September 2010 - Empowering Families

Supporting ALL Our Kids for a Quality Education

September 15, 2010 by FENadm

We Can Make the Difference When We Collaborate

I just heard that for the first time in the history of our country, this current generation of children will be less literate than the previous generation. And, as we all know, for the last several decades, we have not stacked up too well against 29 other industrialized nations, ranking 25th in math and 21st in science. US kids all falling behind in every category except confidence where they rate #1.

Where I heard this information was on the preview of a fantastic new movie coming out called Waiting for Superman. Check it out right now, even if you are busy. It made me cry, It made me want to storm the streets and say why and how did we let the education system get so bad for so many kids. A kids who doesn’t graduate high school is eight times more likely to go to prison. Is building more prisons the best answer we have to this problem?

What can we do?

Go see Waiting for Superman with a group at a discounted rate and be inspired.
Get involved in your school to make it the best it can be. Raise funds with your PTA so at least there will be more programs for the kids in your school, right now.
Let your kid’s teacher know how much you appreciate the work they do every day and help her/him out in every way you can.
Start a Parent Discussion Group using Raising Our Daughters/Sons focusing on how you, as a group, can contribute to make the school better. There are 100’s of ideas. You’ll know which ones are best for your families and your school.
Advocate for now and forever for school funding. It is incredibly valuable to change laws so school funding has a more stable base. No one advocates for children issues more effectively than Stand for Children
Join Stand for Children and donate your money and your time.They have six state chapters in Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Washington and you can help from wherever you live. Check out their site for their incredible success over and over again at mobilizing people who care about kids to pass legislation that benefits our kids.

Maybe now is the time. Maybe this movie, Waiting for Superman, will be the tipping point we need to wake up this nation to support our kids to succeed, so we can all thrive.

Do we have the courage to collaborate so this can happen? What are your ideas? Share them hear for all of us to see.

In admiration for all you do,
Dr Kathy

Filed Under: Schools and Education Tagged With: healthy school funding, kathy masarie, parent child relationship, parenting guides, quality education, raising our daughters, raising our sons

Supporting ALL Our Kids for a Quality Education

September 15, 2010 by FENadm

We Can Make the Difference When We Collaborate

I just heard that, for the first time in the history of our country, this current generation of children will be less literate than the previous generation. And, as we all know, for the last several decades, we have not stacked up too well against other industrialized nations, ranking 25th in math and 21st in science out of 30. US kids all falling behind in every category except confidence, where they rate a stellar #1.

Where I heard this information was on the preview of a fantastic new movie coming out called Waiting for Superman. Watch the preview right now, even if you are super busy. It made me cry, It made me want to storm the streets and ask, “Why and how did we let the education system get so bad for so many kids?

Granted, some of us are really lucky. We have some excellent schools here in Oregon with stellar teachers. My kids are proof of that. We can and must create more of those highly functioning schools across our state and nation. Another fact I picked up from Waiting for Superman was that a kid who doesn’t graduate from high school is eight times more likely to go to prison! So is the best strategy really to build more prisons?

What can we do?

Go see Waiting for Superman with a group and be inspired. Go with your friends.
Get involved in your school to make it the best it can be. Raise funds with your PTA so at least there will be more programs for the kids in your school, right now.
Let your kid’s teachers know how much you appreciate the work they do every day and help them out every way you can.
Start a Parent Discussion Group using Raising Our Daughters/Sons Parenting Guides focusing on how you, as a group, can contribute to make the school better. There are hundreds of ideas in these parenting guides. You’ll know which ones are best for your family and your school.
Advocate now and forever for school funding. It is incredibly valuable to change laws so school funding has a more stable base. No one advocates for childrens’ issues more effectively than Stand for Children
Join Stand for Children and donate your money and your time. They have six state chapters in Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Washington. You can help from wherever you live. Check out their Web site for their incredible success over and over again at mobilizing people who care about kids to pass legislation that benefits our kids.

Maybe now is the time. Maybe this movie, Waiting for Superman, will be the tipping point we need to wake up this nation to support our kids to succeed, so we can all thrive. Do we have the courage to collaborate and back up our talk that we care about kids with some action so this can happen?

In admiration for all you do,
Dr Kathy

Let me know what is going on in your school, your city, your state, to make schools better for our kids. We will share it!

Filed Under: Schools and Education Tagged With: advocacy for kids, family empowerment network, kathy masarie, parent child relationship, raising our daughters, raising our sons, school funding

The World’s Longest Umbilical Cord: Our Cell Phones

September 8, 2010 by FENadm

Can Cell Phones Lead to TOO Much Connection?

Last week my daughter, Kaitlin, called me to ask what she should do about ___. When I asked her the next day what it was about, she couldn’t remember either. Was it should I eat dinner at home or go out, buy tan or blue towels, go running or biking, or just vent about not feeling like studying for a medical school exam? What we did agree on was that it was something pretty inane and hardly worthy of the words used in the conversation.

We had a good laugh about it, especially when I told her I was about to write a blog about cell phones being the “world longest umbilical cord.” What is even more funny is that my daughter is 26 and about the most competent, independent, accomplished young adult I know (no bias, of course).

I was reminded about the over-dependency on cell phones in my last blog about creating peaceful school mornings by turning over responsibility to our kids. A turning point for my kids happened when they were 11 and 13 and missed the school bus. I was on rounds in the hospital. My husband was traveling. There were no cell phones. We were unavailable. So on their own, my kids decided to walk to school. It took them 2 hours. And they never missed the school bus again. This would have NEVER happened if cell phones were around. They would have called us for RESCUE and we would have figured a way to do it.

So it is tough out there for us parents. We helicopter: hover and rescue when we know our kids are suffering. It is deeply ingrained in our genetic code. And with cell phones we know EVERYTHING, even when our kid is agonizing over the miniature decision of whether to wear the red or blue shirt. Or when our kids call pleadingly to see if we will drive to school with the lunch, the homework, the earrings that match the red shirt, and …. One principal got so fed up with the giant pile of daily drop-offs that she banned parents from being allowed to drop stuff off. And miracles of miracles, the kids started remembering to bring the things in on their own.

So I just challenge you to just think about your 24-7 availability. It is wonderful for everyone to have cell phone access. It is unparalleled for safety and for connection.

Just consider having some times that you aren’t available to answer the phone. With a signal for emergencies that you work out with your kids, you just might have a little “me” time and your kids might have a little “independence” time.

With admiration for all you do,
Dr. Kathy

PS if you want to take a “Am I a Helicopter Parent?” Quiz, check out page 7:23 if you own a Raising Our Daughters or Raising Our Sons Parenting Guide . If not, just pop us a note and ask us for the quiz. We also have a blog and video interview on helicoptering last winter.