Back to School Advice from Parent to Parent

Posted on August 28, 2010 at 3:51 pm

Common Sense Media has a very worthwhile list of back to school tips from the people who’ve been there — other parents. I especially like the idea of taking cell phones and putting them on an out-of-bedroom charger before bed and telling kids that privileges are earned by good behavior, not by reaching a particular age or grade. I support a no-television-or-movies-or-games-on-school-nights rule from kindergarten on, and strongly urge parents not to allow televisions or computers in a child’s bedroom, at meals, or on car trips of under an hour. Most important on the CSM list is, as always, for parents to set a good example. One of the best things you can do to get your child’s school year off to a good start is to let them see you sitting down often to enjoy a good book.

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Parenting School

A Small Act: HBO Documentary about Transformation on $15 a Month

Posted on July 17, 2010 at 3:55 pm

One of the most inspiring films of the year is A Small Act. It is a documentary about Chris Mburu, a human rights advocate for the United Nations, whose life was transformed when a Swedish woman he never met decided to send $15 a month so that he could go to school.

Mburu is from Kenya. Hilda Back, now 85, survived the Holocaust but lost her family. She worked as a schoolteacher and never married. She hoped that the $15 a month she sent, her “small act,” would make a difference in the life of a child by making it possible for him to get an education. Mburu was so successful in school that he graduated from Harvard Law School and now spends his life fighting genocide and injustice.

In this film, Mburu, who has already set up a scholarship fund in Ms. Back’s name, meets her for the first time. She comes to his village, sees where he is from, celebrates with his people. And three students compete for a chance like the one Back gave Mburu. What small acts will they benefit from? What small acts will they make possible? What will you?

A Small Act

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Documentary Television

The Providence Effect

Posted on September 24, 2009 at 9:29 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grades
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for mild thematic elements
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Reference to poverty and other challenges faced by children and their families
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	September 25, 2009

You often hear the expression “feel-good movie” and it usually refers to a heart-warming romantic comedy or maybe something with penguins. This is a real feel-good movie because it is a real story. A man with a passionate commitment to children, to education, and to his community took a school on the brink of being closed down and made it into a place where teachers and students set, meet, and exceed the highest of standards for achievement in all categories, including character.

The students at Providence St. Mel do not have fancy computers or calculators. They live in a community that struggles with gangs, drugs, and poverty. But they have families who work several jobs to pay a portion of the school’s tuition (every student in the school has a scholarship) and they have teachers who feel lucky to be there and make the students feel lucky, too.

An unabashed valentine to the school, Providence St. Mel, and its driving force, civil rights activist Paul J. Adams III, and at times it feels more like an infomercial than a movie. But it is a genuine privilege to spend time with these passionate, committed students and teachers. We follow the principal through the halls. We sit in circle time with seven-year-olds whose teacher has them not just participating but conducting the session. We see a graduating class that is sending 100 percent of the seniors to top colleges. And we see graduates returning to talk about how Providence St. Mel gave them what they needed to succeed in college, grad school, and the working world. We see their genuine excitement in learning, their pride in their sense of mastery, and the way that the confidence their teachers and parents have in them inspires them to learn. And that may just be the most important lesson that Providence St. Mel has to teach, turning all of us who watch this film into students who want to learn more.

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Documentary Movies -- format

Back to School Movies

Posted on September 6, 2009 at 8:00 am

Last year, I made lists of great movie college professors, and high school and grade school teachers. In honor of the first week of school, here are some of my other favorite and family-friendly classroom classics:

1. The Magic School Bus Oh, if only every school field trip could be as exciting and informative as the ones the indefatigable Miss Frizzle goes on with her students. From the farthest reaches of the solar system to the smallest cells of the human body, Miss Frizzle and her students take us with them.

2. Miss Nelson Has a Field Day Miss Nelson is a sweet-tempered soul, but when students do not behave, watch out! Miss Viola Swamp is the substitute teacher. Between them, they teach their students many very important lessons.

3. High School Musical Go Wildcats! Jocks and brainiacs find common ground in singing and dancing in these tuneful, irresistibly disarming instant classics from Disney.

4. Lucas Everyone — yes everyone — feels like an insecure outsider at some point in school. I like the way this film shows us from the beginning that while its main character may still be a caterpillar, we know he will be a butterfly long before he does. Great performances by all, including a young Charlie Sheen, and props to the film-makers for staying far away from easy stereotypes.

5. Mad Hot Ballroom A program to teach ballroom dancing to New York City 5th graders in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens sounds like the last thing in the world that would be interesting or relevant to today’s 5th graders. But the beauty of this movie is the way that it shows that grace, dignity, elegance, and pride in mastering a skill are important, thrilling, and transformational.

PS 22 Sings

Posted on June 27, 2009 at 8:00 am

In the documentary Young @ Heart, we saw how elderly people singing rock songs gave the music a resonance and power that even its platinum-record-selling originators could not have imagined. And now we see the way that children led their sweet, sincere voices to rock and pop songs thanks to a talented music teacher at New York’s PS 22. Their touching renditions of songs like “Landslide,” “Don’t Stop Believing” (coincidentally also featured in the new television series “Glee”), and “Viva La Vida” have become a YouTube sensation that has led to appearances on Good Morning America and the Bonnie Hunt Show.

Many thanks to Kyle Osborne for bringing this beautiful choir to my attention. It reminds me of the wonderful Innocence and Despair, recordings made in 1976 by an elementary school music teacher who had his students sing classic rock/baby boomer music.

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Music Shorts