Resources for Managing Family Screen Time
By April Huard, Off-Campus Program Advisor According to a 2015 study by Common Sense Media, the average teen spends nine hours each day in front of screens (not including educational hours). Although parents generally agree that kids should spend much less time with digital media, many are unsure exactly how to proceed when it comes […]
Not Enough Can Be Said About Play
By Pat Montgomery, Founder Editor’s Note: From time to time, we’ll “look back” through our archives to share articles that are as relevant today as when they were printed. In this piece that was originally published in the February 1988 issue of The Learning Edge, Clonlara’s founder discusses the importance of creative, unstructured play at […]
Libraries Are for Everyone
By Shari Maser, Off-Campus Program Advisor American libraries have evolved a great deal since the visionary Benjamin Franklin founded the first lending library in 1731. Today, free public libraries exist all across the United States, with a mission of making books and other media readily available to every citizen. Beyond the traditional collections of books […]
Getting Comfortable with High-Order Learning
By Carrie Lafferty, Off-Campus Program Advisor Recently, my 10-year-old son was given the task of researching Puerto Rican cuisine. I let him take the lead and thought he was going to learn about food. But, fueled by his own inspiration and supported by mentors and peers, he soon took off on a learning adventure no […]
The Secret to Success: Executive Function Skills
By Shari Maser, Off-Campus Program Advisor Executive function skills are the basis of learning how to learn effectively, work productively, and overcome adversity. Experts at Harvard University describe executive function and self-regulation skills as “the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Just as an air […]
Championing Teens with Anxiety
By April Huard, Off-Campus Program Advisor As a teenager, Solome Tibebu struggled with a debilitating anxiety disorder that affected every area of her life. Although she suffered silently for many years, afraid to share her secret thoughts with even her family, she credits her father for helping her finally manage and overcome her fear and […]
We Flourish Together
By Kevin Fitzgerald, Editor The snow is melting here in Michigan, and though we may not have seen the last of it this year, Clonlara School’s staff is looking forward to the budding and blooming of spring. In anticipation of warmer temperatures and longer days to come, we’re planning to get out and spread the […]
An Argument for Self-Directed Learning in K–12
By Michele Collett, Director of Finance and Clonlara School Parent Over the last couple of years, I have witnessed very successful students from traditional high schools flounder in their first semester at college. They attended the lectures, took notes, and read the assignments but still flunked the tests. What could cause the class valedictorian, drum […]
Elders as Educational Resources
By Shari Maser, Off-Campus Program Advisor Senior citizens have been an important part of my daughter’s educational journey. Many of my students also connect with elders in their families and communities in a variety of ways. The following is an exchange between my then 8-year-old daughter and her grandparents: Dear Gramma and Grampy, I’m going […]
Making “Teachable Moments” Learnable
By Emily Fitzgerald, Guest Author The phrase “teachable moment” is often thrown around and generally refers to an everyday situation from which a learning opportunity arises—usually involving some sort of lesson taught to a young person by an adult. An argument over a pencil can become a teachable moment about how to resolve conflicts or […]