Can All Good Schools and Communities Share Ideas to Prevent Declines? Open Meeting here to share ideas, I'll kick off..
After following an online forum about local concerns in the NWCT area about fewer than 60% of students going onto the public regional high school from six elementary schools, I offer the following ideas. I wrote at length 20 years ago about the early school years and family time being important to nurturing children.
Of course now daycares are 'filling that role of caring for kids' from infancy on for many due to necessity or wanting to work for one's steadfast income from that (rather than run a home daycare or otherwise do one's own trades or pay for childcare to a personal provider for one or more children. In many places a provider (or nanny) would care for two children to earn about 20/hr versus 10 for one child.
Although with minimum wage going up likely that would be maybe have to be 15/hour to be legally sound. I am not up on the latest but realize there can be important factors to discuss in advance of caring for children, elders or others to have things in writing if there is going to be reimbursement (especially from Medicaid for instance for an elder or someone who qualifies or may qualify after assets are spent down initially or have plans for that down the road, such as selling one's home and earmarking the funds for care and so on. This is not legal or financial advice but rather a general encouragement to speak with professionals well in advance (even 5-10 years) of when one may need help for arranging for care or providing care for someone.
The idea of caring for children is fairly basic, but again there can be more to it than one realizes such as the provider needing to be covered for workman's compensation and possibly unemployment by filing forms and the employer making payments on their behalf if care is done in their home for a certain number of hours. If the caregiver is the grandmother in NY State however it may be the case that the grandmother would not need to pay Self Employment or SE Tax on the income for caring her grandchildren (even in her own home.) When one really needs to figure such things out even as contingency plans or for short term ( a few months at the beginning of a child's life for instance' or somewhere along the line, it's better to have had time to think things through. Maybe a website or more posts could be devoted to such scenarios.)
That said this post is more about how to educate children and support the whole family in the adventure of rearing children, being informed of 'other factors' that can impact a family (and I didn't even get into domestic violence and abuse, coercive control and intimidation, threats of taking legal custody or cutting off access to the protective parent..usually the mother but sometimes a decent dad too, foster care and adoption factors one may be prone to and much more.) Hope this is helpful to get the ball rolling and allow more people to expand what they offer in the social and local areas to Support Each Person in their Journey and Roles of learning and living safely and successfully in healthy positive ways.
Seems there could be a group for each town to help young famlies and attract new families...and even educate the kids and parents in ways to help them succeed. Plenty of people homeschool and it can be tricky but what I am suggesting is to supplement what is offered in the grade schools and of course then at the high school as well.
A few committed adults and online support should be able to shore up a lot of what is lacking. Some liasons to translate what the school is looking for should be welcomed as well. This is not to do the kids work for them but rather to help them know what is expected and use a group effort and sense of accountability to help students meet goals and of course push to do well according to state and other reasonable standards. I went to three high schools (Housy, Wilbur Cross in New Haven only for a half day so likely I was 'falling behind' in something but I got to dance for a couple of hours which I loved...then Roger Ludlowe in Fairfield for two years where I definitely took heavy course loads and came out 25th out of 500 kids academically. No extracurriculars per se but did learn piano scales which I think every student would enjoy learning and yes, I'm happy to share that of they can learn off the internet...the idea as well as the skill...and then the thrill of being able to play piano and maybe sing along and do vocal exercises...for their own benefit.)
At Vassar there were tutorial supports I used for writing (something I'd struggle with in terms of getting ideas organized and supported and always wanted to convey to students that there must be ways to have support for such struggles..and I would hope by now there are, but of course, the more approaches the better to find ways to help each student 'find their voice and connect with their learning journey.')
I have heard Financial Literacy isn't taught in schools traditionally and that seems a set up to make kids and even their families struggle needlessly and be taxed for overdrafts and late fees. The most important thing to teach youth and families is LAW however..and the risk for DCF or CPS investigations and what those can entail...
Even medical liability if parents do not agree with prescribed medical treatment needs full disclosure to not have people taken by surprise. In rural areas, especially small towns, everyone is 'on stage' so it would seem more than reasonable to fully inform people about 'how life works' and what services are available and which ones are not.
That may mean adults on medicaid have to go to Hartford to get dental care, or that no local doctors take medicaid patients so one would have to drive a distance or possibly get a ride (if the limited resources are available.)
Being independent sounds great but most people who have resources hire whatever help they need or use offers from friends and family. The networking is key. Without a lot of extra 'back up' funds, a turn of events or wanting to join in another adventure that costs money (long field trips, educational programs that cost money) or a set back in health or work can put someone in 'another zone' or category.
Then if one's family or living status changes (lack of support to pay rent or taxes, fix a home's plumbing or other basics, pay for heat and so on or the big challenge of not having support from another parent or people who have said they would assist with caring for if not housing children whether due to work, separation, divorce or medical needs etc) then one can be loaded down with new stress and financial costs.
The emotional and social aspects of conflict, change, medical or legal stress is so great and difficult no one usually wants to hear about it let along deal with it. Professional and support services can be hard to find, afford, access regularly and may be needed for months or years. Even decades. So who is assessing rural areas and communities with more people and hopefully more resources accordingly? It doesn't seem to be anyone's job.
Town leaders deal more with 'basic town functions such as keeping roads open, zoning up to date, schools open and functioning, and some basic services in place through town programs and elder services and possibly family services and some for youth.
The state has some support for young children with special needs, but something like CHP, Community Health Programs in Great Barrington MA that serves the Berkshires should likely be made available to NWCT area residents. The state of CT and faith groups and other non-profits if not recreation and school adjunct groups (such as Friends of a School, scouts, PTOs, sports teams etc) could find ways to bridge the gaps and welcome and support people caring for young children, including parents, grandparents, partners of parents, families and friends who care about children and so on...Instead some programs are very limited and do not encourage people without children to join in the care efforts even if they have teaching credentials or other skills to share.
We could welcome more people sharing their talents and interests with one another as well as school groups as may be helpful with a basic directory much as the Cornwall school did in years past. There would also be a benefit to letting more people volunteer with CORI checks and supervised settings to help children and around the schools and programs in general for any town or faith event. Often fewer people are tasked with doing the same kinds of fundraising and programming, even mission work abroad, without asking others who may really like to help and be an asset to such endeavors.
Thanks for letting me explore these ideas here and I'll now post on livfully.org which is another community service type blog others could emulate whether on themes or with areas or age groups in mind.
Here's to a successful September and new school and learning year. Please review what is offered on NoLiesRadio.org which another community forum banned from being shared at this 9/11 time. The science and math they share should be taught in all of the public and private schools and be appreciated for the activism and example of healthy dialogue and independent inquiry. The latest reports do seem to indicate a 767 plane hit the Pentagon.
I am still watching the 7 hour program (on and off and a few dollar donation gains one access to the info thru 9/22) so will see what they share about the Twin Towers. Tower 7 by all informed accounts except the official report was imploded, as in taken down intentionally not by a fire that was out for an hour before it fell.
.The talks go over 'our initial biases' and many terms about 'cognition' (how our brains process information, how emotions and wishful thinking can play into ignoring important facts or highlighting what concurs with beliefs) and so on. Those would be valuable insights for leaders and students to be more famiilar with.The reasons for the 9/11 attack are what need better understanding.
Post new comment