Learning 2019

EVERY CHILD SUMMIT Lecture + FREE Resource Fair

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How to Raise a

Reader Does College Still Matter? 23

Get Your IEP Meeting Right 29 Legal Prep for College-Bound Kids 34

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INSIDE!

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Savvy Strategies for Scatterbrains 5

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contents

Just One More Page?

How to raise a super reader PAGE 9

5 SAVVY STRATEGIES FOR SMART

SCATTERBRAINS Top tips for supporting school success for your disorganized student

9 JUST ONE MORE PAGE? HOW TO RAISE A

SUPER READER Minding the gap between reading science and instruction at home

inside

GUIDE TO PARTICIPATING NWAIS SCHOOLS

At ParentMap, we make kids of all ages our business. We confer with neuroscience

23 T HE YEARS THAT MATTER MOST

brainiacs; get innovative

Paul Tough’s new book answers the question: Does college still matter?

insights from superstars in child development, education

29 6 STEPS FOR A BETTER IEP MEETING

and medicine; and rub

How to make your child’s individualized education plan work for all

shoulders with other families at ParentMap events and lectures.

34 SO, YOUR CHILD IS HEADING OFF

TO COLLEGE Do you have all your legal docs in a row?

This expert’s checklist can help.

40 LEARNING RESOURCES

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learning

We bring all the best parenting info to you with our awardwinning magazine and website, 23

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ParentMap Learning 2019 • 3

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savvy strategies

Savvy Strategies for Smart

Scatterbrains

Top tips for supporting your disorganized student at home

By Maegen Blue

D

o you have a child who aces standardized tests but struggles to turn work in on time? Or maybe, like me, you have a son who built his own computer but can’t ever seem to find both soccer cleats at the same time?

If you are the parent of a child who perennially brings home report cards with the dreaded “Capable of better work” comment, you know how uniquely frustrating it can be to have a kid who seems to personify the stereotype of the “absent-minded professor.”

You may also be glad to learn, as I was, that you are far from alone.

Many bright and capable kids struggle in areas like time management and parentmap.com/learning

organization. Happily, there are many strategies and resources that can help.

Why are so many smart kids disorganized?

In an article published on the Brainy-Child (brainy-child.com) website, Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D., explains, “It is a fact that gifted children can be quite disorganized. This is due to the quick-paced minds of these children cognitively, [which keep] them busy thinking over thousands of things at one time.” She adds, “They often find schoolwork rather easy, and this causes them to do their tasks quickly and without much thought, …

ParentMap Learning 2019 • 5

savvy strategies Savvy Strategies for Smart Scatterbrains continued from page 5 [causing] them to lack skills in time management, organization, studying and sometimes prioritizing.”

This was the experience of Lindsay, a Seattle-area mother of two. She says of her son Sam, “He cruised through elementary school, to be honest.

He finished his classwork before everybody else and never had to bring anything home. We were completely shocked when he hit middle school and started failing classes because he couldn’t keep track of all his teachers’ expectations and homework. We were so frustrated, but eventually we realized that he had never learned how to study.”

Ana Homayoun (anahomayoun.com), a school consultant and author of “That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week” and other titles, identifies several types of students who struggle with organization, including kids who are overscheduled, kids who master technology easily but are also distracted by it, and intellectual and creative kids who excel in particular areas but don’t have the skills they need to succeed in school. She also notes that while her work used to be primarily with boys, she is seeing increasing levels of distraction in girls, a trend she traces to technology use, particularly of kids’ ever-present smartphones.

Brain under construction Every expert I talked to about strategies to support scatterbrained students pointed out that the last part of the brain to develop fully is the frontal lobe, which, among other key functions, governs the so-called executive functions. This “control panel” of the brain doesn’t fully mature until we’re in our 20s. Put simply, kids are being asked to apply time management and organization skills that their developing brains haven’t mastered yet.

Richard Guare, Ph.D., and Peg Dawson, Ed.D., coauthors of “Smart but Scattered Teens,” explain the term “executive functions” as a diversity of cognitive processes and “brain-based skills required for humans to effectively execute, or perform, tasks and solve problems.” In other words, the very collection of fundamental habits of mind required for getting organized, sustaining attention, managing time, and controlling impulses and emotions that every student needs in order to succeed in school.

Children who struggle with these functions “do not lack the intelligence to know better, but they lack the executive skills to help them use that intelligence,” say the authors.

Some children who have executive function challenges have ADHD or other learning differences, but children with no diagnosis can also have

6 • ParentMap Learning 2019

problems with skills like organization and time management, according to Homayoun.

Happily, parents and educators can assist children in developing these important skills.

How parents can help Jackie Stachel, director of communications for Beyond BookSmart (beyondbooksmart.com), an executive function coaching company, says, “Unlike learning algebra or French, students don’t typically get explicit instruction in how to be organized and how to manage their time effectively. Some students eventually learn these skills through trial and error — but any student can benefit from direct teaching of strategies to help them be more effective and productive.”

Sinead Coleman, a learning specialist at Charles Wright Academy (charleswright.org) in Tacoma, offers this helpful insight as food for thought: “The most important thing I’ve learned about student study skills is that no one tool serves every student, and students need to be shown multiple options to find the one that they feel works best for them.”

For Lindsay and Sam, this meant working with his teachers to make sure his planner was correctly filled out at the end of each day. They also created a special area for him to focus on homework outside of his bedroom, and they agreed that if he was feeling overwhelmed, he could stop for the day and Lindsay would write a note to Sam’s teacher. Happily, with these small changes, Sam became more confident in his ability to manage his own work, and as his grades went up, he felt better about school — and their entire household felt calmer.

Here are expert tips to help set your scatterbrain up for school success.

1. Start small.

Lesley Todaro, LMFTA, is a cofounder of the Hallowell Todaro ADHD Center (hallowelltodarocenter.org), where she and her team work with families affected by ADHD and related conditions. She emphasizes the importance of starting with small goals so that kids can experience success and positive feedback, without becoming overwhelmed.

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2. Set up systems.

Students benefit from having a consistent routine for tackling tasks, especially schoolwork. It is particularly important that they learn to use a planner to record deadlines and break out tasks.

3. Stay positive.

It’s likely that kids who are smart but disorganized already have a negative self-image, so it is important to focus on their strengths and remain optimistic.

4. Offer the right amount of support.

While children ultimately need to become independent, it is important to provide students with appropriate support in a manner that creates scaffolding for success. For example, in our house, we start with weekly grade checks and then go to monthly and quarterly checks if our son is managing due dates and successfully completing work by himself.

5. Get help.

It is important that your child is involved in identifying his own goals.

If you are struggling to collaborate with your child, it may be time to involve other helpful adults. ■

Resources for Supporting Distracted Kids All children can be successful if given the right tools and support. As Jackie Stachel of Beyond BookSmart consulting (beyondbooksmart.com) says, “We find that when students know how to go about their work, they are willing to try. That’s why we like to say, ‘Where there’s a way, there’s a will.’” The following are books, websites and apps that will help parents and kids get ready for a more organized school year ahead.

Books

“Your Kid’s Gonna Be Okay: Building the Executive Function Skills Your Child Needs in the Age of Attention”

by Michael Delman “That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week: Helping Disorganized and Distracted Boys Succeed in School and Life” by Ana Homayoun Note: While this book focuses on boys, the strategies outlined are useful for any child. Ann Dicks, director of the lower school at Annie Wright Schools (aw.org) in Tacoma, frequently recommends this title to parents.

“Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary ‘Executive Skills’ Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential”

by Peg Dawson, Ed.D., and Richard Guare, Ph.D. continued on page 8

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Is “good enough” good enough for your child?

savvy strategies Smart Scatterbrains continued from page 7

Planners for older kids

“The Work-Smart Academic Planner: Write It Down, Get It Done” by Peg Dawson, Ed.D., and Richard Guare, Ph.D. Chaos Coordinator! Academic Planner by FlyHigh Press

Tools and resources

ADDitude (additudemag.com), “the magazine for living well with attention deficit and learning disabilities,” maintains a list of helpful apps and is a great general resource for families.

Time Timer (timetimer.com) is a visual timer that overlays a traditional analog clockface, providing kids with a visual representation of the time remaining to complete their task.

seabury • org

Visual calendars can be purchased at low cost (check the Teachers Pay Teachers website for dozens of great resources; teacherspayteachers.com) or created at no cost ― look on Pinterest for ideas.

pre-k – 8th

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Whiteboards or similar write-on calendars can also be helpful for keeping your student on task and on track. In our family, we use Google Calendar to record appointments so that we get alerts, but we also have one central adhesive, write-on board where we note standing appointments and schedules.

Children should have one designated place to keep their papers. Many find it helpful to have a separate colored folder or binder dedicated to each subject.

Online and in-person support and coaching

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If your child has ADHD or you suspect he may, area Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD; chadd.org) groups provide excellent resources, evidence-based information, face-to-face support and advocacy.

The Hallowell Todaro ADHD Center (hallowelltodarocenter.org), with offices in Kirkland and Seattle, provides therapy, parent coaching and other services to families affected by ADHD and related conditions.

Beyond BookSmart (beyondbooksmart.com) provides oneon-one online executive function coaching to students and adults worldwide.

epiphanyschool.org

Maegen Blue is the editor of Sounds Fun Mom (soundsfunmom.com), a blog for South Sound families. She lives in Puyallup with her husband and two sons.

8 • ParentMap Learning 2019

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raise a reader

Just One More Page?

How to raise a super reader

By Elisa Murray

“Marsh-marshmallow. … Ear-ear-earwax … eww! Mom, it says ‘earwax’!

Vom … oh, my gosh, vomit! … Mom! Mom! It says ‘vomit’!”

S

omething amazing was happening. In the back seat of our car, my then 6-year-old son, typically reluctant to read anything on his own, was reading aloud with no prompting. The subject of his intense decoding? Every last letter written on a small box of Harry Potter Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Jelly Beans.

After years of reading Dr. Seuss and Richard Scarry and “The Snowy Day” and “Frog and Toad” together, I had hoped his first independent reading experience would be a little more classic. But his joy was palpable and his motivation unmatched. I’d take it.

Images of kids and reading are among the most iconic of childhood’s film reel, and from the birth of their child, parents are told how important strong reading skills are for life success. Beyond providing a path to academic achievement, reading is correlated with empathy, and even with longevity. And, of course, it opens the world to you. “That’s the thing about books,” author Jhumpa Lahiri once wrote: “They let you travel without moving your feet.”

Unfortunately, abundant research into reading hasn’t necessarily resulted in better outcomes for kids. The latest stats: According to the most recent report card by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only about 40 percent of Washington state fourth-graders are proficient in reading; the national average is 35 percent.

Why? Some blame the fact that reading curricula — which have swung between the poles of wholelanguage learning and phonics — has often not matched what science tells us about how kids learn to read. For the record, study after study has demonstrated that while some kids might learn to read from exposure to books and language, most learn best with direct, multisensory instruction on the relationship between letters and sounds.

Okay, let’s back up. Though parents can and should be involved in our child’s learning, we can’t hope to turn around the Titanic of reading curricula, right? What’s our role?

Emily Hanford is a journalist who produced a 2018 American Public Media documentary on the gap between reading science and reading instruction. In a follow-up piece, she shared strategies for parents concerned about reading instruction in their kids’ schools. Among those strategies is starting a parent advocacy group.

But her piece also reminds parents that their most important role is to “make [reading] a pleasurable activity for children.”

Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, editors of The New York Times Book Review and authors of the recently published book “How to Raise a Reader,” agree.

“School is where children learn that they have to read,” they write. “Home is where kids learn to read because they want to.”

Luckily, there are so many ways to nurture a love of books, language and stories in children. In the process, you can strengthen family bonds and even practice some self-care. Because if you want to raise a reader, you’ve got to get in on the lit love, too. continued on page 10

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ParentMap Learning 2019 • 9

raise a reader Just One More Page? continued from page 9 Build a home library. Dr. Seuss was onto something when he wrote, “Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks.”

As documented in “How to Raise a Reader,” international studies have demonstrated that “the statistic most correlated to literacy, regardless of income level or education ... is the number of books present in the home.”

Start collecting books when your kids are young; involve them in the process, with an eye toward inclusivity and diversity (browse great book lists at parentmap.com/books). On a tight budget? Garage sales, Buy Nothing giveaways, used-book sales at schools and secondhand stores are great sources of books on the cheap. Take advantage of public libraries’ generous lending policies to maintain a robust rotating library at home.

Read aloud, early and often. You know this, right? Research abundantly documents the benefits of reading aloud with children, even before birth. One study showed that when parents read to preschoolers, the language regions of their brains are more fully activated (see sidebar “A Parent’s Role in Nurturing Preschool Readers”). A 2015 study demonstrated that reading picture books aloud, even more than talking, can vastly increase kids’ vocabulary and understanding of grammatical structure.

While bedtime is the classic read-aloud time, look for other pockets of time that work for your kid. Naja Ferjan Ramirez, a research scientist in the

area of language learning (formerly with the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, she is now an assistant professor with the UW Department of Linguistics), found that when her oldest child was an energetic toddler, he wouldn’t sit down for books. “So, we had to watch him to see what were those moments of the day when he does calm down to read.” Books in the car helped, as did physically engaging books such as lift-the-flap picture books.

Read with, not to. Just by engaging your kids in reading, you’re sparking pre-reading skills. “How to Raise a Reader” suggests always beginning with the title and the author and illustrator names so kids begin to understand the parts of and contributors to a book. Look at the cover art together and ask questions about it. Let kids touch and feel a book — as well as turn its pages.

With older toddlers and preschoolers, point out features of words and make your decoding — of those lines and squiggles that somehow form letters, sounds and words — visible. Take a leaf from story times, says Brooke Graham Doyle, an educator and project coordinator with WebJunction (webjunction.org), a nonprofit that assists in the professional development of library staff, including training in story-time reading skills.

“Try really simple things like running your fingers on the text so that kids

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a 10-hour road trip with no iPad on board. What saved us was a four-CD audiobook of “A Dog on His Own,” about a clever pooch trying to find his forever home. Though I didn’t know it at the time, my road-trip survival strategy was also helping him learn to read. “[Audiobooks] introduce vocabulary that [children] might not be using and demonstrate fluency in reading,” says Seattle Public Library children’s librarian Beatriz Pascual Wallace (known as Ms. Bea at the library).

Audiobooks can be especially wonderful for kids with reading delays because they expose kids to everything about reading without the work of decoding. But they’re also good for readers who race through books.

“Listening forces kids to slow down and appreciate stories for their art,” says Pascual Wallace. can start to track the words,” she recommends. “Remind them that what you’re saying is the words on the page and that words are made up of letters, and the letters are made up of sounds.”

Singing, rhyming and wordplay increase kids’ awareness of how words are formed. “Our understanding that words can be taken apart can be built into many fun games,” says Ferjan Ramirez. “Break words into syllables. Try to say ‘pop’; swap the ‘p’ with an ‘h’ — what does that say?”

A is for awesome audiobooks. When my son was 4 years old, we took

Have them read to you. For beginning readers, reading aloud increases their fluency and gives you an opportunity to check that they’re not skipping words or guessing at pronunciation instead of sounding out individual words.

“Some kids who are having trouble decoding will insist that they read better when they read silently … but it’s imperative that they read aloud or they’re practicing bad habits,” says Jennifer Bloch Garcia, codeveloper of the Word-Wires curriculum (wiredforreading.com) and director of learning

Learn on.

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raise a reader Just One More Page? continued from page 11 services for Seattle’s Bertschi School (bertschi.org).

If your kid is reluctant to read, keep sessions short — just a paragraph at the beginning of a new chapter, or five minutes a day. They can also practice with a low-stress audience, such as a younger sibling or even a four-legged friend through Reading With Rover (readingwithrover.org) or similar programs.

Talk about it. Reading is one thing. Understanding is another. Help kids slow down and absorb meaning by weaving in prompts that help them reflect on what they’ve read. In his book “Born Reading,” Jason Boog sets out a series of best practices for interactive reading, such as asking questions about a book’s structure and characters: What does the title mean and why do you think the author chose it? What’s happening in that picture? Why did that character do that? And the jackpot question: What do you think will happen next?

Don’t force it. What if you have a kid who actively resists talking about books? Bloch Garcia recommends asking genuine questions that come up for you when reading, as well as connecting the plot and characters to your family’s background and experiences.

She also cautions parents to know when to stop. “If you have a kid who

is enjoying reading a book, tread carefully so you don’t change the positive feeling of the experience. Kids will be required to discuss and reflect a lot at school,” she says.

Let them choose. Earlier this year, my son went through a phase when the only thing he read was the “Big Nate” series of graphic novels by Lincoln Peirce. After a few months, he had moved on to books with more (tolerable to me) characters and story lines (thank you, Rick Riordan and Christopher Paul Curtis).

Claire Scott, formerly a children’s librarian with the Seattle Public Library, now a librarian at Seattle’s Lincoln High School, believes letting kids choose what they read is key to encouraging lifelong reading. “There are a lot of ways in which kids don’t get a lot of choices in their everyday life,” she says. “Being able to come into the library and choose, ‘I’m going to read this or I’m going to read that,’ … Sometimes that book choice is the biggest part of finding that just-right book.”

Worried that they will choose something that’s too easy — or too adult?

Keep lines of communication open, Scott says. “Rather than say, ‘No, you can’t read Harry Potter, book seven,’ say, ‘Well, what happens when you get to something in a book that makes you feel uncomfortable or that seems a little too scary? What are your choices?’”

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You can also nudge them to expand their choices. Diana Cherry, a ParentMap staff editor, listens to what her four kids are talking about, checks out books on related subjects and leaves them out on the coffee table for easy perusal. “Right now, we have a book out about immigration, a Dorothea Lange censored-images book, a directory about chickens, a how-to on teaching your dog tricks, a book about fashion design and a huge book all about different kinds of exotic animals — all on coffee tables.”

Cherry logs her kids’ reading follow-up questions in a family journal.

“I make sure to follow up by providing them with either reading materials or a conversation to answer those questions. That idea was inspired by a homeschooling book called ‘The Brave Learner,’” she notes.

Go graphic. “For a lot of kids who are reluctant readers, [graphic novels] are the one thing they want to read,” says Pascual Wallace.

“Having the pictures there can help them understand what’s in the story, the expression on someone’s face. Putting those together introduces an extra level of literacy.”

For her reluctant reader, Seattle parent Danielle Ellingston found the graphic-novel versions of the first two books in Tui T. Sutherland’s “Wings of Fire” series. By book three (which is not available in graphic form), her child was hooked. “Sure enough, just a few weeks later, she is now plowing through all the ‘Wings of Fire’ chapter books.”

Join the club. It’s now a family tradition: When her older son and daughter hit the double digits in age, Brooke Graham Doyle started a book club with them and several friends “as a way for us to connect over books.”

In the case of her daughter, the books have often focused on a strong female protagonist. With her son, the club has provided a way to stay connected to books and their emotional content. “It’s easier for boys to drift away from reading,” she says. “I thought maybe the book club could be a vehicle for [keeping him going].”

The secrets to their success? Discussions aren’t too long and “we always have food.”

Hit the books yourself. When was the last time you plopped down in front of the kids and read? “The kids need to see you reading,” says Graham Doyle. “Have reading be part of your life, and your conversations.”

If time feels too pressed, get creative. In our house, we’ve designated parentmap.com/learning

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raise a reader Just One More Page? continued from page 13 Tuesday-night dinner as “reading night” — we each crack open a book and dig in.

“Is it reading night?” my son will ask hopefully, the latest Percy Jackson book tucked under his arm.

Confession: Sometimes I pretend like it’s Tuesday even when it’s Wednesday, and we all feel like we’re getting away with something. But really, we’re just living out the greatest thing about reading: that it is its own reward. ■ 9/1/19 8:24 PM Elisa

Murray is a Seattle-based freelance writer and editor of the ParentMap guidebook “52 Seattle Adventures With Kids.”

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“It always used to break my heart when I’d get these calls from parents in the middle of kindergarten: ‘Oh my god, my kid isn’t reading yet,’” says literacy expert Jennifer Bloch Garcia. “One thing we know about brain development is that some brains aren’t ready to learn until they’re 6.”

So, if your kid isn’t reading fluently by that age, relax.

That said, one in five children have dyslexia or some other language-based learning delay, so if you do spot red flags, check in with your child’s teacher. According to the International Dyslexia Association, signs of dyslexia can include difficulty with directions, distinguishing sounds, pronunciation, rhyming, learning the alphabet, word retrieval, establishing connections between letters and sounds, and spelling phonetically. Vision and processing disorders can also cause reading delays.

The good news: A new Washington state law, passed in 2018, mandates early screening, identification and intervention for language-based learning disabilities.

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Want more resources? Check the Washington state branch of the International Dyslexia Association’s website (wabida.org). Hamlin Robinson School (hamlinrobinson.org), a private K–8 school in Seattle that specializes in serving kids with dyslexia, is another helpful resource.

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MORE READING RITUALS Story time. Attending a regular story time at your local library or bookstore will not only be a joyous and social experience for your child, but will begin forming their relationship with books.

Wordless books. “Reading” all-image classics, such as David Wiesner’s “Flotsam,” helps kids pay attention to all the other aspects of telling a story besides words on a page. Have fun filling in the story as you go.

Dine and read. Seattle food writer Jackie Freeman’s stepsons and husband love both graphic novels and dim sum, so they combine those two passions with a regular brunch in the Chinatown–International District, followed by a trip to Uwajimaya’s bookstore. “Reading is reading, whether it’s comics or classics!” she says.

Connect with authors. WebJunction’s Graham Doyle suggests that connecting kids to favorite authors can draw in reluctant readers. Look for events at bookstores and libraries. Check authors’ websites; many have ways for kids to write to them, extra chapters to download and more ways to engage.

Tell family stories. Kids can learn all kinds of things from the low-tech tradition of telling great family stories, such as how narratives work, and how to build character and tension.

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Outsource the read-aloud. Skype with the grandparents for a special story time once a week. Fire up digital story times through TumbleBooks’ animated talking-picture books (tumblebooklibrary.com), which is a public library service, or related services, such as BookFlix.

Parallel podcast listening. Podcasts are like mini audiobooks and easy to listen to together, either through a speaker or simultaneously on your favorite devices.

Our recent favorite, for kids ages 8 and older: “The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel.”

Read everything. ParentMap’s Diana Cherry — a mother of four, including two children with dyslexia — has motivated her reluctant readers through many methods, from setting out cookbooks and asking a child to pick the week’s meals to having them plan the weekend’s activities by reading about them.

Keep reading aloud. Who says you can’t read aloud with teenagers? Although their daughters are 11 and 14, Seattle parent educator Sarina Behar Natkin and her husband still read to them every night. Their daughters’ increasingly sophisticated book selections often offer a way to talk about difficult topics. “We can share with them things that we may not know how to talk about,” says Behar Natkin.

“Books can give us the language we don’t have.”

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raise a reader SPONSORED CONTENT

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Make the most of your job as your child’s first and most important teacher by spending time with them in conversation, being playful with language, reading and writing, and modeling respect for the written and spoken word. Remember, the goal is not to push early reading ― sooner is not better nor is it indicative of future success as a reader. You can help grow a skilled, lifelong reader by employing the following tips provided by the education team at Bright Horizons: • Carefully select a variety of books.

While one book may focus on illustrations, another may steer away from such an aesthetic emphasis and instead be great to read alone.

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• Establish reading rituals. Reading a book before naptime or bedtime is a soothing and beneficial habit to form with your child. Beyond reading before sleep, encourage your child to take notice of labels, signs and headlines throughout their day — there are words to be seen everywhere.

• Take your child to libraries and bookstores.

There is no better passport to learning than a library card. Help your kids get one by age 4. They will love the independence of having their own library card.

• Subscribe to a magazine for your child. Children delight in receiving mail! Two excellent subscription choices for young children include Sesame Street Magazine and National Geographic Kids.

• Encourage your child to “write.” Post your child’s drawings, letters, words and scribbles on a corkboard where your family can admire their work.

Readers grow and flourish in families and communities that value the written word. Literacy is the product of extensive and systematic interactions with printed words and high expectations for your child’s language development.

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18 • ParentMap Learning 2019

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college

Does College Still Matter?

Author Paul Tough’s new book explores the ‘years that matter most’

By Patty Lindley

J

ournalist Paul Tough, best-selling author of “How Children Succeed” and “Helping Children Succeed,” tackles a fundamental question in his latest book, “The Years That Matter Most”: Does college still work?

The price tag of funding a four-year college education has parents across the United States reeling from sticker shock, so Tough is certainly not alone in his consideration of the ultimate return on investment in attending college. It’s a conundrum that weighs heavily on the minds (and pocketbooks) of families from all economic backgrounds.

But underlying Tough’s interest in exploring the current landscape of higher education in America is a preoccupation that has fueled six years of reporting, encompassing visits to 21 U.S. states and interviews with hundreds of students, educators, administrators, nonprofit leaders and experts: the questions of whether our system of higher education is fair and whether it can promise and provide real opportunity to young people seeking to improve their lot in life.

Tough acknowledges that the topic of social mobility is one that has tugged at him throughout his career as a journalist. In this latest book, he concludes — and research reflecting decades of data detailed between its covers confirms it — that opportunity in the United States today depends, in large part, on what happens to individuals during a relatively parentmap.com/learning

brief period in late adolescence and early adulthood. The decisions that are made during these “years that matter most” play a critical role in determining the course of the rest of one’s life.

We caught up with Tough to learn more about this latest chapter in his continuing focus on how our children succeed.

How do you contrast your understanding of the current landscape of American higher education with your own college experience in Canada?

My own college experience is ironically choppy. I dropped out of college twice and never went back and got a B.A. I’ve now spent the last six years reporting this book, spending time on college campuses, and I feel a little like it is me catching up ParentMap Learning 2019 • 23

college Does College Still Matter? continued from page 23 from the college days that I missed 30 years ago.

One of the things that I really concluded from my reporting is that a college degree is really valuable and important. I like the notion that students can succeed without college degrees, but I think the reality is that happens very rarely. I did [succeed without one], but who knows how my life would be different if I’d finished my college degree. I don’t feel like I can extrapolate from that experience and say that a college degree isn’t worth anything, that nobody really has to graduate. All the data point in the opposite direction — that degrees matter a whole lot in terms of how young people do.

With this new book, I feel like the connection is a little bit more theoretical. What I really care about as a journalist right now — what I care about as a reporter and arguably as a person living in this country — is this concept of social mobility and how young people are able to reach a different kind of adulthood than the experience they grew up in. How kids can rise above the status of their birth. I think that’s just an essential part of a healthy country. I feel like what drew me towards writing about higher education was the evidence, coming from the data and economics, that this is how social mobility works when it works. It happens now through higher education.

Do you concur with the statement “Apply to the most selective college that will admit you and go there”?

Your books explore the intersection of education, politics and equity. What experiences, personal or professional, have compelled you to explore these topics?

I would say two things. One, certainly, is the experience of being a father.

I have two kids now — two boys, one 10, one 4. Especially with “How Children Succeed” and “Helping Children Succeed,” my last two books, that reporting was about early childhood and about schools. Reading these papers about economics and neuroscience, and the theory and the science behind child development, and then watching the two of them grow up at the same time, [my work] felt very much in sync.

One of the things that’s so remarkable to me is the research of a brilliant economist named Caroline Hoxby. She uncovered research from the last 40 or 50 years that examines the minds of a lot of young Americans, especially affluent young Americans. Whereas 40 years ago students made their college decisions based on a wide array of different criteria, now that is the one question that every student seems to be asking: “Where is the most selective college that I can get into? … That’s where I’m going to go.”

What’s even more odd about that, and what can especially lead to some sort of cognitive dissonance for young people, is that on the surface,

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it as citizens and to [ask] how can we create a more balanced system where social mobility is not this luxury good that affluent parents try to purchase for their kids, but instead where it’s something that we think about collectively; that higher education really benefits a community rather than just an individual kid or family.

How do you assess the influence of the Best Colleges annual index that appears in U.S. News & World Report?

everyone tells [students] the opposite. There are no books out there that recommend, “Go to the most selective college that will admit you.” There are plenty of books saying, “Just be yourself and your college choice doesn’t matter; you can get a great education at lots of different places.”

It’s hard to find a message that really works. That’s why I feel like the real answer is to reform the whole system. Not to think of it just as a consumer, where we’re trying to get the most for ourselves and our kids, but to look at

When I talked to admissions people — and I quote this statistic in my book — 97 percent of them said that they can’t stand the U.S. News list, and they think it makes their job harder. It makes them make bad decisions. But I think most of us have the desire to rank things and quantify things and compare things, and if the U.S. News list didn’t exist, someone else would invent it very quickly.

There’s this kind of ecosystem [that exists] where parents and admissions people and U.S. News and the College Board all together have created this system where we assign numbers to students and to colleges. Those

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ParentMap Learning 2019 • 25

college Does College Still Matter? continued from page 25 numbers tend to correlate really highly with family income. We all make a lot of decisions based on those numbers, and that has created this effect that has become really toxic — certainly for individual students and their families — but more important, it’s toxic for the health of the nation, for the process of social mobility and opportunity in general.

Parents and students feel like it’s oppressive. Absolutely, colleges feel like it’s oppressive, but no one can quite figure out how to turn this machine off.

Can you explain what the term “CFO Specials” refers to?

A “CFO Special” is a tongue-in-cheek word that Jon Boeckenstedt, an admissions director I interviewed for the book, came up with.

As I spent time with Jon and with a lot of other admissions people, I came to understand that so many of their decisions are made by necessity, not based on merit or equity or anything else. They’re based on tuition. These folks are responsible for bringing in lots of tuition in order to keep their colleges afloat. This is not necessarily true at the very most selective colleges, but is true at many of the highly selective colleges. The way to do that is to admit students who can pay full tuition.

What Jon helped me understand, and what other economists have demonstrated in their research as well, is that over the last 20 or 30 years, the big boom in college admissions has been among affluent students who aren’t that good in school. High-scoring affluent kids were always going to college. Now, the kids who have increased their college-going the most over the last couple of decades are students who have low academic achievement but high family incomes. Those are the CFO Specials, and Jon came up with that phrase because those are the ones who make the chief financial officer [at the college or university], the people who are trying to balance the books at these colleges, happy, because [those students] will accept your offer of admission and they are likely to pay the full fee.

How did your understanding of the admissions process change during the course of your reporting?

I think I became less idealistic about college admissions. I certainly became more sympathetic to the stress of being an admissions officer. I now consider it to be more of a game than I used to. It’s more about money than I understood before. There’s this image that gets portrayed in the media of colleges — especially highly selective colleges — as being these very diversity-obsessed places that are admitting lots of low-income students, even if they aren’t as qualified as some high-income students, because they want to have a diverse class. I think I believed that in lots of ways.

Really, what struck me from my reporting on admissions is how much

26 • ParentMap Learning 2019

the opposite is true: what a disadvantage low-income students are at, and what an advantage well-off kids have in the whole process. Again, so much of that is because, for most colleges, tuition is really the way they stay afloat, and they need to admit as many people as possible who can pay full fee.

I think the other thing that really surprised me is how much financial aid is entwined with admissions. I write in the book about this new field, this very mysterious field called financial aid optimization. These are the math geniuses who run consulting companies that almost every college admissions office consults with.

In the past, admissions and financial aid were very much separate.

Admissions would decide who they wanted to admit, and then financial aid would decide who needed how much money to attend. Now, tuition is just much more flexible than it used to be. Colleges do post official tuition rates, but they offer huge discounts on those tuition rates, and they offer very different discounts to different students, not necessarily based on how much those families can afford, or even necessarily based on how qualified those students are. [It’s] based on this complex algorithm of how much the college is worth to the student and how much the student is worth to the college.

There’s someone sitting at a computer screen somewhere, not even at the university, but at this consulting place, calculating exactly what it will take to get you or your student to attend this college, and how much they think you’re willing to pay. That’s a little scary.

What do you think needs to change fundamentally in the admissions profession to help universities start to “do the right thing” with respect to equitable enrollment?

I tend to think that there are maybe three different changes that would make things better and fairer. With those very most selective institutions — I’m talking about maybe the 10 or 20 most selective institutions in the country, which also happen to be the 10 or 20 richest institutions in the country — they really can unilaterally decide to have more equity in their admissions. Their model of how they stay afloat economically is that they might seem like they charge lots in tuition, but in reality they’re spending much more money than they take in on each student, and their bet is that when those excellent students grow up and make a lot of money, they’ll give a lot back. They could make that bet on low-income students just as easily as high-income students. If you’re a low-income student and you go to Harvard or Princeton and you get rich, you are more likely than anybody to give back to your institution.

Second, for more middle-tier institutions, I think changing the emphasis that’s put on the SAT and the ACT would make a big difference. I don’t

parentmap.com/learning

Who Needs College?

A talk by Paul Tough OCT. 4, 7:30 p.m. think necessarily every institution Town Hall needs to go test-optional, but the Seattle colleges I studied that did go testoptional, it gave them at least a bit of an extra ability to break out of that trap … to consider other students who would be a great addition to any campus but whose test scores don’t seem high enough to justify it. I think that’s a change that individual institutions can make.

Private institutions are private institutions, and they can do whatever they want. There are lots of ways that they could do better, but they have the right to make their decisions however they want. Public institutions, however, work for us and we fund them. The fact that they have changed as drastically as they have over the past 10 or 20 years is, to my mind, much more important and distressing. It’s something that we can actually affect, because we elect the people who make the decisions about these institutions and we pay the taxes that keep these institutions afloat.

The reality is, we’re not spending enough on those institutions. Most states have cut their higher education budget over the last 10 or 20 years, at a moment when every sign in the economy is that we need more highly educated young people, and we need to find more options for those young people to get those credentials that they need without [incurring] crushing amounts of debt. The way to do that is to fund higher education publicly. That’s what the United States has always done. That’s what most countries in the world do, and that’s what we’ve stopped doing.

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After all your reporting for the book, what is your balance of hope versus cynicism when it comes to the potential of youths to attain greater social mobility through higher ed?

It depends on the day. I feel like objectively, empirically, it is easy to be pessimistic. Most indicators in terms of equity in higher education are not only not very good, they’re also heading in the wrong direction. At this moment where we now understand better than we did how unequal higher education is, it’s not like we’re responding to it by making things fairer in general. Things are continuing to become less fair. That’s kind of depressing.

But I am essentially an optimistic person. So many of the people who work in the system are really good, idealistic, altruistic, hopeful people. With very few exceptions, they want the system to be better and fairer. They mostly just feel trapped by the system and unable to make changes. I tend to feel like when everyone feels that way, and when they’re able to find ways to communicate that fact, that things can change pretty easily and pretty effectively.

My hope is that my book, in putting all this research together in one place, will be a part of that process. That it will help people look a little more universally at the system and understand how they fit into it, instead of just trying to maximize things for themselves — for my college, my kid, my job, or how I am going to maximize the prospects for that one part of the system that I am connected to — and instead take a look at higher education more collectively, more generally as citizens.

I think if we do that, we’ll make very different decisions about how to make the system work more equitably for all. ■

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Patty Lindley is ParentMap’s interim managing editor. parentmap.com/learning

ParentMap Learning 2019 • 27

Raise Your Parenting Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss our great lineup of fall events!

SCREENAGERS: The Next Chapter Seattle premiere film screening

Learn strategies and solutions to help your screen-obsessed teen survive and thrive in a digital world.

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Every Child Summit

Free resource fair + ParentEd Talk with Jonathan Mooney Get the resources you need to help your child thrive at this free event supporting families with neurodiverse learners.

October 23 | Stroum Jewish Community Center, Mercer Island Resource fair 5 p.m. | Lecture 7 p.m.

Connected Kids: Overcoming the Screen-Time Battle

A ParentEd Talk with The Screentime Consultant Emily Cherkin Learn positive parenting strategies for mentoring your YouTube-hooked, Fortnite-obsessed, Instagram-dazed child.

November 6, 7 p.m. | The Collective, Seattle

Learn more: ParentMap.com/events

IQ

individual education plan

z Steps for a Better IEP Meeting

By Maegen Blue

A

s a special education teacher and the mother of a child with special needs, I’ve literally been on both sides of the table at more than my share of individualized education plan (IEP) meetings. This annual meeting is convened with parents, teachers and staff to facilitate the process of developing an individualized plan for a student with special needs.

While I’ve been lucky enough to have had positive experiences at nearly all of the meetings I’ve attended as both a parent and a teacher, I know that IEP time is often stressful. In online support groups, it’s not uncommon for parents to post comments like “It’s IEP time, and I feel like I’m going into battle.” Other parents have debated whether bringing doughnuts or coffee will help their students receive more help.

While I would never turn down a doughnut, I’d suggest that both teachers and parents try these tips first for a better IEP meeting.

parentmap.com/learning

uBuild relationships

Missy Willert, a special education teacher in the Kent School District, tries to really get to know her students well in advance of the IEP meeting.

First, during a school’s open house, she asks parents to complete a questionnaire. She also sends home a draft copy of the IEP for parents to review at least a week prior to the meeting.

“This way, there are no surprises at the meeting,” she explains. “[Parents] have plenty of time to ask questions in a format that is not intimidating.”

For school personnel, she advises: “Be sure to discuss positive growth, traits and fun facts that demonstrate that you know the child.”

If you have an IEP scheduled for your child and you haven’t seen a draft of the plan, Willert suggests you ask for one. She also recommends that at the beginning of the year you send a letter to the teacher describing your child and outlining your concerns. continued on page 30 ParentMap Learning 2019 • 29

individual education plan

Asia Pacific Language School Academic Success With A Second Language

6 Steps for a Better IEP Meeting continued from page 29 If I have a particular concern that I want to address at my son’s meeting, I give his case manager advance notice. For example, if I want to add accommodations for my son to use during a particular test, I’ll be sure to note that in advance of our IEP meeting.

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If you’re heading to your child’s IEP meeting, be sure to arrive on time and come ready with any specifics you want to address.

Sheryl*, whose daughter attends Seattle Public Schools, suggests making a list of what you want to discuss and bringing that list along 10:14 AM to help guide the conversation. If you worry you might become overwhelmed, you may also want to bring along a friend or an advocate.

(An advocate is typically a person with special training or knowledge who can help you plan for your child’s IEP meeting and guide you through the process.)

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Melissa*, whose young son has multiple disabilities and is also intellectually gifted, says that before her first meeting with the school, she spent some time researching accommodations that had helped children with issues similar to her son’s. She felt that such research helped not to have to think of ideas on the spot.

Understand the process and learn the language

Find the right fit for your child’s needs, interests, and learning style.

LEARN MORE | wacharters.org | 206.424.2780 30 • ParentMap Learning 2019

The IEP process can be overwhelming, particularly if you’re new to it.

Read up on the process and learn the terminology.

Several local groups offer workshops on IEPs for families and/or can connect parents with advocates, if they need one. Two such local resources include: Exceptional Families Network (exceptionalfamilies.org) and PAVE (Partnerships for Action, Voices for Empowerment; wapave.org).

Wrightslaw (wrightslaw.com) provides information that helps parents to better understand the legal timelines and terms that can assist them in advocating for their child more effectively.

For example, if your child has an IEP for reading but you think parentmap.com/learning

Big Smiles Start Here she also needs help with math, you will need to request that she be evaluated in this area before those goals are added to the IEP. Understanding the steps will help everyone feel less frustrated.

Accentuate the positive

Christina Branson has been a special education teacher for two decades, working with students with mild to severe disabilities. She says there is always something positive to say about every student and advocates a team approach.

“The needs of the student should always be the focus,” says Branson.

Willert agrees, adding that she makes sure others attending the meeting understand that the focus is on developing a plan for growth and student success. The focus should not be on complaining about what the student, parent or teacher is doing or not doing.

As a parent, I try to keep an open mind and to remember that my child’s teachers have a different perspective on him than I do.

“I think it’s important to go into an IEP meeting with a positive outlook and also viewing teachers, counselors, principals — whomever — as part of ‘Team Child,’” says Willert. “Ask for their opinions. Take their advice seriously. Advocate for your child, but also recognize that they have a lot of experience to offer.”

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ySpeak up

Remember that creating the IEP is a collaborative process, and you are your child’s first teacher. Don’t be shy about speaking up if you think your child should have different goals, or if you disagree with something 0919_childrens_dental_center_1-4.indd 1 that has been suggested.

Traci Burg’s son had an IEP in the Puyallup School District from • Manage anxiety • Build self esteem preschool through age 15. She says, “Attend every IEP meeting and speak • Create strategies and tools to solve life’s challenges your mind. You have a say as to what goes in the IEP, and it is important Vicki Keough, renowned Behavioral Health Specialist, to advocate for what your child needs.”

Is Your Child Struggling?

zFollow up

The IEP is a legal document, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be changed.

Willert says she tells her families, “If something isn’t working, it can be amended. It is all about creating a document that will support your child at school in their learning and growth.”

If you’re the parent of a child with special needs, remember that the IEP is an important document, but at the end of the day, it’s only paper.

After the meeting, stay involved with the people working with your kid and ask what you can do at home to support his learning.

Teachers should gather data on your child’s progress on a regular basis and report to you at scheduled intervals. You may want to consider keeping your own data as well.

Save copies of your correspondence with the school, and don’t hesitate to say something if you think that the IEP isn’t being followed or have other concerns about your child’s progress at school. ■

4/10/19 4:28 P

works with your child to address emotional and academic challenges, creating astounding breakthroughs which maximize your child’s potential.

Start the process today!

vickikeough.com 206.369.6069 Ages 8 – 80!

*Last names withheld by request.

Maegen Blue is the editor of Sounds Fun Mom (soundsfunmom.com), a blog for South Sound families. She lives in Puyallup with her husband and two sons. parentmap.com/learning

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ParentMap Learning 2019 • 31

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Contact us about openings for enrollment in grades PreK–8. We serve children as young as 30 months and offer extended care for all ages. Our small classes focus on high quality, personalized instruction for all.

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college prep

So, Your Child Is Heading Off to College Do you have all your legal docs in a row?

By Christal Hillstead

T

he college admissions tests have been passed, the campus tours taken, scholarship applications are filled out, and the maze of the high school years is behind you. Your child has now chosen a college, you have come to terms with the cost, fall semester classes have been selected, living arrangements finalized, and dorm room shopping has begun. As parents, we have attended college planning, financial aid planning, and collegeadmitted student sessions. But have we done everything necessary to make sure our child’s watershed transition into adulthood is as secure as possible?

As our graduates prepare for this next exciting educational adventure, parents likewise need to ensure that they have everything in place for this transition. What happens if your child becomes ill? What happens if your child needs help navigating or accessing financial documents while straddled between home

34 • ParentMap Learning 2019

(or at least what has been home!) and their college home? All of a sudden, the same worries and what-ifs related to your child’s health and security become magnified through a lens of distance and impending adulthood. Many parents might not fully understand or be prepared for the legal implications of their child turning 18.

After experiencing my daughter’s college application process and subsequent decision-making, her high school graduation and the start of her first college semester, I offer a to-do list, one I wish I had had in front of me during her senior year of high school. These are tasks we scrambled to complete at the end of the summer before she headed off to her first college semester, and tasks we continued to finalize after her first semester because of said scramble.

As an estate planning attorney, I hope that this list eliminates, parentmap.com/learning

or at least reduces, the “summer scramble” for parents and provides greater peace of mind as they return home from that first college drop-off.

No time like the present: Get started now Here are the documents your college-bound student should have in place prior to the start of their first semester away, and what legal protections those docs provide.

Health-care power of attorney This document authorizes a designated person (in this case, a parent) to be notified of a health-care crisis and given access to the health-care records of their child. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) establishes privacy rights to prohibit disclosure of this information without a signed release, even if that person is the child’s parent.

A power of attorney form authorizes parents (who no longer hold this right after a child turns 18) or other designated agents the ability to assist in health-care matters when necessary.

themselves. It authorizes the designated agent to manage digital assets, including all online accounts and digitally created content, when assistance is necessary.

A will A will addresses end-of-life considerations. (See parentmap.com/wills101 for more information about creating a will and other tips for estate planning.)

Important note: If your child will be attending an out-of-state school, make sure all documents meet the signature requirements of the state where they will be attending university.

What else may be missing?

Putting these documents in place is task number one, but here’s a second checklist, this one describing the steps your college-bound child should take to ensure the documents are valid.

Health-care directive A health-care directive is a written document that informs and describes the health-care decisions that a young adult would like to be made in the event that they are unable to express their health-care choices or preferences. It also allows them to name an agent if they want someone else to decide for them.

Health-care checklist: At home • Have your child transfer their primary health care from their pediatrician’s office to an adult provider. File a copy of the health-care power of attorney with this provider’s office.

• Have your child consider granting proxy access to their MyChart account or other digital health-care account to their designated health-care agent.

Financial power of attorney A financial power of attorney is a document that grants a parent the legal authority to act on the behalf of their child in financial matters in the event that the child becomes incapacitated or is unable to make those decisions

At college • Check with the college’s health clinic: Does it have its own form for your college-bound child to sign? Is the clinic form consistent with your health-care power of attorney document? File a copy of the health-care

parentmap.com/learning

ParentMap Learning 2019 • 35

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Bridge Family Religion School strives to be a welcoming environment for all types of learners, Kindergarten through 12th grade, seeking to inspire a lifelong dedication to Jewish learning and community.

For more information, visit www.templedehirschsinai.org or contact Stacey Delcau, Director of Education, at 425.559.2576 or sdelcau@tdhs-nw.org.

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36 â&#x20AC;˘ ParentMap Learning 2019

parentmap.com/learning

college prep Heading Off to College continued from page 35 power of attorney document with the clinic.

• Locate a local urgent care clinic near the college, one where your child would go to receive after-hours health care. File a copy of the health-care power of attorney document with this clinic. Have your child check to see if their online health-care account from home will sync with the urgent care clinic’s system so that providers at the clinic are able to access your child’s prior medical history.

• Note the contact information of three people in your child’s college dorm, preferably their roommate, a resident assistant or hall director and one other friend. Also, make sure these same individuals have emergency contact information for your child.

• Make sure your child has a physical copy of their health insurance card and understands what information it contains and how to use it.

Financial checklist: • Have your child check with the financial institution with which they have an account. File the financial power of attorney document or complete the financial institution’s specific power of attorney form.

(If this is required, be sure it is consistent with your general financial power of attorney document.)

• Have your child complete a digital asset inventory and set up a password manager so that their designated financial agent can access accounts if necessary.

The Village…because being a parent is hard and you shouldn't have to do it alone. Temple B’nai Torah, a Reform synagogue in Bellevue, is now offering more young family programming, including Tot Shabbat, PEPS, PJ Library Song & Storytime, monthly family learning, expanded holiday offerings, a grandparent support group and more.

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0919_temple_bnai_torah_1-4.indd Educational records access: • Have your child complete and submit to the college a Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) form to designate who has rights to access their educational records. (Even if parents are paying for a child’s schooling, once that child turns 18, he or she has the right to designate who has access to their educational records.)

1

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And this one is for extra credit: Encourage your child to register to vote! ■ Christal Hillstead is an estate planning lawyer who specializes in creating plans for Washington families with children who are minors and collegebound students. Learn more about her practice and find free estate planning resources at christalhillsteadlaw.com.

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Get your legal docs in a row When planning a smooth transition for your college-bound student, a legal professional’s assistance can be a significant help in identifying potential problems and preparing legal solutions for your family’s security.

Head to your attorney’s office (you can find an estate planning attorney near you in the Avvo directory; avvo.com) or to an online service like LegalZoom (legalzoom.com) to get the process started.

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ParentMap Learning 2019 • 37

LEARN. GROW. BECOME.

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38 â&#x20AC;˘ ParentMap Learning 2019 LM19_wa_college_savings_plan_1-2h.indd 1

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Exceptional Education Christ-Centered Community Enrolling now for Preschool 3’s thru 8th grade www.ecswa.org (425) 641-5570

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ParentMap Learning 2019 • 39 2018PMapAd2.indd 1

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learning resources CAMPS, CLASSES + ACTIVITIES Creative Dance Center...........................4 Classes for infants, children, teens, adults Seattle; 206-363-7281 creativedance.org; info@creativedance.org DigiPen Academy............................ 13, 25 Learn game design, art, engineering, music; grades K–12 Redmond; 425-629-5007 projectfun.digipen.edu; projectfun@digipen.edu Eastside Dream Elite...............................4 Recreational cheer, dance and tumbling; ages 5–18 Greater Eastside; 425-246-9636 eastsidedreamelite.com; anne@eastsidedreamelite.com Gotta Dance...............................................4 Lyrical, hip hop, musical theater, ballet, tap and jazz Redmond; 425-861-5454 gottadance.com Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve................................... 45 Interactive exhibits showcasing the Tulalip Tribes Tulalip; 360-716-2600 hibulbculturalcenter.org KEYTIME, Inc........................................... 14 Innovative typing instruction for all ages Seattle; 206-522-TYPE keytime.com Music Together in Greater Seattle 46 Early-childhood music classes; birth– grade 2 Multiple locations musictogether.com/greaterseattle Music Works Northwest .................... 14 Music lessons, camps and classes; all ages and levels Bellevue; 425-644-0988 musicworksnw.org; registration@musicworksnw.org Northwest Boychoir............................ 22 Tryouts for boys ages 6–9 Seattle; 206-524-3234 nwboychoir.org 40 • ParentMap Learning 2019

The Parrot Lady Educational Enrichment............................................. 36 Amazing assemblies, parties and events with parrots All areas; 253-951-4452 parrotlady.com; debbie@parrotlady.com PRO Club Swim Lessons...................... 47 Youth swim lessons, open to everyone Bellevue; 425-885-5566 proclub.com; ejulius@proclub.com Pump It Up.............................................. 39 Birthday parties, open jumps, camps and more Kirkland, Lynnwood; 425-820-2297, 425-774-2297 pumpitupparty.com/ seattle-birthday-parties Rock Solid Science................................ 17 STEM enrichment, rocks and minerals for all ages Seattle area; 206-715-2556 rocksolidscience.com Safe N Sound Swimming........................7 1-on-1 swim lessons, water and outdoor adventure camps Seattle; 206-285-9279 snsswim.com Samena Swim & Recreation Club..... 32 Preschool, before- and after-school care, swim lessons Bellevue; 425-746-1160 samena.com Stroum Jewish Community Center 13 Early childhood school, family and youth programs, camps Mercer Island, Seattle; 206-232-7115 sjcc.org Sunshine Music Together LLC........... 27 Early-childhood music classes; ages 0–5 6 Greater Seattle-area locations; 206-281-1111 sunshinemusictogether.com

PARENT RESOURCES Allegro Pediatrics................................. 48 Where healthier futures begin 9 Eastside locations; 425-827-4600 allegropediatrics.com

Childish Things...................................... 32 Children’s resale boutique with maternity, gifts, more Seattle; 206-789-1498 childishresale.com; info@childishthingsseattle.net Children’s Dental Center.................... 31 Dr. Seetin, pediatric specialist for kids and teens Everett; 425-355-1136 childrensdentalcenter.net Goodwin Connections......................... 16 Helping parents in college afford child care King, Pierce and Snohomish counties; 206-526-7944 goodwinconnections.org Seattle Public Library.......................... 10 Homework help, story times, programs for all ages 27 Seattle locations; 206-386-4636 spl.org Vicki Keough Therapy.......................... 31 Behavioral health, hypnotherapy, thought coaching Seattle; 206-369-6069 vickikeough.com

( Education Online Explore dozens of local options at parentmap.com/education

Washington College Savings Plans (WA529) ............................................. 38 Helping families save with two flexible plans GET, 800-955-2318; DreamAhead, 844-529-5845 wastate529.wa.gov

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SCHOOLS + PRESCHOOLS ABC German School ............................. 14 German language instruction; ages 2– adult Bellevue; 425-753-6195 abcgermanschool.com; nadja@abcgermanschool.com America’s Child Montessori .............. 41 Promoting academic, physical and social growth Bellevue; 425-641-5437 americaschild.net

Asia Pacific Language School............ 30 Chinese and Japanese camps and preschool Bellevue; 425-747-4172 apls.org; apls@apls.org

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Assumption – St. Bridget School . 36 Rigorous academics and comprehensive arts; pre-K–grade 8 Seattle; 206-524-7452 asbschool.org; admissions@asbschool.org

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Bellevue Montessori School ......... 19 Inspiring life-long learners; ages 1½–12 Bellevue; 425-454-7439 bellmontessori.com Billings Middle School............................2 Dynamic academic community, excellent faculty Seattle; 206-547-4614 billingsmiddleschool.org

The Bear Creek School ................... 27 Christian liberal arts education; preschool–grade 12 Redmond; 425-898-1720 tbcs.org; chazeltine@tbcs.org

Bridge Family Religion School at Temple De Hirsch Sinai....................... 36 Jewish learning and community; grades K–12 Seattle, Bellevue; 425-559-2576 templedehirschsinai.org/bfrs/; sdelcau@tdhs-nw.org

Bellevue Discovery Preschool .......... 33 Inquiry learning for highly capable preschoolers Bellevue; 425-223-5193 bellevuediscovery.org; admissions@bellevuediscovery.org

Bright Horizons Early Education and Preschool................................................ 18 Child care, early education, summer camp Multiple Puget Sound locations; 877-624-4532 u brighthorizons.com/parentmap2019

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learning resources SCHOOLS + PRESCHOOLS continued from page 41 Bright Seeds Academy........................ 38 Chinese immersion and bilingual, fulland part-time Bellevue; 425-894-5922 brightseedsacademy.org; info@brightseedsacademy.org Bright Water Waldorf School ........... 16 Serving children from preschool–grade 8 Seattle; 206-624-6176 brightwaterwaldorf.org; info@brightwaterwaldorf.org Cedar Crest Academy ..................... 33 An academically enriching program; preschool–grade 5 Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond; 425-454-1234 cedarcrestacademy.org

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Charles Wright Academy .............. 19 Independent, co-ed day school; preschool–grade 12 Tacoma; 253-620-8373 charleswright.org; admissions@charleswright.org

Christ the King School......................... 32 Catholic, individualized learning; preschool–grade 8 Seattle; 206-226-5679 ckseattle.org; ahall@ckseattle.org

Eastside Christian School................... 39 Strong academics, Christian worldview; preschool–grade 8 Bellevue; 425-641-5570 ecswa.org; info@ecswa.org

Dartmoor School................................... 32 One-to-one, customized learning for grades 1–12 Bellevue, Bothell, Issaquah, Seattle; 425-885-6296 dartmoorschool.org; admissions@dartmoorschool.org

Eastside Community School ......... 22 Inspired by Waldorf education; early childhood–grade 8 Bellevue; 425-598-2914 eastsidecommunityschool.org; info@eastsidecommunityschool.org

Eastside Catholic School............... 33, 37 Faith-based learning; co-ed, grades 6–12 Sammamish; 425-295-3000 eastsidecatholic.org; info@eastsidecatholic.org Eastside Children’s Academy............ 43 Chinese bilingual care and learning; infants–age 5 Bellevue; 425-748-9977 eastsidechildrensacademy.com

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Epiphany School ..................................8 Independent elementary school; pre-K–grade 5 Seattle; 206-323-9011 epiphanyschool.org; gjones@epiphanyschool.org The Evergreen School.......................... 44 Serving highly capable learners; preschool–grade 8 Shoreline/North Seattle; 206-364-0801 evergreenschool.org Explorer West Middle School............ 39 Challenging academics, core values, arts, outdoor ed West Seattle; 206-935-0495 explorer-west.org; katiea@explorer-west.org Forest Ridge — The Sacred Heart School of Seattle .............................. 47 Independent, Catholic, all-girls school; grades 5–12 Bellevue; 425-641-0700 forestridge.org; admissions@forestridge.org

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French American School of Puget Sound ................................................. 19 Excellence today, the world tomorrow; ages 2–14 Mercer Island; 206-275-3533 fasps.org; info@fasps.org

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Heritage Christian Academy............. 32 Preschool to middle school Arrowsmith program Bothell; 425-485-2585 hcabothell.org; info@hcabothell.org Hope Lutheran School......................... 24 Faith-focused and student-centered; preschool–grade 8 West Seattle; 206-935-8500 hls.hopeseattle.org; admissions@hopeseattle.org 42 • ParentMap Learning 2019

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( Education Online Explore dozens of local options at parentmap.com/education

KapKa Cooperative School ............... 21 Experienced-based learning, small classes; grades K–5 Seattle; 206-522-0350 kapkaschool.org; registrar@kapkaschool.org Kiddie Academy of Kirkland .............11 Child care for infants–age 5; camps for ages 1–12 Kirkland; 425-242-0075 kiddieacademy.com/kirkland; kirkland@kiddieacademy.net

JDS: The Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle ..........................14 Jewish community school; early childhood–grade 8 Bellevue; 425-460-0200 jds.org; admissions@jds.org

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King’s Schools .................................. 24 Challenging academics in a faith-focused community Seattle; 206-289-7783; kingsschools.org Lake Washington Girls Middle School Girls strong in mind, body and voice; grades 6–8 Seattle; 206-709-3800 lwgms.org; info@lwgms.org

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Kid’s Country Child Learning Centers 43 Safe and nurturing licensed preschool programs 10 Puget Sound-area locations; 360-668-5145 kidscountryinc.com; askus@kidscountryinc.com

Life Christian Academy...................... 21 Preparing students for life; preschool– grade 12 Tacoma; 253-756-2190 wherelifehappens.org

The Kineo School ................................. 38 A community of learners; grades K–8 Kirkland; 425-394-9378 kineoschool.org; info@kineoschool.org

The Little School ............................... 2 Experiential, child-centered learning; ages 3–11 Bellevue; 425-827-8708 thelittleschool.org; info@thelittleschool.org u

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Now enrolling infants through pre-kindergarten & before and after school care!

Visit KidsCountryInc.com or call 360-668-5145 for

more information and to schedule a tour at one of the following locations: Auburn • Bonney Lake Burien • Canyon Park

Everett • Issaquah • Maple Valley Monroe • Tacoma • Woodinville

Love, Laugh, Learn, and Grow parentmap.com/learning

ParentMap Learning 2019 • 43

learning resources SCHOOLS + PRESCHOOLS continued from page 43 Living Montessori Education Community.............................................47 Infant, toddler, primary, elementary Bellevue; 425-373-5437 livingmontessori.com; info@livingmontessori.com

Matheia School .................................... 21 Hands-on, experience-based learning; pre-K–grade 5 Seattle; 206-283-1828 matheia.org; matheia@matheia.org The Meridian School .......................... 21 Inclusive K–5 community committed to balance Seattle; 206-632-7154; meridianschool.edu

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.................. 24 Morningside Academy Rigorous full-year and summer; grades 1–9 Seattle; 206-709-9500 morningsideacademy.org; info@morningsideacademy.org North Seattle French School............. 17 Immersion and bilingual education; preschool–grade 5 Seattle; 206-365-1034 northseattlefrenchschool.com; office@northseattlefrenchschool.com

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.................... 16 Open Window School For gifted kids who love to learn; grades K–8 Bellevue; 425-747-2911 openwindowschool.org; admissions@ows.org

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............... 47 PRO Club Early Learning Preschool and pre-K for ages 2½–6 Bellevue; 425-861-6247 proclub.com; hkonrad@proclub.com Puget Sound Community School...... 36 Turning passion into achievement; grades 6–12 Seattle; 206-324-4350 pscs.org; pscs@pscs.org Roaring Mouse Creative Arts Studio ...14 Art-based preschool and kids’ art programs; ages 2½–9 Seattle; 206-522-1187 roaringmouse.org; director@roaringmouse.org

PRESCHOOL — GRADE 8 IN GREATER SEATTLE

Ever think...

my child can go deeper, even at this young age?

Our teachers create unique challenges for children who love to delve further.

Profound learning for the continuously curious • evergreenschool.org 44 • ParentMap Learning 2019

parentmap.com/learning

( Education Online Explore dozens of local options at parentmap.com/education

Shoreline Community College.......... 33 7 co-op preschools with parenting education Shoreline; 206-546-4593 shoreline.edu/parenting-education

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Sammamish Montessori School .39 Preschool, kindergarten, extended care Redmond; 425-883-3271 sammamishmontessori.com; info@sammamishmontessori.com Seabury School.........................................8 Advanced curriculum for gifted students; pre-K–grade 8 Tacoma; 253-952-3111 seabury.org; office@seabury.org Seattle Academy................................... 12 College prep curriculum for grades 6–12 Seattle; 206-324-7227 seattleacademy.org; admissions@seattleacademy.org

Seattle Jewish Community School 10 Nurturing curious and compassionate learners; grades K–5 Seattle; 206-522-5212 sjcs.net; admissions@sjcs.net

Seattle Country Day School ......... 21 Inspiring gifted K–8 students through inquiry learning Seattle; 206-691-2625 seattlecountryday.org; admissions@seattlecountryday.org

Shoreline Christian School................. 30 Developing students’ strengths; preschool–grade 12 Shoreline; 206-364-7777 shorelinechristian.org

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Solomike Early Childhood Center at Temple B’Nai Torah.............................. 37 Tot Shabbat, family learning, grandparent support group Bellevue; 425-603-9677; templebnaitorah.org

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Spruce Street School Personalized instruction for students ages 5–11 Seattle; 206-621-9211 sprucestreetschool.org; info@sprucestreetschool.org St. John School....................................... 17 Catholic education for preschool–grade 8 Seattle; 206-783-0337 u st-johnschool.org

Plan your next ǻIPH XVMT [MXL YW å Ņýåų ƋŅƚųŸ üŅų ŸÏĘŅŅĬ čųŅƚŞŸ ƋŅ ƴĜŸĜƋ Ņƚų ƖƐØLjLjLj Ÿŧƚ±ųå üŅŅƋ ü±ÏĜĬĜƋƼ ±ĹÚ ĂLj ±Ïųå űƋƚų±Ĭ ĘĜŸƋŅųƼ ŞųåŸåųƴå åƻŞĬ±ĜĹĜĹč ƋĘå Ĭåč±ÏƼ Ņü ƋĘå ƚĬ±ĬĜŞ ŞåŅŞĬåţ -MFYPF(YPXYVEP(IRXIV SVK

ȴȰȉ ȮȦȰ ȶȰȉȉ kĻåƐķĞĮåƐƾ垃ƐŇüƐFĝăƐ)DŽЃƐőłł ȰȏȦȉ ȶȴVH &ZI 3* 8YPEPMT ;&

parentmap.com/learning

ParentMap Learning 2019 • 45

learning resources ( Education Online Explore dozens of local options at parentmap.com/education

SCHOOLS + PRESCHOOLS continued from page 45 St. Joseph Parish Schoo ...................... 22 Seattle’s Jesuit parish school Seattle; 206-329-3260 stjosephsea.org; school@stjosephsea.org St. Monica Catholic Schoo ................. 38 Catholic liberal arts education; pre-K–grade 8 Mercer Island; 206-232-5432 stmonicasea.org; info@stmonicasea.org St. Thomas Schoo ................................. 21 Non-sectarian education; preschool– grade 8 Medina; 425-454-5880 stthomasschool.org; info@stthomasschool.org UCDS: University Child Development School .........................................................2 Igniting a renaissance in education; pre-K–grade 5 Seattle; 206-547-8237 ucds.org; info@ucds.org

Sing.

Play.

Connect.

Learn.

Try a free ! class

UW Robinson Center for Young Scholars......................................................4 Acceleration and enrichment for highly capable students Seattle; 206-543-4160 robinsoncenter.uw.edu; rcys@uw.edu Woodinville Montessori School Accredited Montessori program for toddlers–high school Bothell, Woodinville; 425-482-3184 woodinvillemontessori.org; info@woodinvillemontessori.org

( . 38

TUTORING, TESTING + CONSULTING Education Maven.................................. 22 Independent education and college consultant Greater Seattle area educationmaven.net; phyl.levine@gmail.com

Puget Sound Independent Schools 15 Admissions collaborative connecting families and schools Greater Puget Sound area pugetsoundindependentschools.org Washington State Charter Schools Association............................................. 30 Nonprofit charter school advocacy organization Statewide; 206-424-2780 n wacharters.org

Spend quality time with your little ones in a Music Together class. As you have a blast playing along to our award-winning tunes, you’ll make new friends and learn lots of ways to support your child’s music and overall development.

With many locations in Seattle, the Eastside, and the North Sound, we’ve got you covered!

46 • ParentMap Learning 2019

parentmap.com/learning

Living Montessori Education Community

NOW ENROLLING!

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AGES 2 1/2 - 6

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S C H E D U LE A TO U R TODAY www.livingmontessori.com | (425)373-5437

Low Ratios & Small Classes Highly Qualified Teachers Integrated Technology Nutrition & Active Lifestyle Education Learn more at proclub.com or call (425) 861-6247 Bellevue, WA

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Join Us for an Open House October 26, 2019 | 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

All-Girls, Grades 5-12 | forestridge.org parentmap.com/learning

SWIM LESSONS Teaching more kids to swim than anywhere in the Northwest.

World Class Aquatic Center Expert Instructors Techniques for confidence, comfort and fun OPEN TO EVERYONE. NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED.

(425) 861-6274 or aquaticsinfo@proclub.com ParentMap Learning 2019 • 47

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