Category Archives: Parent Education

Parents Explore Social and Emotional Learning

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This week Middle and Lower School parents delved into better understanding how to support their daughters through a social and emotional learning lens. The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning (IFSEL) led two thoughtful morning workshops on the subject.

Among other topics, the workshops provided information about the following:

-Reflective listening guidelines for parents, sharing examples like: Tell me more about, I wonder what was meant by, It sounds like, So, as you see it….

-Understanding roadblocks and freeways to communication

-Accepting Ourselves and Our Young Children: Notes for Parenting with Skills that Embrace Social and Emotional Learning

-IFSEL’s Twelve Top Tips for Parenting Adolescents

-IFSEL Conflict Resolution & Relationship Repair

To see the presentation slides and a recording of the workshops (only available to Hamlin Parents), please visit: https://hamlin.myschoolapp.com/app/faculty#resourceboarddetail/15387

-These workshops were made possible through the generosity of the fall golf fundraiser. Thank you to all who contributed to that successful event.

For more information about the IFSEL, please visit: https://www.instituteforsel.net/

 

Hamlin University: Year 2

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At The Hamlin School we want parents to learn with us. We feel that a community functions best when we are all knowledgeable about the philosophical and practical approaches to educating children. With this in mind, today we launched our second year of Hamlin University.

The following classes are taking place over the course of this academic year:

-Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) for Parents, taught by Kylie Cobb

-The Birds and the Bees, taught by Konika Ray

-The Beginning Reader, taught by Lindsay Bothwell

-Public Speaking, taught by Tim Johnson

-Moving Beyond the Leveled Letters, taught by Lindsay Bothwell

-Think Like a Mathematician, taught by Gillis Kallem

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Women Writers of Color Speak Truth at Hamlin

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On March 30, seven powerful women shared personal narratives, speaking about truth, identity, gender, resilience, and inner strength. These women were unified by the dynamic vision of Deborah Santana, who recently brought together the voices of 69 writers in the beautiful anthology, All the Women in My Family Sing.

All the Women in My Family Sing is a vital collection of prose and poetry by women of color, with topics that range from the pressures of being the vice-president of a Fortune 500 Company, to escaping the killing fields of Cambodia, to the struggles inside immigration, identity, romance and self-worth. The brief, trenchant essays capture the aspirations and wisdom of these powerful women as they exercise autonomy, creativity, and dignity and build bridges to heal the brokenness in today’s turbulent world.

The following writers shared from their work:

Vicki L. Ward, Shizue Seigel, Kira Lynne Allen, Maria Ramos Chertok, Nayomi Munaweera, Randi Bryant-Agenbroad, and Hamlin’s own, Wanda M. Holland Greene.

Below are some quotations and topics that surfaced:

-“Standing in our truth, is also standing in our power.”

-“One woman speaks her truth and the world splits open.”

-“I would have told my younger self that her body belonged only to herself.”

-“I started to get assimilation fatigue and had to be the complete me.”

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Parents Association & PLAID: Creating Community Through Dialogue

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On November 15, a thoughtful group of 57 Hamlin parents came together to role play and talk about ways to further enrich our inclusive community. The event included members of our Parents Association and our PLAID parent group.

Parents were given the following scenario:

A kindergarten mom sends out an email to the class parent email group inviting fellow moms to a “Moms’ Mimosa Brunch.” The invitation reads:

Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2017

To: Class of 2026 Parents

From: Mom Host

Subject: Moms’ Mimosa Brunch

Hey Moms,

Let’s celebrate surviving the first two months of school with a moms’ mimosa brunch at The New Restaurant on Union Street (in San Francisco). The cost is $100 per person and includes food, beverage, and use of the room for our brunch. Join us Wednesday, October 24, 2017 at 11:00am. Please RSVP to me by Monday the 22nd so we can adjust our reservation as needed.

Hope to see you all there!

Cheers, Mom Host

After reading the invitation, participants responded based on the role that they were given. In some roles parents were offended, while other participants were designated to see nothing wrong with the invitation.

During the role play, parents answered the question: How do you feel and why? 

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Learning With Hamlin University

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At The Hamlin School we want parents to learn with us. We feel that a community functions best when we are all knowledgeable about the philosophical and practical approaches to educating children. With this in mind, we recently launched Hamlin University.

Parents were expressing more and more interest in learning. We wanted to create a course catalog as if they (the parents) were in college, tapping into teacher expertise to share information on a wide variety of subjects.  -Nisa Frank, Lower School Division Head

I love the idea of Hamlin U.. It emphasizes the importance of all of us learning, just like students. These classes give parents an interactive way of engaging with us faculty, learning new tips and tricks, plus participating in deeper conversations with each other. It challenges everyone to take a closer look at their existing strategies and reflect on new ways of thinking.   -Kylie Cobb, Lower School Counselor and Hamlin U. presenter

The classes are great, I want to sign up for all of them!   -Hamlin Parent

The following classes are taking place over the course of this academic year:

-“Bullying” vs. “Mean Behavior”: Understanding more through digging deeper

-Turning Struggles into Successes: Creating a growth mindset

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