Tag: NPR
NPR — In one first-grade classroom, puppets teach children to ‘shake out the yuck’
Teacher Leticia Denoya stands at the front of her classroom, at Natchaug Elementary in Windham, Conn. Her first-graders sit criss-cross applesauce on the reading rug.
“Do you remember last week, we worked with our puppets and we learned a new strategy?”
One little girl raises her hand: “Belly-breathing.”
That’s right, Denoya responds, to help with “heavy” feelings. She asks the students to name a few.
USDA Moves To Feed Millions Of Children Over The Summer. See more national education news here
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a new effort (on April 26) to feed millions of children this summer, when free school meals traditionally reach just a small minority of the kids who rely on them the rest of the year. The move expands what’s known as the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer, or P-EBT, program into the summer months, and USDA estimates it will reach more than 30 million children.
“If children and children’s learning and children’s health is a priority for us in this country, then we need to fund our priorities,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a Monday interview with NPR’s All Things Considered. “I think it’s an important day.”
NPR/Ipsos Poll: Nearly One-Third Of Parents May Stick With Remote Learning. See more national education news here
One year after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered classrooms around the country and the world, U.S. parents are guardedly optimistic about the academic and social development of their children, an NPR/Ipsos poll finds.
But 62% of parents say their child’s education has been disrupted. And more than 4 out of 5 would like to see schools provide targeted extra services to help their kids catch up. This includes just over half of parents who support the idea of summer school.
Struggling To Discuss Tough Topics With A Kid? Here Are Books That Might Help. See more national education news here
2020 was — to borrow a phrase from a popular kid’s book — a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year. And for parents, one of the year’s hardest jobs was trying to explain current events to young kids.
“We are living in challenging times,” says children’s book author Matt de la Peña — and kids are taking a lot of it in. “While you and I read the news, watch the news, listen to the news — our young children are watching and reading us, and so they’re not getting the whole picture,” he says.
De la Peña believes books can explore deep or difficult issues without hitting them head-on. “I don’t think the job of a picture book is to answer questions,” he says. “I think it’s just to explore interesting topics.”
Lessons From Europe, Where Cases Are Rising But Schools Are Open. See more national education news here
Mahua Barve lives in Frankfurt, Germany, with her husband, a son in first grade and twin daughters in kindergarten. All three children are currently attending school full time and in person. That’s despite a coronavirus surge that has led Germany to shut down restaurants, bars, theaters, gyms, tattoo parlors and brothels (which are legal in the country) for November. Schools were allowed to remain open.
Despite the resurgence of the virus, Barve says, her children’s school’s careful safety strategies give her confidence. Each “pod” of kids goes to recess at 10 minute intervals, for example, so they don’t mix in the hallways.
The Pandemic Has Researchers Worried About Teen Suicide. See more national education news here
Teen and youth anxiety and depression are getting worse since COVID lockdowns began in March, early studies suggest, and many experts say they fear a corresponding increase in youth suicide.
At the end of June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed Americans on their mental health. They found symptoms of anxiety and depression were up sharply across the board between March and June, compared with the same time the previous year. And young people seemed to be the hardest-hit of any group.
Almost 11 percent of all respondents to that survey said they had “seriously considered” suicide in the past 30 days. For those ages 18 to 24, the number was 1 in 4 — more than twice as high.
When Schools Reopen, Grandparent Caregiver’s Safest Choice Is Home Schooling. See more national education news here
For students living with extended family like grandparents, the question of returning to school is even more fraught. Because of age or preexisting conditions, those family members are most vulnerable to the most serious effects of the virus. Some 2.4 million children in the United States live in a household headed by grandparents. Keith Lowhorne is a grandparent caregiver for his three grandchildren, ages 6, 5 and 3. He’s taking care of them along with his wife, and they live just outside of Huntsville, Ala. And he is with us now.
I’m Willing To Fight For America’: 5 Student Activists On Protesting For Change. See more national education news here
Peaceful, student-led protests have been a powerful force for change throughout American history. … So what does student activism look like today? It’s happening online and in the streets; with art and tech skills. NPR Ed spoke to five high school and college students fighting in different ways for black lives, an end to police brutality and structural racism.
Analysis Finds Big Differences In School Textbooks In States With Differing Politics. See more national education news here
A New York Times analysis of social studies textbooks from California and Texas reveals differences influenced by each state’s politics. NPR’s Audie Cornish speaks with Times reporter Dana Goldstein.
Experts Worry Active Shooter Drills In Schools Could Be Traumatic For Students. See more national education news here
A regular drumbeat of mass shootings in the U.S., both inside schools and out, has ramped up pressure on education and law enforcement officials to do all they can to prevent the next attack.
Close to all public schools in the U.S. conducted some kind of lockdown drill in 2015-2016, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. …
But many experts and parents are asking if the drills, some complete with simulated gunfire, are doing more harm than good.
