Dear e3 family and friends,
I hope your summer days have been a mix of utter relaxation and mind-blowing fun! In the month of August, we must gradually turn our attention to the many things that equip our children for a successful school year ahead. We need to get back into routine, so that we are prepared to juggle our busy schedules and time-sensitive demands. I encourage each of you to take time these next, few weeks to begin the necessary transition and gear up slowly and steadily. Get back to the healthy fundamentals of nutrition, exercise, sleep, and tender loving care for yourself and each member of your family, as well.
My staff and I are here to get your children's brains warmed up on all the math and literacy basics, but also to provide the vital support of social/emotional preparation for the school year ahead. Another critical element to weave in before the start of school are the executive functioning skills to boost performance in planning, organizing, prioritizing, shifting, memorizing, and checking. The more we can help our children prepare for what lies ahead, the more they will be equipped with the tools for success and empowerment to step into their days with utter confidence.
Please lean on me and my wonderful teaching staff, so that we can help facilitate an easier start and successful flow to the year.
Warm hugs,
Becky
|
Yelp Discount:
Families that have a Yelp review featured on our e3 Yelp pages will receive a discount on their next invoice.
|
|
Welcome to the e3 Family!
This school year brings exciting changes. Please welcome our new Academic Specialists!
Introducing Rebecca
!
Rebecca M
ariotti is originally from Northern Californi
a and
has been liv
ing in S
an Diego
f
o
r the past 10 years. She graduated f
rom San Diego State University
with a B.A. in Communic
ations and a minor
in Psychology - wi
th an emphasis on personal and social development. Since graduating, she has worked with students in various grade levels from kindergarten to eighth grade as a teacher's assistant, tutor, mentor, and special education aide. Rebecca has also volunteered with the San Diego Public Library as a Homework Coach and Expandin
g Your Horizons, an annual STEM conference for girls ages 9-14. She is passionate about empowering all e3 students and supporting them in achieving academic and personal success. Currently, Rebecca is a graduate student at Point Loma Nazarene University pursing a Master's Degree in School Counseling with a PPS credential. In her free time Rebecca loves spending time at the beach, practicing yoga and Pilates, reading, and cooking. Keep an eye out for Rebecca in our Encinitas office!
Meet
Audrey! 
Audrey Morrison is originally from Burlingame, CA. She moved to San Diego in 2012 to begin her undergraduate education at the University of San Diego. Audrey will be graduating this May from USD with a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience. While an undergraduate student, Audrey studied abroad in Florence, Italy and also participated in a non-profit study abroad experience known as Semester at Sea, during which she traveled by ship to Europe, South America and the Caribbean. Throughout her college career, Audrey has worked with students of all ages, as well as children with both intellectual and physical disabilities. She spent time as a swim instructor and as a volunteer teacher's aid, working with students on reading, writing, math and communication skills at a kindergarten in El Cajon. Audrey has a passion for developing unique relationships with all of her students and hopes to grow and develop new approaches to teaching and learning here at e3 consulting. In
her spare time, she enjoys listening to music, running, swimming, spending time with her dogs, friends and family as well as reading and traveling. Look for Audrey in our Del Mar office!
Hello to Lauren!
Originally fr
 om New Jersey, Lauren Thornhill graduated from Elon University with a degree in history and education. She is currently pursuing her Masters degree in speech-language pathology and looks forward to cultivating excellent communication skills in all her clients. She taught middle school social studies while living in North Carolina, and was particularly passionate about fostering her student's civic responsibility, critical thinking, writing, reading, and public speaking skills. Since moving to California, Lauren has worked closely with students of all ages. She finds great joy in meeting each person's special learning needs and is thrilled for the opportunity to share this passion with e3 students. As an instructional aide, Lauren guided study skills groups, provided in class support, and ran pullout groups with more individualized instruction. As a behavior interventionist, Lauren led in-home Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Verbal Behavior therapy for students with autism. In her free time, Lauren enjoys most any activity that lets her be out and about in the beautiful San Diego sunshine! She loves working out, hiking, bike riding, snorkeling, scuba diving, cooking, and spending time with her Marine Corps husband and lovable black lab named Rotor. You'll find Lauren in our Encinitas office this year!
|
|
S
CREENAGERS
Growing up in the Digital Age
DELANEY RUSTON - Documentary Filmmaker
By Mae Quigley
In June I attended a showing of the popular documentary,
SCREENAGERS: Growing up in the Digital Age. Documentary Filmmaker Delaney Ruston is a mother of two teenagers and also a practicing physician. She invites the audience on her personal journey to navigate the delicate and often fragile balance between boundaries and limitations for screen usage. As she watches, "her children scroll through life, with rapid fire thumbs and a six second attention span," Ruston questions the impact this is having on the their brains, development, and overall social life. The reality is that on average most children spend close to 6.5 hours a day on screens, not including screen time for classroom or homework. The film looks at the effects of social media, video games, and that technology in general, have on our current generation of youths and their families. It further explores the family system and how to ideally create balanced, healthy use of modern technology in the home and in daily life.
Ruston found the best way to manage her own family's screen use was to set boundaries, including a contract created and adhered to by the entire family. Surprisingly, each of the children interviewed in the film, including Ruston's own two
children, we're glad there were rules in place with regard to screen time. Many of them reported that it had become like an addiction to them and alone, they couldn't moderate their own usage. They even openly admitted that if allowed to unlimited access to their devices, they feared that they never get any work done and even fail out of school. This candidness presented a very complex and controversial topic in a believable, endearing way.
Screenagers is definitely a film that inspires you to want to take action in your own home, without taking away all privileges. Ultimately the film suggests that in order to create positive change, as with anything it starts in yourself and in your own home. It also demonstrates that taking a collaborative approach with your children with regard to technology usage, may prove to be the most successful.
Official Trailer: http://www.screenagersmovie.com/
|
Encouraging Our Students to Ask Questions
The Right Question Institute (RQI) held the Best Practices in Question Formulation Technique Conference in Costa Mesa this June. Speakers, and founders, Luz Santana and Dan Rothstein, aimed to provide educators with the tools to encourage students to ask questions, and find answers to those questions, in the classroom.
We all know the typical, and often endless, questions we hear from our students and kids: "Are we there yet? Do I have to eat that? Why do I have to go to bed?" As our students grow, these questions are less frequent. We may rejoice in not hearing the endless "Why's" but when did asking questions become a bad thing? RQI believes that we should be encouraging our kids to ask questions and seek answers to those questions. Not only does it provide a framework for learning, but it also leads to a higher level of thinking and classroom engagement in students.
So how do we get our students to ask questions instead of just telling them what we think they should know?
One day my 5-year-old son started asking question after question about tornadoes. I figured I could use this opportunity to practice my question formulation technique and explained to him that I would type up every question he had about tornadoes and then we would research that information. After we hit a list of about 6 items I asked him to pick the one he wanted to know the most, and we began researching. I could see how the simple process gave him a voice for what he did and didn't want to know about. Then of course, the more we researched, the more his curiosity increased, and the more questions he had about not just tornadoes, but other topics.
Here are some simple steps to use on a daily basis and with any situation:
Step 1: Give them a visual or statement, or even turn a topic
they want to know about into a question formulation
exercise. Example: You are going to start a new
reading book, so have your student look at the book
cover, title or a quote from the text.
Step 2: Have them write as many questions as they can
about it in 5 minutes. No statements. No discussion or
judgment.
Step 3: Prioritize questions by picking the three that are most
important to them.
Step 4: Reflect upon questions they chose and how they felt
about the asking questions.
Step 5: Get down to business: start reading your book,
discussing the topic, or doing research using the
questions as a guide. Turn it into a game: have your
student check off questions they answer.
Not sure what to do for family activities or assigning chores? Turn it into a question formulation activity. Simply give them the statement "Everyone has to participate in chores." Then let them start asking as many questions as they can about that statement. Not only are you gauging how your child feels about a particular topic, but you are also empowering them to make decisions and be leaders. You may find that they will even make suggestions that you wouldn't have thought about. They will begin to feel like they have control over what happens on the home front.
For more information visit: http://rightquestion.org/
|
How to Teach Our Children to Live Empathetically
By Meghan Malloy
The University of San Diego annual Character Matters Conference, held in June, was kicked off by keynote speaker Michele Borba's presentation on "How to Activate Kids Empathy". Michele Borba is an educational psychologist and world-renowned author who strives to
"help strengthen children's character and resilience, build strong families, create compassionate and just school cultures, and reduce peer cruelty."
At the conference, she shared with educators several different empathy building habits from her most recent book,
Unselfie
. Michele stressed that in order to live empathetically first you need to develop empathy, then you need to practice it and only then can you live it. Yet, empathy needs role models, it needs someone to activate and cultivate caring in children, and that is where parents and educators can help. In order to increase empathy in kids, Michele emphasized that these habits need to be reinforced in the everyday lives of our children. The habits that children must practice daily include:
-
Emotional Literacy: Empathetic children can recognize, understand and verbalize emotion.
-
Moral Identity: They have a moral identity that helps to guide their empathetic urges. Writing down quotes and passages that resonate with them in a journal, or quotes of the day are ways to develop and maintain a moral identity.
-
Perspective Taking: It is important for children to understand the needs and opinions of others by stepping into their shoes and realizing it isn't always about them. Handicap and blindness awareness days and national history day are ways in which schools can incorporate this habit into the lives of their students.
-
Self Regulation: Children need to be able to stay calm and cool. A couple ways to integrate this habit into daily life is with quiet time with deep breathing and vegging, having a calm corner where kids can go to self regulate before they blow up, and by encouraging kids to "just breathe" when they feel stressed and overwhelmed.
-
Collaboration: They think cooperatively and work together. An excellent way to practice this habit is through team building activities that aren't competitive and having learning buddies.
-
Moral Imagination: Reading literary fiction elevates parts of the brain that triggers empathy, and books and films allow kids to feel for others and see where they are coming from.
-
Practicing Kindness: Children are friendly and kind to others, and think beyond themselves.
|
|
|
|
Kattie Orian
Academic Specialist &
Newsletter Editor
|
|
JOKE OF THE MONTH
Teacher: "If I gave you 2 cats
and another 2 cats and
another 2, how many would
you have?"
Teacher: "No, listen carefully...
If I gave you 2 cats, and
another 2 cats and another
2, how many would you have?"
Johnny: "Seven."
Teacher: "Let me put it to you
differently. If I gave you 2
apples, and another 2 apples
and another 2, how many
would you have?"
Johnny: "Six."
Teacher: "Good. Now if I gave
you 2cats, and another 2 cats
and another 2, how many
would you have?"
Johnny: "Seven!"
Teacher: "Johnny, where in the
heck do you get seven from?!"
Johnny: "Because I've already
got a cat!"
|
Please take a moment to
Instagram
so that you may stay in the know about our exciting events and share in our informative posts.
|
Tropical Energy Bars
In a world of fast food and packaged goods, it is hard to find snacks that are good for you with simple ingredients.
The perfect afternoon pick me up, even your kids will love, and is easy and fun to make. You can find all of the ingredients at Trader Joes and won't have to break the bank to do so.
Ingredients:
- 1½ cups naturally dried mango, diced
- 1 cup naturally dried apricots, diced
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Preparation:
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend for 2-3 minutes until the dried fruit has broken down into crumb sized pieces and all of the ingredients are clumping together into a ball
- Remove the ingredients and place in an 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Firmly flatten the mixture evenly across the pan, it should be approximately ½ an inch in thickness
- Place the pan in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour but preferably overnight to allow the mixture to harden and become easier to cut.
- Once firm to the touch, cut into squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for over a month.
|
|
|
1. Social Media is a competition for kids; the number of "likes" received equ
ate to
self-esteem and self-importance. Everything is based on how you look, especially
for young girls.
2. Multi-tasking: brain is tricked into thinking that you are improving (feels good, accomplishment). Research shows that this is actually false and leads to a decrease in individual abilities.
3. Rapid Pace Media (RPM)- kids are bombarded with information and imagery causing a release of hormones that give pleasure, becoming addicting.
4. Restart- rehab for internet addiction is usually 45-90 days.
5. Pre-frontal Cortex is the area that controls self-control. Over stimulation is harmful. Self-control and the ability to delay gratification is a huge indicator of
future success. Self- regulation and self-control can be learned; however media
and technology do not reinforce or support this principle.
6. Social media and technology are taking away from the "human situation," or face-to-face socialization and interaction. It's a way of "looking busy," which in turn makes you look cool or avoiding awkward and socially uncomfortable situations.
7. Effects of violent video games: Although there is no evidence to support a direct correlation to the increase in violent behaviors with violent video games, it may contribute to increased cheating, moral disengagement, and
aggressive thoughts, and decreased sensitivity to violence, injury and
death. Kids can lose empathy.
8. Promote pro-social games and set limits rather
than taking it away completely.
|
Character Development Conference
By Kathleen Whitaker
In June, The University of San Diego held a conference for educators focused on the importance of teaching character development in the classroom. Whereas thirty years ago children learned how to empathize with others while running around on the playground and having face-to-face discussions with their parents, it has now become common for parents to put iPads and tablets in their children's cradles to keep them occupied. Although technology is an extremely useful tool, it is no substitute for a deep parental connection between parents and their children. Empathy is a verb that can only be learned face to face. Likewise, communication skills are not something we instinctively acquire and so they need to be taught, just as empathy is something we learn to have and cannot acquire without face-to-face contact with other human beings.
Character development can and should be a part of every aspect of education, from the value of hard work and diligence to kindness and patience. Our children need to be taught how to express themselves clearly and appropriately and to learn how to listen and feel for others. Recently, all of the Ivy League schools, all 81, signed an agreement to change their admittance policies. Instead of focusing on grade-point averages and test scores, they are going to look for students who are passionate about their work, follow their own personal inner-drive, and demonstrate strong character and leadership skills. The fortune 500 companies have become very concerned over the past decade because more often than not the people they've been hiring from Ivy League schools have no idea how to relate to others.
|
|
Community Events
La Jolla Music Society
When: August 3, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Where:
Ellen
Browning Scripps Park
Price: Free
When: August 13, 9:30am-6pm
Where:
Cardiff-by-the-Sea
Price: Free
When: Aug 26 - 28, 2016
Where:
City of Carlsbad Library
Price: $5-$10 General Admission
|
Start Your School Year Off Right!
You may dread the start of a new school year, thinking about the end of those fun summer days, but a new school year can be a new start.
This year, think of that first day of school as a a clean slate. Forget the test you may have not aced, or the teacher that you didn't like. It is a chance to make new goals, learn new things, try a new approach, maybe even make a few new friends.
So what is your "new school year" resolution going to be?
|
|
|
