Senior Dad Briefing Room

Ingrid Shafer has team taught at the college level for 40 years at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. She is a Professor of Philosophy and Religion and more degrees to boot. She is a new friend and I asked her how we should teach our quicker learners. That's where our conversation started. I hope you enjoy listening to Ingrid as much as I enjoyed thinking with her.

Bill Glasser is a psychiatrist who developed Choice theory he also has a position on redefining mental health. There are 18 schools in the country designated as Glasser Schools which means they teach the Choice theory as part of their curriculum. Bill is truly one of the great creative thinkers of our time and in our multi-part conversation with Bill we learn some of the events that shaped his thinking.

The environment that a child learns in can determine outcome. At school how we treat the child not only effects how the child learns but also teaches the child how to treat others. If a teacher uses power, force or abuse to teach, that is what a child will learn. The Grand Traverse Academy in Traverse City MI uses none of these. It is a Bill Glasser inspired school and it uses "a gentle way to teach". Kaye Mentley the superintendent of the school district tells us how they do it.

Jose Barillas is the Principal of Thurgood Marshal Middle School in Chicago IL and is a hero. I thought about our conversation for 1 month after we recorded it before I could edit it. His story so gripped and troubled me I needed the time to gather perspective. He has taught for 30 years. His school which is a small school (400 students) has been selected one of the “Schools to watch”. Now in the sunset years of his career he looks at what has changed and what needs to be done. Jose’s school has 97% free lunch and 85% Latino. Jose helps us understand what is happening with parental involvement at his school and how it affects the children.

Holly Seerley is the mother of a child with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and Dyslexia. She faces the issues that normally confront a parent with a child with those conditions, but when he was in middle school, a new condition arose; Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSS), and Holly’s challenge was intensified. We’re all venerable to having a child or parent with PTSS. Holly shares what it is like.

The Wisdom of Deb MeierOne of the founders of the modern day small schools movement Deb Meier looks back at the small school movement and sees dangers she never envisioned. Still a supporter of small schools she sees nonetheless a possibility for oppression. Deb tells us what she thought when she started the modern day small school movement years ago in Harlem.

Mel Levine didn’t do well in elementary or grade school. He had a sense of humor and made his classmates laugh. When his classmates came to his house to play he told his mother to tell them he wasn’t home. He would rather play with his animals and play in his own mind. His older brother got into Harvard and had Mel visit him on weekends. These visits excited Mel’s mind and he became an A student from then on. Mel’s brother found the way in to help Mel learn. Mel graduated first in his class at Brown, became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, went to Harvard Medical School and is now the Director of the University of North Carolina Center for the Study of Development and Learning. Mel is one of the leading figures in the world in the study of the different ways that people learn. Mel doesn’t believe that one way or 5 ways or 10 ways fits all. There is a way to reach every child we just have to follow the clues. Mel spurns labels like “Autism”, “Bipolar”, “ADHD” and likes to visualize the child as they will be at 24.

The divorce rate among parents with children with extra needs is reported to be 85% within the first five years of diagnosis. Mary McFarland nationally know Oakland California based Psychotherapist discusses these startling figures. We explore the possible reasons for this and actions that couples can take to reduce the chances of divorce. Although this show focuses on parents with extra needs children it can apply to all parents.

If being a teen is so hard, why does it have to be hard for the parent as well? Dr. Anthony Wolf is a nationally known author and child psychologist specializing in Teens. We discuss some of the behaviors we can expect from our children as they become teens, why they appear to hate us and what conflict is going on within the teen. We also discuss a parent/teen education program that Anthony is working with to engage parents and teens in discussing risk behaviors centered around driving.

Sir Ken Robinson is one of the foremost critical thinkers in the world today in the fields of creativity, ingenuity, and education. He is to those fields what Stephen Hawking is to physics. We learn Sir Ken’s views on the best direction for education to change, including No Child Left Behind, Inclusion, ADHD, education and the arts, education for the workplace and equality in schools.Sir Ken has sampled first hand different types of educational methods. He was born into a modest income family in Liverpool, the fifth of seven children. He contracted Polio when he was four and was sent to a school for disabled children. Later, he was included in a regular school, went on to university, and then on to an outstanding career in education. We learn how his background shaped his ideas and provided the foundation for his insightful understanding of education and creativity today.

Marcella Pixley was bullied when she was a girl in middle school. She had a different developmental clock than the other girls her age, which exposed her to taunting. As an adult Marcella teaches middle school and sees how much has changed and how much has remained the same. She views daily how preteens relate to each other. Marcella wrote a hard hitting, truthful gritty novel about her experiences called “Freak” to help young girls and parents understand this difficult growth stage. We talk with her about the book, how she writes and the effect writing the book had on her. She also shares her hopes about the effect of the book will have on parents and young people.

In the well-behaved community of San Marino California where 60-70% of the students have after-school tutors, there is discontent brewing. Although the school district boasts the highest API scores in the state, there are rumblings that the high school students are not getting into the best colleges that their scores would indicate. A relentless regime of homework has stripped away family time and enrichment. Tracy Mason is upset about the effect that homework is having on her daughter. Tracy made an in-depth analysis of all the available studies about homework and was startled to find that homework does not increase learning as it chips away at parental rights. She has embarked on a project to change her school district’s homework policy. At her first meeting over 20 parents attended. This is a school district that many families have cultural traditions that value vast amounts of homework. She already has been threatened and verbally attacked for speaking out in this typically quiet community. Tracy and the

Amanda Cockshutt is a PhD, a university professor, a parent, and an advocate for parent’s rights. She lives in eastern Canada and has worked with her local schools to gain a voice for restoring family time. We chat about language immersion programs, homework, child discipline, and teacher re-education. Amanda exposes us to some evolutionary ideas and actions by some progressive educators. Amanda Cockshutt, moving forward softly.

Lice. Even saying the word can make your scalp itch. I can remember that creepy feeling each time we received a note form school informing us that lice have been detected in our school. Check the heads, wash the linens and heads with toxic soaps and think unkind thoughts about the children that brought that unwelcome vermin into our environment. And then do it again 10 days later. Dale Clayton is an entomologist, a professor at the University of Utah, and he tells us new things about lice, and shatters common accepted beliefs about the little pest. Dale teaches us that a new way to treat lice that can come to market in less than a year, with no consumables. A real money saver for schools as children don’t miss school and the per diem funding doesn’t slow down. Dale Clayton, lousebuster.

Nancy Kalish is an education activist. She frequently appears on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times. She co-authored “The Case Against Homework” with Sara Bennett, a contributor to Senior Dad.  In conversation with Stan Goldberg she alerts us to a key reason our teens seem to be asleep the first period of the day.  After that she fills us in on what’s been happening around the country as homework policies change, including new ideas about school work at home and why some of our children are not learning to love to read.  These topics and more in “Nancy Kalish—Unvarnished Truth”.

Heddi Craft is an educator. She has taught school on most levels K-6 and has been a consultant for the Curriculum Leadership Institute. After moving to Santa Cruz, California, and beginning to raise a family she noticed how quickly her son learned the lessons from his $12-20 puzzles. Looking around for a better solution than purchasing more learning tools at the pace of her son’s voracious appetite, she founded the Educational Resource Center of Santa Cruz, a membership based lending library of educational toys, games, and learning materials. In conversation with Senior Dad, Stan Goldberg, she shares her ideas of “No Child Left Behind”, homework, teacher retraining and actions for parents. Heddi Craft reaching children differently

There was a time that Robyn O’Brien never gave a thought to what she or her family ate. One day at breakfast, her fourth child ate a scrambled egg, turned red, started looking like a blown up balloon, and changed Robyn’s view of allergies and nutrition forever. Nutrition education became a basic of Robyn’s family. As Robyn learned more about how food is produced, she was alarmed by all the dangers we are never told about. She shares what she has learned in a conversation with Senior Dad Stan Goldberg, as they talk about what to feed your family, the links from genetically engineered milk hormones to breast cancer, prostrate cancer, and ovarian cancer. They talk about government penalties to organic growers, and about school lunches. Robyn O’Brien, “The Mighty Nutritionist”

Every parent wants to have a happy child. Some are born happy and some are not and that’s that. Maybe not. Christine Carter, Director of the Greater Good Science Center at University of California at Berkley, shares techniques that you can use to make your child happier. A child’s feelings of happiness can be adjusted as much as 40%. Senior Dad Stan Goldberg chats with her about happiness habits, the happiness set point, learning how to correct a child’s mistakes without damaging the child, how to raise emotionally literate children, and benefits from altruism.Christine Carter- Teaching your child happy ways.

Do we have freedom of speech in schools? Over the past several years we have seen an assault on free speech. Onerous censorship not only gagged the mouths of our scientists, but perhaps more troubling, there is a pervasive involuntary censorship that citizens have placed on themselves for fear of speaking out. What are students and parents rights to speak out at school? Can someone edit your email? Can your viewpoint be censored in committee? Can a student article in the school newspaper be censored? Will the IRS take away the tax status of a 501(c)3 because of something said on non-profit’s listserv? Should free speech of members be restricted? Senior Dad Stan Goldberg is joined by David Greene, Executive Director of THE FIRST AMENDMENT PROJECT, Mike Hiestand, Legal Consultant for the Student Press Law Center and Rachel Norton, Mother, Listserv Moderator and newly announced candidate for School Board.

When a parent like Katy Franklin, who has a child with autism, donates time to aid other parents, it is a gift. Time is at a premium in her life. She is helping other parents navigate the special needs program of the San Francisco Unified School District.  Katy is a member of the Community Advisory Committee on Special Needs of the San Francisco Unified School District School Board.  The Committee sends out a newsletter twice a year from the committee to the parents of extra needs children in the district, that is distributed by the San Francisco Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA).One issue was sent out, and then the difficulties began. When given the second newsletter in July 2007, the SELPA manager David Wax assured the Committee that it would be translated into two languages.  This took until January 2008 but came back without any translation. A further delay was caused when the Committee was told there were “issues” with the ‘frequently asked questions’ section of the newsletter. Katy had included