The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers – from NYTimes

A few weeks old, but I just caught wind of this article in the New York Times business section. It presents research based on adult outcomes rather than test scores about how an excellent Kindergarten teacher can have an excellent long-term effect for education.

Early this year, Mr. Chetty and five other researchers … examined the life paths of almost 12,000 children who had been part of a well-known education experiment in Tennessee in the 1980s. The children are now about 30, well started on their adult lives.

On Tuesday, Mr. Chetty presented the findings — not yet peer-reviewed — at an academic conference in Cambridge, Mass. They’re fairly explosive.

This is right in line with our thinking as we develop el Rio – one of our main core values being teacher support, empowerment, and professional development.

I don’t know about $320,000 salaries – we’ll have to sell a LOT of birds.

Parents of el Rio at La Culebra Park * THIS SATURDAY!

Come find out what an incised ziggurat is! Join the development team and our families this Saturday, August 14th at 11am for our second play date for the parents of el Rio.

This one is at La Tieraa de la Culebra Art Park, located at 240 South Avenue 57 in Highland Park.

From their website:

The centerpiece of [this two acre] art park is a 550 foot long sculptural serpent, La Culebra, as well as revolving mural panels, an urban forest of over 150 trees, gardens, incised ziggurat, a stage, sundial, pond, sculptural amphitheater.

Look for Development Team member Kim Ilas under the trees.
Kim is striking and tall and mocha-skinned and has long dread locks and twin daughters.
<—— There she is now!

See you there!

CANCELED * Second Play Date for Parents of el Rio! * CANCELED

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER!

Come out to Sycamore Grove Park on Saturday July 17th to join other interested el Rio parents and el Rio Development Team members and our kids for an informal get together.

This will be our second get together like this, we hope to do this monthly so we can all get to know each other and to begin to organize el Rio volunteers.

Saturday, July 17th – 11:00am look for Development Team member Kim Ilas at Sycamore Grove Park – 4702 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042 – at the newer playground in the back of the park.
Kim is striking and tall and mocha-skinned and has long dread locks and twin daughters.
<—— There she is now!

See you there!

Parents of el Rio – this Saturday, June 19th!

Come out to Sycamore Grove Park this Saturday to join other interested el Rio parents and el Rio Development Team members and our kids for an informal get together.

We plan to get together like this regularly so we can all get to know each other and to begin to organize el Rio volunteers.

This Saturday, June 19th – 11:00am look for Development Team member Kim Ilas at Sycamore Grove Park – 4702 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042 – at the newer playground in the back of the park.
Kim is striking and tall and mocha-skinned and has long dread locks and twin daughters.
<—— There she is now!

See you there!

Television :(

The only reason i don’t have a ‘Kill Your Television’ sticker on my bumper is because I don’t know where to get one. I try not to proselytize to my parent friends who find nothing wrong with TV in their homes, and of course I understand what a handy tool an age-appropriate DVD, TV program, or a YouTube can be when you just need a little time to get something done or on a road trip or airplane flight.

photo credit MikeWebkist

Lately, fellow development team member Julia P. has been getting me all riled up about television’s assault on children’s minds. It’s becoming more and more difficult to keep my dirty secret that we don’t watch TV in my house.

Especially when I run across an article like this – I read a brief snippet in a magazine on recent research that links toddler aggression to too much television exposure. I followed the link they gave and found the root article online, which I share with you here – and especially you, Julia P!

“TV is not a benign influence. It does have impact,” said Richard Gallagher, director of the Parenting Institute at the New York University Child Study Center in New York City. And, while content may impact children, he pointed out that children’s behaviors may also be affected by the “opportunities lost.”

That about sums it up for me; not only does television have a negative influence, it also keeps kids sitting indoors passively when they could be outdoors playing in the sunshine.

What do you think? Please share with me your links to other research and articles about the hazards of television for developing minds. Opinions and research of dissent are totally welcome too. Let’s hear it.

Trash for Teaching! AWESOME

Development team member Sheila sent this link to a program in LA; Trash for Teaching

They collect cast-off materials from manufacturers, organize them into bins in a mobile “Treasure Truck” and visit schools to do art workshops with the kids. Sooooo cool. Check it out. I joined their mailing list and watched their video. This is something that el Rio will definitely want to do!

“I learned about that… um… you can make anything out of stuff instead of throwing it away.”
-anonymous kid in the video.

An LA Charter School implements Edible Schoolyard

I was just catching up on my Ramshackle Solid reading and found this article from a last week about a charter school right here in LA who have implemented an Edible Schoolyard for their students.

This is something that el Rio hopes to be able to do on our campus too.

Can’t wait to hear more about Larchmont Charter School’s experience.

Summer Waldorf Teacher Training Courses at Steiner College

Just got word that the Rudolf Steiner College Summer Session is open for registration.

Explore our exciting, diverse summer session workshops, conferences, and Waldorf teacher trainings.

We have a course for you if you are a teacher (early childhood through high school), administrator, artist, gardener/farmer, Spanish teacher, craftsman, parent, meditator, or spiritual seeker.

Whole Children, Whole Planet Expo – April 24th, 2010

The Whole Children, Whole Planet Expo is coming up on Earth day Weekend; April 24th, 2010 9:30 am – 6:00pm at Highland Hall Waldorf School in Northridge.

With workshops on Creating Healthy Eating Habits, Media’s Influence on Children, and many, many more. Also featuring the Yoga Lounge and Free Childcare!

Check it out.

Great NYTimes blog post about Rudolf Steiner

An article from the New York Times Blog paints a well-rounded portrait of Rudolf Steiner, the philosopher who created the Waldorf School. And it tells of a traveling exhibition organized by the Vitra Design Museum; “Rudolf Steiner: Alchemy of the Everyday”

By age 12, I had a rote reply for grown-ups’ quizzical looks when they heard I went to a Waldorf school: “It’s based on the ideas of Rudolf Steiner.” Blank stare. “He was an Austrian philosopher who believed in teaching the whole student — mind, body and soul.” Luckily no one ever asked me to elaborate, because I’d have been at a loss for words — except to say that we students got to do lots of drawing and painting, which I loved, but we couldn’t skip eurythmy class (yuck).