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Two moms can make a difference. That is the lesson of The Nettelhorst School, a once-struggling Chicago public school that experienced a renaissance and is thriving thanks to an effective partnership between neighborhood families and the school. One of the two co-leaders of the initiative, Jacqueline Edelberg, believes the strategy she and the other parents used can be applied at schools across the country. Read more for how parents can create effective family-school partnerships.
Jacqueline Edelberg is co-author with Nettelhorst Principal Susan Kurland of How to Walk to School (available at howtowalktoschool.com). They detail the resurgence of Nettelhorst and how the school and parents worked together to reinvigorate the school, leading to tripling of test scores, among other significant improvements. Edelberg explains some of the approaches that contributed to the school's success.
Target the most active people. Start (or join) a parent group with a core of influential people with numerous social connections. "They can undermine—or boost—a movement quickly." Edelberg targeted a group of eight neighborhood parents to start. The group now boasts more than 200 members.
Tackle problems both real and perceived. Look at the immediate needs, which are often physical. "Paint goes a long way. You can always find a way to finagle books." Other needs might require more long-term strategy. At Nettelhorst, the school needed to be rebranded. Edelberg said they started by focusing on the school's most salient point—that it was a magnet school—and emphasized that element as the group members blanketed the neighborhood with their message.
Create partnerships with established institutions. The school piggybacked on well-earned reputations of local organizations and businesses to aid the change in perception.
Generate confidence. Make projects easily accessible. Gather and present as much support as possible. The group frequently boasted it was 200 members strong, even though the core of the group was far smaller. "We didn't need a crowded meeting. We needed heavy lifters," she says. "Saying we're 200 families strong helps with buy-in and gives the heavy lifters the confidence to jump in."
Watch PTA.org for an expanded story on the parent-driven success of Nettelhorst School.
The vision of a super busy person is familiar to all of us. In fact, it can sometimes be perceived as a badge of honor. Perhaps it's because the more we're involved in, the more we believe it says about our own drive and achievement orientation, right? TweenParent.com asks, "Why should we expect our preteens to march to the same drum?" Maybe it's to keep our tweens busy while we're occupied…or maybe it's a drive to push our kids to their full potential. Or...maybe we haven't paused our own lives long enough to think about it. TweenParent.com says it is some combination of the above and more.
We're All Busy!
The parallels with adult life are apparent. Compared with 1960, the average American family is working 160 hours more each year (that's an additional month of average work weeks each year). The result of spending less time at home is that some important family activities have been given less of a priority. In the last 20 years, family dinners have declined by 33% and family vacations have decreased by 28%.
Everyone Needs Balance!
One thing is certain. There's a great deal of debate over where to draw the line between a child being busy enough and being too busy. The balance that needs to be achieved will be different for every child on the basis of his/her academic needs, temperament, environment, and the family's needs.
Too Many Activities?
Some experts contend that children who are involved in a near constant flow of activities don't have the opportunity to learn to be at ease when they're alone. Having lived by activity schedules and often being around other people, they aren't able to learn the joy of solitude and they aren't given an opportunity to express creativity, daydream and self-reflect. More important, perhaps, they haven't realized the value of making time for fun. This, along with achievement pressure and a decrease in family time are the frequently cited issues.
Too Much Free Time?
On the flipside, Susan M. McHale, Ph.D., of Penn State led a study that monitored how fourth and fifth graders spent their free time. She found that devoting more free time to structured and supervised activities such as hobbies and sports appears to enhance a tween's academic, emotional and behavioral development at this age. Spending more time playing outdoors and hanging out, in contrast, appear to have a negative impact on development. Contrary to popular belief, recent research rejects the notion that most kids are over-scheduled and are suffering as a result.
For more information, including tips on balancing your child's schedule visit TweenParent.com.
A trip to the grocery store for Thanksgiving preparations can be a valuable learning experience for your children. Reading Rockets [www.readingrockets.org] offers some easy ways to build literacy and math skills while getting your shopping done at the same time.
Focus on Reading Skills
Lots of grocery items come in different flavors. Ask your child to help you find a particular item by reading the labels. For example, can she find the apple juice? The tuna fish packed in water not oil?
Put your child in charge of the grocery list. As you put items into the cart, ask your child to cross it off the list. If you buy an item that wasn't on your list, ask him to add it. This provides an opportunity to practice writing skills.
Focus on Vocabulary Skills
Take a trip down the pasta aisle to see the different boxes. Ask your child to compare and contrast the various noodles in terms of length, width, shape, and size. Choose one box and challenge your child to come up with descriptive words for that type of pasta.
The produce section is a great place to hear new interesting words. Words like rhubarb, asparagus, artichoke, and kiwi are fun to say, and fun to eat. As you introduce each one, use descriptive words to help your child learn. "A kiwi has a fuzzy outside, but the inside is bright green with black seeds!"
Focus on Math Skills
Look for geometric shapes (e.g., spheres, cubes, cones) as you go through the store. Play a game with your child. Find a shape, such as the cube shaped box of tissues, and then look for other items with the same shape.
Show your child the unit pricing labels on various items. Help them learn to compare prices using these tags. Ask your child, "Which size container is the better deal? Why?" Discuss the sale items too. What does "Buy one, get one free" mean? If frozen peas are 10 bags for $10, how much would four bags cost?
You don't have to do all of these things each time you're at the store, but while you're there, find creative ways to turn your grocery store into a fun place of learning.
For more ideas, visit Reading Rockets' Reading Together section.
Throughout PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month, PTAs are engaging families in learning about simple ways that they can lead healthy lifestyles together. Whether it is planting a school garden, attending a family fitness event, or assisting a school in the development of its health policies, PTAs and families alike are making great strides in improving student health and reducing childhood obesity.
This year, National PTA was able to double the number of PTA Healthy Lifestyles grants with a generous donation from Jamba Juice.
In all, 45 local PTAs will receive up to $1,000 to support nutrition and physical activity in their communities, impacting over 28,000 students in this school year alone. For example, Southern Boone County PTA in Ashland, MO, is inviting the community to participate in a work day for the school garden on November 14. The PTA hopes that learning how the greenhouse is constructed for the garden will inspire families to create one for their gardens at home. Additionally, they will be taking a lunchtime break, where attendees will learn new ways to prepare the local produce from the garden.
If your school did not receive a grant, you can still get involved. Visit pta.org/healthylifestyles to download the PTA Healthy Lifestyles Parent's Guide and to find helpful nutrition information.
The pull cords on some older window blinds, shades and curtains have loops that could be dangerous. These loops should be cut to eliminate the risk of strangulation. This hazard isn't limited to older window cords. Over the past two months, The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of over 6.5 million window blinds and shades because the cords pose a strangulation hazard. Three children actually died in these window blinds and several others suffered near strangulations. All of these shades and blinds were recently for sale in popular stores across the country. Check www.consumerreports.org/schoolsafety to find out if you have some of these recalled and potentially dangerous window blinds or shades. If you have them, remove them immediately and return them to your place of purchase.
For more information, go to PTA.org/safetyalert.
The PTA Great Idea Bank is nearing 1,200 members. See what people are talking about and what ideas are being shared at http://www.ptagreatideabank.org/.
Go to http://www.ptagreatideabank.org/ for more ideas and discussion.
| Let's Fight Flu Together! |
It's important to stay healthy this season from both the seasonal flu and H1N1. The CDC recommends that all children from age 6 months to 19 years receive a seasonal flu vaccination and all people from 6 months to 24 years of age receive an H1N1 vaccination. For more information on H1N1, visit http://www.flu.gov/ or talk with your physician or local health department. To see if a local PTA is sponsoring a seasonal flu vaccination clinic, go to PTA.org/flushotclinics and click "Schedule a Vaccination" to search by ZIP code. Let's Fight Flu Together! |
| PTA Radio |
The latest broadcasts from PTA Radio: Partnership Between National PTA and Jamba Juice with James D. White, President and CEO-Jamba Juice; The Power of One with Dr. Steven Sroka, internationally-acclaimed motivational speaker, educator and author. |
| Dads Recruitment Kit |
The National Fatherhood Initiative, a PTA MORE alliance member, created a toolkit to help get men more involved in PTA and other parent groups. To find out more about the kit, read about the Just Get IN the PTA: Dads Recruitment Kit on the NFI website. |
| School Violence |
In response to tragic episodes of violence in schools and inflicted on schoolchildren, PTA produced a package of school violence resources for parents to assist them in dealing with the aftereffects and guide them in prevention. |
Proud National Sponsor Message 
The AXA Foundation, a Proud National Sponsor of PTA, offers a signature program, AXA Achievementsm, which provides resources that help make college possible: access and advice.
- Access: more than $1.3 million a year in scholarships
- Advice: a comprehensive resource for information to help students and parents plan for college.
Two scholarship programs are currently underway:
- AXA Achievementsm Scholarship in association with U.S. News & World Report
- 52 scholarships of $10,000 and $25,000 to students across the nation
- application deadline is December 15, 2009
- AXA Achievementsm Community Scholarship
- more than 300 scholarships of $2,000 to students across the nation
- application deadline is February 15, 2010
The winners, known as AXA Achievers, are ethnically and economically diverse, but share these qualities:
- Ambition and drive
- Determination to set and reach goals
- Respect for self, family and community
- Ability to succeed in college
Encourage graduating high school seniors to apply. More information and downloadable applications, which can be filled out online, are available at http://www.axa-achievement.com/.
As part of AXA's partnership with PTA, AXA offers free workshops to PTA units on topics such as planning for college and other financial issues facing families. Visit the AXA website designed exclusively for PTA members, www.axa-achievement.com/PTA, to learn about the workshops that are available, and speak with your local PTA leadership about having a workshop presented to your PTA unit.
The AXA Foundation is also the exclusive awards sponsor of the PTA's Take Your Family to School Week program, a nationwide initiative designed to increase parental involvement and participation in the schools.
Member Benefit Provider Message
 Help OneCause® congratulate the three PTAs that won a PTA Visa bonus contribution! They each created a PTA Visa Fundraising Program by October 14 and were randomly selected in the cash drawing.
$1,000 Winner: Bloomingdale PTA of Bloomingdale, New Jersey
$500 Winner: Seven Oaks Elementary PTA of Odenton, Maryland
$250 Winner: Arkansas PTA
You may have missed out on the bonus contributions, but you can still raise money for PTA without asking your supporters to write a check!
PTA, Capital One® and OneCause created the PTA Visa Fundraising Program as an alternative to traditional school fundraising. This free credit card fundraising program contributes 1% of your supporters' everyday purchases, plus a $25 first purchase bonus with each new account. All contributions are shared with your local, state and National PTA. You can create up to three card designs to help your supporters show their school spirit!
Learn More and Start Raising Money at www.onecause.com/onevoice
OneCause is a National Member Benefits Provider of PTA.
There are many ways that you can help your child succeed! A few small activities each week will pay huge dividends over the course of the year. Here are a few that you can do this week:
Give testimony at public hearings in support of or in opposition to proposed education legislation. - Dé su testimonio en audiencias públicas en apoyo u oposición de propuestas de leyes educativas.
Vote in local, state, and federal elections for public officials who support education. - Vote en las elecciones locales, estatales y federales por los funcionarios públicos que apoyan la educación.
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