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Pre-school math, TSN, 20-somethings

Education Roundup

The Teacher Support Network is expanding to the middle school grades with a pilot program at Altimira Middle School this fall. In order to make this work, they are seeking additional volunteers willing to help out one day a week in sixth-grade classrooms. They hope to find six volunteers willing to start shortly. A perfect volunteer need only be able to remember his or her fifth-grade math, which may include fractions, percentages, decimals and integers (and TSN has math resources for you to brush up on if needed). Reading group volunteers are also sought. For more information, contact Sallie Kyle-Moore at sallie@svtsn.org

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If you are interested in data about your child’s school (class sizes, proficiency rates, etc), a new School Quality Snapshot has been released by the state, summarizing the progress or lack of progress that has been made at every public school in the state. Visit cde.ca.gov/schoolqualitysnapshot/ and enter your school’s name. There is a lot of data there. When you see State Rank and Similar School Rank, however, be aware that these are percentile bands. So when it says that Adele Harrison has a ranking of 5 in the state, that equates to the fifth-stanine (a method of scaling test scores on a nine-point standard scale with a mean of five and a standard deviation of two) out of 10 stanines. A 5 State Rank places a school around the 50th percentile.

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The Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 4 that more and more colleges are vetting applicants using social media. There is no way a huge university has time to do it for all candidates but the article cites admission officers on the record discussing how, if they are wary, on the fence, or alerted to look out for something, they will check up on an applicant. Rensselaer Polytechnic recounts quickly and easily finding cases of plagiarism, bullying and accusations of sexual assault. Students, Google yourselves today.

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Most parents are more focused on phonetic awareness than math in the pre-school years. But there is a renewed emphasis on helping pre-schoolers learn about numbers, spatial thinking and measurement. You can download a free book on “Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood” at nap.edu. Or you can find a summary of the math skills that pre-schoolers should have at everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/pre-k/goals/. The two recommended TV programs introducing pre-schoolers to math concepts are Sesame Street and Team Umizoomi. If you are headed to New York City on vacation, bring your children to the new Museum of Mathematics opening Saturday, Dec.15.

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Discovery Day North Bay will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, with more than 40 hands-on exhibits experiments and demos. Students can launch a catapult, create a pulsar, extract DNA, eat liquid nitrogen ice cream and build a phone app. This free event is open to all ages. bayareascience.org.

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There is an interesting book just published about why so many kids in their 20s are living at home without a plan and without a purpose. The book, “Twenty Something: Why Do Young Adults Seem Stuck?” is by the mother-daughter journalist duo Robin and Samantha Henig, who believe that the reason kids today are still living with their parents and “finding themselves” is that 20-somethings are taking longer and longer to grow up. The book combines science, research, commentary and observation and is getting a lot of attention in the media.

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I love the idea of bedtimemath.org, which will email you a new math question every day that is appropriate (and fun) to work on with your child (three levels of questions). Here are the questions on the day I checked:

Wee ones (counting on fingers): If 1/2/03 was the cool all-in-a-row date in 2003, what was it in 2004?

Little kids: A couple of years ago we had the date 10/10/10. How many dates like that are there in total between 2000 and 2100? Bonus: How many cool all-in-a-row dates have we had since 2000, including today?

Big kids: ’12 is a great year because lots of numbers multiply out to 12. This year we had 1/12/12, 2/6/12 … how many of those dates does this year have in total? Bonus: What’s the next year when we’ll have as many dates like that?

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Sassarini is hosting a free movie night on Friday, Oct. 19, to raise money for the fifth-grade outdoor education trip. The movie, “Madagascar 3,” will start at 6:30 p.m. in its multipurpose room with lots of movie food for sale. Kids are urged to bring blankets and pillows. Parents must stay with their children (no drop-offs).

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The Sonoma Charter School started its read-a-thon on Oct. 15. Prizes are awarded for the top minutes in K-1, 2-3, 4-5 and 6-8 and the top three pledge earners schoolwide, with other prizes just for participating.

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Santa Rosa Junior College’s Public Safety Training Center is sponsoring “Career Day” on Saturday, Oct. 20. The event is designed to introduce students to the law enforcement, fire technology, and emergency medical care programs offered at the center in Windsor. Job requirements will be explained and representatives from various North Bay agencies will answer questions and engage in recruiting. Interested students must pre-register and submit paperwork signed by a high school counselor, principal and parent. The free “Career Day” takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 5743 Skylane Blvd. in Windsor. See the Sonoma Valley High School’s College and Career Center for more information.

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Yahoo News has reported that a couple in Hong Kong is suing a Boston educational consultant for the $2 million they say they paid him to get their two sons into top prep schools and, ultimately, an Ivy League university. According to press reports, both boys ended up at elite schools, just not Harvard. That said, the consultant asked for an egregious amount of money.

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Elsewhere in crazy parent news, moms and dads in New York City are notorious for prepping their pre-schoolers for gifted and talented (GATE) program tests. Last year, nearly 5,000 children qualified for kindergarten GATE programs there, more than double the total from just four years ago (meanwhile only 400 spots open up each year). NYC will now rely less heavily on the Otis Lennon Ability Test for its IQ testing and more on the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT). The NNAT is said to be less reliant on language (thus more fair to ELL students), emphasizes abstract spatial thinking and, most importantly, is less vulnerable to test preparation. A NYC bookstore sold out of the $149 NNAT prep book shortly after the news was announced.

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I am eager for more stories and information about younger students in Sonoma. I see a lot of news out of the high school and less from our elementary and middle schools. If your student is doing something cool inside or outside the classroom, please let me know.