Tag: Kids

‘Where Are the Kids?’ School Is Back in Session, but Many Kindergarteners Are Missing

by  on  in Education Publishing

Connecticut School District Prepares Classrooms For Hybrid Learning
Connecticut School District Prepares Classrooms For Hybrid Learning

Desks sit socially distanced in a kindergarten classroom ahead of the fall semester at Rogers International School on Sept. 3, in Stamford, Conn. Credit – John Moore—Getty Images

It didn’t take more than one day of virtual kindergarten for Ryan Greenberg’s 5-year-old daughter, Samantha, to break down in tears, begging to go back to regular school where she could see other kids face-to-face.

“I’ll wear two masks,” she told him.

But for Samantha, in Montclair, N.J., and for hundreds of thousands of other children across the country, school will continue to be

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Why your kids will probably learn from home this fall

by  on  in Education Center

WASHINGTON — Speaking to members of Congress on Thursday, former federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan put the matter bluntly. “We have chosen to open bars,” Duncan said, “rather than to be able to start school on time.”

It was a bracing reminder of the priorities that elected leaders at all levels of government have chosen to accentuate throughout the last six months of the pandemic. And the reminder was especially bitter because in many places around the country, businesses like bars and restaurants have been forced to close again, or at least to stall their reopening efforts, because the mythical

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Kids need physical education – even when they can’t get it at school

by  on  in Education News

<span class="caption">Strong PE programs encourage students to remain physically active for life.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ben-mcdowell-right-and-nuir-habeb-left-join-fellow-students-news-photo/672087026" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Kathryn Scott/The Denver Post via Getty Images">Kathryn Scott/The Denver Post via Getty Images</a></span>
Strong PE programs encourage students to remain physically active for life. Kathryn Scott/The Denver Post via Getty Images

When I noticed my 12-year-old son was spending about seven hours a day doing his school work online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I immediately became concerned. As a researcher who focuses on how to get kids to be more physically active, I knew my son and his classmates were spending too much time sedentary.

Being physically active is good for everyone’s physical and mental health, including children of all ages and abilities.

Kids who are more physically active tend to get

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Private special ed schools can restrain kids with disabilities 1,000s of times. Parents might not know.

by  on  in Education Publishing

Shirley Profit holds a work of art she created while she was attending High Road schools in Connecticut for students with disabilities. In total, over five years, High Road staff restrained Shirley at least 96 times and put her in seclusion 146 times.
Shirley Profit holds a work of art she created while she was attending High Road schools in Connecticut for students with disabilities. In total, over five years, High Road staff restrained Shirley at least 96 times and put her in seclusion 146 times.

This story was produced by the Teacher Project, an education reporting fellowship at Columbia Journalism School.

When the public school in Norwalk, Connecticut, wanted to send Barbara Profit’s children to a private school for kids with disabilities, the mother warily agreed. She had hoped to keep them in public school, but knew her two kids, ages 9

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Open schools for younger kids, top pediatrician says

by  on  in News

Kindergarten teacher Holly Rupprecht carries plexiglass panels to her room at Zion Lutheran School in Bethalto, Ill., on Monday. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Kindergarten teacher Holly Rupprecht carries plexiglass panels to her room at Zion Lutheran School in Bethalto, Ill., on Monday. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

WASHINGTON — Younger children pose a smaller risk of catching and transmitting the coronavirus, a top pediatrician told Congress on Thursday, providing a scientific argument for why elementary schools could potentially open in parts of the country next month.

“School systems may consider prioritizing the return of younger children and taking additional measures to ensure physical distancing and the wearing of face coverings among older children,” Dr. Sean O’Leary told the House Education and Labor

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