a Montessori School 1. Students & teachers are partners in learning – Teachers serve as a guide and facilitator, helping students seek out new opportunities to explore content; students learn how to…
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