Mango Minds

When I returned to work last week and began to go through my email, I had the pleasure of receiving this message from Miriam, my dear friend and a fellow teacher; it was a perfect back-to-work message and Miriam gave me the go-ahead to share it with you: I'm helping a 9 year old girl who has very low muscle tone all along her right side, and it affects her eye-sight as well. She works very slowly but efficiently with this side of her body. We are in art class. They are painting birds on butcher paper, and now the main forms are finished and they are learning how to outline their images with fine paintbrushes. I ask her and her table partner if they have traced the birds or if they drew them free hand. They answer that they painted them free-hand. They are really quite good, and I say, "Wow, that is really impressive. I don't think I could have done so well." The little girl I'm helping looks up at me, and says, "You know, just because you are an adult, do...

My Children are Spanish. They are also equally Panamanian and North American, or Estates , as they might say; but all of that together takes more time to explain than any two or four year old cares to dedicate, so they generally choose one of the three, and when it comes to my son, Ben, España is his nationality of choice. Both of my children are proud to be from Spain, which is a credit to their dad and his family who have created a strong sense of family identity despite the distance. But I would like to state for the record that it has been a tough year for me to compete with Spain (not that it’s a competition) given all of the recent sports victories that Spain has taken home: World Cup, Wimbledon, Roland Garros-French Open, U.S Open (Nadal!), Tour de France, not to mention their basketball team, their motorcyclists, their Fernando Alonso, AND that it’s hard to make it from our house to the El Rey without passing many Real Madrid or Barça car decals. Of course Ben is from Spain...

In one particular area, my dad is an exceptionally organized person. Dad has managed the “family filing cabinet” from the beginning of time. No one else removes  or files any documents; we have always given them to Dad who places them exactly where they belong, and we benefit from his efficient and reliable system, because we use the time saved in filing or locating important documents, statements or receipts, to help him find his keys, which somehow escape his organizational prowess.   Among the family filing cabinet treasures, you could find out how much the Ford Capri cost in 1984, the itinerary for our family trip to L.A. in 1988 (when Dad lost the keys to the rental car!), and the telephone numbers of any house we ever lived in, either as a family or independent adults (your children will just have one, global cell number). Among those treasures, and quite unbelievable to me, are originals of every report card I ever received, along with those of my sister an...

Abandon the idea that we have to be like everyone else in order to fit in. We are not ever going to be the same and we are part of the group just the same. We are a school of diverse learners, parents and teachers, and the diversity of our school community lends itself to an enriched understanding of what makes us special.  In September we will highlight with students that each and every person is a valued member of our community. We want to foster connections and friendships in classrooms, develop respect for our peers, and develop a sense of responsibility to our self and others, because achieving an inclusive, accepting learning environment takes a commitment from each person. Cooperation increases learning, and cooperation requires that children utilize complex social skills to achieve a common goal. In September students will explore questions like How do my actions affect others? What behaviors and attitudes permit people to get along and belong? Why are rules impo...

As a mom of a 4 year old and a 2 1/2 year old who wants to help her children create healthy habits for conflict resolution, habits that do not involve pinching, pushing, biting or hitting, I am a person who repeats more times than I can count per day, “Remember to use your words.” Soon, I will take on the challenges of helping them to choose which words, to master volume control and to make eye contact, but for now, we celebrate with enthusiasm those moments when one of them resisted the urge to launch out towards the other and instead expressed themselves with words.  Though your children are much farther along in their understanding and use of a variety of communication strategies than mine are, they are still very much learning. It is crucial to keep in mind that they are learning, because sometimes children will understand and communicate perfectly well, and other times their perceptions and understandings will have been impacted by an element of communication, ...

             A kaleidoscope of butterflies                                        And a bike of wild bees              A cluster of spiders                                        And a cloud of grasshoppers                           A bunch of kids                     ...

My two-year-old son’s favorite word is “almost,” and he uses it to describe his endless attempts to score a basket, catch a ball or make a goal. He loves this word, because it indicates an opportunity to play just a little longer, “almost, Mami, otra vez!” and so he gleefully misses several attempts on purpose, or not, knowing that I’ll play along until he makes that one last shot. I’m sure this word pops up these days with your own children as they talk about the fact that we’re not quite done with the school year but ALMOST. There is still a little bit more time to learn, time with our classmates and friends, time with our teacher, time in the routine that, even though it can be hard, marks our lives so dramatically. This is a time of celebrating, of closures, presentations, final fieldtrips, and goodbyes. It is an exciting time for children, but also one that causes disequilibrium, because on top of the impending change, we are all tired.  We assume that since vacation...