Thinking about breaking boundaries: In a positive way
I am always amazes how quickly we all make assumptions. I am also amazed when children do this so quickly. I have been teaching five year olds about 'transitions'. We start the talk with just understanding the word.
Example:
Hold you arms out wide to the sides of your body. When you go from one reading level to the next reading level you have (show right hand) going from Level 3 to (show left hand) Level 4. Then move the right hand to move over to clap on the left hand. Remember kids love movement and sound!
Go over at least eight different transitions that many children their age have:
Different Rules- We have different rules in Art class than we have in IT class so we make the transition from Art (right hand) to IT (Left hand- don't forget to clap)
Different Friends- Social Adjustment - We have different friends from our home environment to school so we make the transition from local friends to school friends (clap)
Growing in your learning -Knowledge - We transition from Level 3 to Level 4 (clap)
My point is ... after we cover Maslow’s hierarchy of food, water, shelter, safety and security, after our basic needs are met we need to belong. We need to connect. We need to belong to a family, a community – a race of people, a tribe, and a great school.
We need to connect when we don’t connect—life is just functional.
Many global nomads travel around the world but only half heartily work at connections. They are always saying "when I get home" or "I can't wait to go back home this summer". Yes, I can relate but I also know how important it is to make a strong connection to your host country. You need to be connected to your experiences so live each day for a connection and be glad tht you were able to find one in this hectic world we live in.
Focus on reconnection from Keynote at Bangkok Teacher's Network -
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Let me take you back to “my world”. I spent 20 years in North West Kansas in the USA – traveling about 300 miles from my home to exotic family vacation in places such as Cawker City to see the world’s largest ball of twine – A ball of string that weighs about nine tons and has a circumference of 40 feet.
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Or when we went to Coffeyville to see a replica of a two-pound hailstone that fell in Kansas on Sept. 3rd. 1970. I grew up in a very “exciting” place in the Midwest; my hometown was the Cow Chip Capital of Kansas. Every year people from around the world would come to my town to throw cow chips like a frisbee to see how far they would go. We had a population of about 120 people in our town and during the Cow Chip Capital festival the place would grow to over 500 people. That was my life.
You’ll never believe what happened ! I got a scholarship to study “education” in Hawaii so having never been on a plane, I left Russell springs, Kansas to study on the island of Oahu in a small catholic university. Graduation came too quickly – Hawaii is lovely. I decided to continue the island lifestyle and took a job on the Island of American Samoa. Now this is why it is amazing that I am standing here talking to a room full of educators. I almost quit my first week of school.
I liked the small thatched garbanzos of shelters that served as our classroom that over looked the ocean. I liked the breeze and the cement floors and as I settled into my classroom without any walls, I had visions of teaching reading and writing to my kindergarten classroom of 16 students. I was excited and nervous. Eager.
Some therapist use a couch, but Grandma had the kitchen table.
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There is a lot of talk about formation of self esteem and helping children feel valued. Unfortunately many people want the schools to do this not the family. I feel it is the families place --first then the schools. Not the other way around.
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I like to think that I have taken the best parts of my two grandmas and made a special life out of what they valued the most in life. I have a rich life that values both family and education.
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I am a firm believer that I have been bouncing around the world with their genes and loving working with children. I am proud to say I have made pies on the soil of five different continents. I am a proud mother who uses her kitchen table for support and encouragement to my own children and their friends. What have you fostered in your global nomads! What special attributes did Mom or Grandma pass on down to your children and are you fostering them so your child thrives?
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I remember when spending time with Grandma would just make you feel special.
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"Not a Simens, Avery or Wright but someone's grandma that makes me smile"
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I grew up in a farmhouse in Kansas. I lived in a house that had a back room that used to be part of a buffalo hunter’s dugout. Every so often they would add another room to the dugout. The house grew from one room. To a maze of rooms. Once, they build an upstairs. Then they added two more bedrooms. Finally a master bedroom with a bath was added to ground level. (actually this was the only bathroom in the whole house). This was my home for 17 years or as long as I could remember. I loved being told the history of our home.
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But I also loved my Grandma Wright's home. We would travel around on the country road to go miles to my Grandma Wright's home. It seemed like we went there almost every sunday for "Sunday Dinner" which was noon time.
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I loved her kitchen. Grandma Wright taught me how to make the best apple pie in North West Kansas. She would start cooking as soon as we arrived. Not eariler because she wanted her food fresh. Often she would have picked the apples earlier in the morning when she gathered the eggs.
She was happiest when her dinning room table was extended clear across the living room to accommodate her large extended family. We often had to have a smaller 'kids' table. Sometimes I hated the kids table because I was one of the youngest ones and had to learn that older cousins can be mean at times. This was my father's side of the family. Of course, I held my own and in fact often caused the problem.
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My mother's side of the family also had a wonderful grandma. We called her Grangy. My grandma taught in a one room schoolhouse in Kansas. The kids were poor and disadvantaged according to today's standards. I think they were happy. No smart boards or reading levels. No Extra Curricular Activities. No swimming pool during PE classes. No teachers fretting over their self-esteem. No helicopter parents.
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Not knowing any better, my grandma's students went off to college, got degrees and made something of themselves. Some students went off to the teacher's college to give back. Some got married and started families of their own. Most of these kids didn’t want to stay in that area and they moved on to other places.
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But many come back to be buried there. When you stop at the Russell Springs graveyard, you will see over two hundred years worth of Wrights and Avery’s buried there.
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Thanks, Grandma Wright, Thanks Grangy and Thanks, Mom
My mother's day tribute to to my two Grandma's as well as my mother!
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For expat families:
Make use of the summer holidays to reconnect and see what genes might be running through your families life and how you can make sure they are fostered in your global nomads.
This week I had several conversations on the need for kids to have friends. When you are young play dates are important. When you are in early elementary, peers makes school fun. In middle school, peers are vital, they help you feel connected. In High School they validate your feelings.
I think peers are important in all ages and stages of your life.
College kids love to get together to let off stress of work or classes. Adults like to be able to share parts of their lives with people they connect with. Old folks like to sit and talk about their experiences.
This weekend we are doing a combination of fun things. We wanted to celebrate our twenty fifth wedding anniversary and we are in the process of moving...so it seemed logically to have a party. A celebration of the people that have become part of our global life in this window of our world.
When parents come into my office to talk about their children's friends. I take it very serious. We all need connections.
It is clear that peer groups as early as 2nd grade are important to a child.
It is obvious by the 4th grade that peers are vital.
Peers are dominating the lives of 6th ,7th , and 8th graders.
All "Friendship Researchers" come up with things they feel children need to have. I agree with them that these eight things are very important for people.
Kids Need Eight Things In Friends
Affection
Intimacy
Reliable Alliance
Aid or Support When Hurt
Nurturance
Companionship
Enhancement of Self-worth
Sense of Inclusion
Many expat families are getting ready for summer holidays. It is important to foster relationships during the summer time. If you child has a great connection to a cousin--foster it! If you are staying in your host country look for local friends. If you are traveling around with the basic family unit demand that the children are respectful to each other and that their interactions include many of the items listed above.
As we hit the month of May, for many of us this is the end of a long job. Kindergarten to Graduation for our Senior. Many of our students are still deep into studying for the IB exams, completions of projects they wish were distant memories and worring about upcoming college decisions. Most seniors have decided on the college but now other key things kick into gear. Do i seek housing on campus, do I want to have a whole host of 'roommates' or do I want to live in a quiet share with one other person are questions that they ponder.
Education is one of the most important things that I value in life. This is why I am going to seek out the principal of my child's high school and run over the highs and lows of my child's time at his school. I am calling it my exit interview. I feel it is important because as an educator that is not being paid for by this school, I can be honest, timely and truthful about my feedback.
Resilience – one of the most common plus is the quality of time spent with family.
Simens Wedding
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights - in sunsets - In midnights - in cups of coffee - In inches - in miles - In laughter
How do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? - Measure in love - Seasons of love
I am usually not one to talk much about my own person romances. Somethings are private even if you blog about "home life" and "parenting".
My first kiss was...
My first love was ...
At times it is hard to remember since Kevin has been the love of my life for 25 years!
At one time I did have a boyfriend younger than I was...
At one time I did date a basketball player ...
I remember my first kiss with Kevin...
And I remember the last one...
Today we are celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We have spent 13,140,000 minutes in love (not counting the 3 months we were engaged and the few shorts weeks before that when we met) There are so many things I remember about the last 25 years.
Coping is very much a social event. The better you cope with life the more connections you have. But the more social connections you have the better you cope. Reach out and make a new friend today. Global nomads need to have friends is all aspects of their lives.
Coping is social!
Have you fostered your child's friendship skills today?
Friend
a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection
a person who acts as a supporter of a cause or organization
a person who is not an enemy or who is on the same side
a familiar or helpful person
an acquaintance or a stranger one comes across : my friends, let me introduce myself.
This is an interesting radio show about "attitudes". What’s your attitude about? Wed. April 11, 2012
If you go all the way to time (41.44) you can hear Chris Livingston and Larry Jines talk about my blog.
I had a conversation with them about how I feel that kids that know their emotions will make more ethical decisions. They did a shout out about my blog.
"Knowing your emotions helps you make more ethical decisions. Check out Julia’s blog....powerful powerful stuff she is definitely a Maximum Thinker!"
If we could all treat each other like these two kids treat each other. Do you wanted to know if sharing is natural?
On October 7, 2011 Action Against Hunger conducted an experiment in Madrid, Spain to study human behavior when faced with the injustice of hunger. Of the 20 children under study, all 20 shared their food.
