The New Century School opened a 7th grade for the 2017–2018 school year, cause for both celebration as well as a tinge of wistfulness, as we watch TNCS”s oldest students enter adolescence.
Brushing aside its poignancy for a moment, this fact meant that TNCS’s science program also recently underwent some important growth and development. Jon Wallace took over as school-wide science director and lead science teacher for Grades 3 through 7 this year. Let’s meet him!
Originally from Wheaton, MD, Mr. Wallace now lives in Linthicum but has lived all over the country at different points. “I’ve had a lot of different jobs. I’ve worked everything from bicycle mechanic to fast food. It’s fun to travel to different places and just live in different areas. I’ve lived in Arizona, Montana, Texas, and a few others,” he said.
He graduated from Towson University with a degree in Psychology but teaching runs in his family. His father was a professor of English and Accounting for 19 years at Montgomery College and his older brother is a professor in Texas. He explains that what really got him into teaching, though, was witnessing am 8th-grade physical science teacher do his stuff. He was working at Shepard Pratt Hospital at the time and got to see the teacher there in action. “I really thought it was interesting. My family had always seemed to shy away from sciences,” he said, “but it fascinated me, so I went back to school to get certified and started working at Shepard Pratt as a high school teacher.” He also has experience teaching at an independent school for 3 years in Potomac, MD as well as at Cherry Hill Elementary and Middle School here in Baltimore City.
His goal for TNCS is mainly to fortify the already-robust science program. He is excited about this, knowing how eager the “knowledge-hungry” students are to explore science concepts. Quarter 1 was dedicated to electricity (static and current) and magnetism. Older student objectives included being able to explain how stereo speakers and DC electric motors work to gain solid understanding of the relationship between electricity and magnetism as well as to become familiar with Ohm’s law (the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points). All students studied parallel and series circuits and were expected to understand and be able to define voltage, amperage, and electrical resistance.
With Quarter 2 fast approaching, chemistry is next up. Mr. Wallace explains: “Younger students will become familiar with trends found within the periodic table, bonding types, and what a chemical reaction is. Older students will be learning bonding, naming compounds, and stoichiometry skills that will allow them to perform labs and make their transition into the physical sciences and high school chemistry seamless.”
Noting how advanced both the reading and math programs are at TNCS, Mr. Wallace feels that his students will readily manage commensurate science instruction. “You know when 3rd-graders are doing long division, they’re already beyond where they should be. Likewise, readers are testing off the charts,” he observed.
In keeping with TNCS’s fundamentally inquiry-based approach, weekly science homework involves Internet research, coupled with writing. In the classroom, although until now he had never taught students younger than those in 7th grade, he is learning new ways and new materials to teach. He is also adapting well to the mixed ages in each class and to differentiating their instruction.
Also helping Mr. Wallace adjust to his younger students is that he has two sons ages 8 and 9 years old. He spends his weekends mountain biking with them. “We’re a big biker family,” he says.
When he’s not off-roading it with the boys, he created and now maintains teachphysicalscience.com, a subscription-based website designed to assist high school science teachers break down key science concepts for better student absorption. He has used much of the material on his site in the classroom over his 14-year teaching career and has had favorable student feedback about his “no-fuss” approach. “I really enjoy writing tutorials with more visually based tutorial concepts,” he said. “I really like making visual concepts come alive.”
In closing, he said: “TNCS is the most diverse school that I’ve ever worked at. Seeing students speak in different languages is really impressive, and I think it’s giving these kids an advantage over most students their age.” He also wants parents to know that communication between home and school is important to him, as it will facilitate learning. “If you have any comments or questions that you think would help me with your student, please let me know,” he said.
On Wednesday, October 18th, for the second year in a row, The New Century School hosted a rousing celebration of hispanic culture. The culmination of Hispanic Heritage month, which runs roughly from September 15th through October 15th, this vibrant event featured choral and dance performances from TNCS students in kindergarten through 7th grade, a special guest performance by Mexican folk dancers Bailes de Mi Tierra, and a smorgasbord of traditional hispanic food provided by TNCS families.
As with last year’s Spanish Heritage Night, TNCS’s Spanish department (with help from the TNCS community) developed a truly spectacular show. Sra. Barbara Sanchez, Sra. Fabiola Sanzana, and Professor Manuel Caceres put their hearts into making the evening something special. In a gesture of support, they dedicated the evening to the people of Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Professor Manuel, a natural at em-ceeing, as it turns out, started by thanking everyone for coming, acknowledging the level of commitment that TNCS families, staff, and administrators bring to the school:
Muchas gracias, bienvenidos—thank you for coming, good evening, parents! It’s a pleasure for the Spanish department of TNCS and an honor for us to greet you here today. Enjoy this presentation by your beautiful children that they rehearsed and perfected in just 5 weeks for Hispanic Heritage month. Thanks to the administrators and teachers that we have here, we were able to prepare this celebration.
He also thanked TNCS mom Eileen Wold for the beautiful paintings she made and contributed. They will be making an annual appearance along with all of the colorful decorations created by TNCS students.
Finally, he spoke about what the chance to celebrate Hispanic Heritage means to him: “This month is an opportunity to show our solidarity, respect, cooperation, and engagement. No matter what part of the world we are from, we are human beings that deserve love, respect, and education.” And the kids took it from there!
Get a sampling of the evening with this wonderful highlight reel made by TNCS mom Sharon Marsh. (Just below it, you can view each presentation individually, if desired.)
The student performances were followed by two dances by Bailes de Mi Tierra, a Baltimore area dance troupe established in 2008 that boasts Professor Manuel among its members. On this occasion, Director Jose Reyes and dance partner Amanda Pattison kicked up their heels to “the second national anthem of Mexico” as well as danced and taught the “Mexican Hat Dance.”
Although no one wanted this fun night to end, it was a school night, so everyone wished each other a buenas noches and departed smiling. And humming. And stomping. And reciting, “café con pan.”
On Wednesday, October 11th, The New Century School welcomed a very special guest to host a workshop on a topic she knows well, both professionally and personally: Johns Hopkins Child Clinical and Developmental Psychologist Carisa Perry-Parrish. Dr. Perry-Parrish may already be known to many among the TNCS community, as she has presented on other topics over the past few years (see Mindful Parenting: A TNCS Workshop that Could Change the World) and has also hosted workshops for TNCS staff professional development days (see TNCS Teachers Get Mindful!). She also just happens to be a TNCS parent. On this occasion, her focus was on milestones that the 2- to 3-year-old child should be approaching, a topic that has special significance at TNCS because, at age 3, children are eligible to enter the primary classroom.
For those of you who were unable to attend (and those of you who want a refresher), Dr. Perry-Parrish generously shared her presentation and slides with Immersed, which are reproduced here.
About Carisa Parry-Parrish
Originally from Georgia, Dr. Perry-Parrish has been in Baltimore for the last 10 years. She introduced herself to the large group of pre-primary parents in attendance by explaining a bit about her professional expertise. “I have a lot of training with normal children, but also kids that have anxiety,” she said. “I do a lot of work with parents, mostly on behavioral challenges, with medical conditions, medical stress, and traumatic stress. On the developmental side, I have a lot of training on normal development. I lead [JHU’s] post-doctoral training program for child psychologists, so I have a lot of experience and interest in teaching and training new psychologists. I work with primary care physicians and collaborate with Hopkins pediatricians. I like training, I like kids, I like working with people who work with kids.”
Specifically, her titles are Licensed Psychologist; Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Director of Behavior Medicine (Psychology) for the Pediatric Burn Program, Pediatric Dermatology, and the Center for Sweat Disorders; and Director of Training, Pediatric Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Her clinical service includes age ranges from birth through 20s, individual and parent therapy, behavioral medicine consultations, integration of behavioral health into primary care, and psychological testing.
She teaches psychology fellows and child psychiatry residents parent management training, mindfulness, and motivation enhancement.
Her current research areas include emotion regulation and psychosocial functioning across development, parental socialization of children’s emotional development, and parent and child adjustment to medical stress.
Milestones for the 2- to 3-Year Period
The changes that are happening in children at this stage are staggering in number and in scale. They are becoming people—becoming themselves—and a lot of work goes into that. This can be a difficult time for them and no less so for you, their parents. Therefore, you’ll be happy to hear that Dr. Perry-Parrish’s overriding message was that you have allies: your child’s teachers. Rather than viewing teachers as judges who determine if and when a child is ready to move up, or, worse, as the arbiter of a child’s entire scholastic career, she urges parents to embrace them as collaborators in a child’s development. They have the same goals as you do, that is, to guide children along their path, meeting milestones as they go. Although this makes perfect sense, until she said it, some of us had never thought of it in quite this way before. We’re in this together.
Dr. Perry-Parrish breaks milestones down into five categories; physical, cognitive, language, emotional, and social, as shown below, and they synergistically feed into each other. Her biggest priority, though, and the one she feels best serves children is emotional development:
There are a lot of things that are changing with kids. I feel as a parent, that once we’ve mastered one stage, they are on to another stage, so we’re always trying to keep up with them. Another interesting thing is that there are different aspects of development that influence the other ones. A big one for our kids at this age is language development. Language facilitates cognitive development, social development, and emotional development. They are all interwoven, so when you see new developments in one domain, they are anticipating development in another domain. One of the things I’m interested in my work is how parents socialize kids emotional development. I have a big interest in supporting kids’ social regulation and emotional regulation.
Physical Milestones
Climbs well
Runs easily
Pedals a tricycle (3-wheel bike)
Walks up and down stairs, one foot on each step
Cognitive Milestones
Can work toys with buttons, levers, and moving parts
Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people
Does puzzles with three or four pieces
Understands what “two” means
Copies a circle with pencil or crayon
Turns book pages one at a time
Builds towers of more than six blocks
Screws and unscrews jar lids or turns door handle
Language Milestones
By 2 ½ years:
Understands a lot more than can articulate
Will attempt to use over 100 words but cannot produce all the sounds needed to pronounce words, so many of them will be unclear
Talks while plays
Relies more heavily on words, rather than gestures, to communicate
By 3 years:
Can follow multistep instructions
Can be understood by strangers most of the time when talking
Asks many questions in order to understand the world
Listens to stories and will have favorites that need reading regularly
Enjoys imaginative play and often has a running commentary during play
Emotional and Social Milestones
Expressive behavior
Limited differentiation…extensive specific affective states
Regulation/coping
Dyadic regulation….independent regulation
Relationship building
Primary attachment….multiple, varied, diverse relationships
Influence of socialization figures
Cognitive understanding
Emotional Regulation
“Besides language immersion, another important aspect of coming to this school is facilitating your child’s emotional and social development,” said Dr. Perry-Parrish.
There is a shift from infancy to 2- to 3-years-old, moving from a dyadic regulation to more of an adult/independent regulation. Also, in the pre-primary level, the child is moving from the egocentric to now engaging in more of a social way. Their social world is expanding, which brings new opportunities for intimacy, friendship, and connections but also lots of opportunity for conflict, frustration, sadness, and jealousy. So we’re trying to narrate that landscape for our kids to help it make sense. To me, this is one of the most important building blocks toward long-term development that we have. A popular book by Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, talks about children’s emotional regulation. It’s something that research suggests is predictive of long-term academic and social success.
For those of you who have never seen the Stanford marshmallow experiment, you’re in for a treat watching these children try to stave off their quite natural and intense desire to eat the apparently very fragrant marshmallow in favor of a potentially double reward.
Spoiler Alert: In general, fewer than half the kids “pass” the test. Most kids are unable to delay gratification and give into the marshmallow-y temptation. (Except, a recent study found, kids from the Nso tribe in Cameroon.) But this test has profound implications—researchers have followed the original participants for decades and discovered that those who did manage to wait were more likely to have better SAT scores and better jobs as adults.
Emotion Coaching Strategies
“There is so much that can be done right now, the shaping that you guys are doing right now is so critical and powerful and is going to shape the trajectory of your child in so many ways, in a good way,” said Dr. Perry-Parrish. But, for many parents in the room, the idea that their whirling dervish—that is, toddler—could self-regulate to the extent that he or she could pass up a marshmallow (let alone not throw tantrums, hit siblings, bite schoolmates, or refuse to dress) was sheer fantasy.
It might take a while and hundreds of repetitions, but they will begin to get it. Their reactions are completely natural and appropriate given all the enormous transformations that are going on within their bodies and minds. “We are sowing so many seeds right now that are going to yield a harvest of self-regulation and social successes,” Dr. Perry-Parrish assured the audience. That’s not to say that consequences of disruptive behavior are not warranted. The key there is to be consistent with your choice of limit-setting, whether that’s a time out or separation from a favorite toy or activity.
“When kids’ challenging behavior is most bothersome to us is often when it has an emotional intensity,” said Dr. Perry-Parrish; nevertheless, our job is to stay calm and help guide them through what they are experiencing. She next shared some specific emotion-coaching strategies as well as recommended reading John Gottman’s Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child.
Rather than emotion dismissing, an all-too-common knee-jerk parental reaction (“there’s nothing to be afraid of”; “what are you crying for?”), it’s important to engage in emotion coaching.
Different styles of emotion coaching/positive parenting exist, but the point is to validate what the child is feeling, by:
Being aware of the child’s emotion
Recognizing emotion as opportunity for intimacy and teaching
Listening empathetically and validating the child’s feelings
Helping the child verbally label emotions
Setting limits while helping the child problem-solve
Can include limit-setting around inappropriate behavior
Setting limits on inappropriate behaviors associated with affect (hitting)
Collaborating with Teachers to Support Development
Finally, Dr. Perry-Parrish brought the two threads of her discussion together by explaining how young children benefit from a collaborative, two-way parent–teacher partnership that includes robust information exchange. Again, teachers are your allies in the effort to turn out nice human beings, and your child is your shared priority.
Parents help teachers learn about their child (e.g., temperament, preferences, expectations)
Teachers help parents learn about their child in a new social setting
Teachers and parents can support each other in their interactions with children
Sharing important information about your child
Receiving information about school and social behavior
Exchange strategies that work well in each setting
What can you specifically do to support preprimary teachers?
Learn about the routines at school
Observe your child in class—volunteer!
Identify shared goals of school and home
Attend parent–teacher conferences
Share concerns with teachers to support your child
Invite teachers to share observations to inform your understanding of your child at school
“Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, hap-py birth-day blog dot the new century school dot co-om, happy birthday to me!”
You read correctly, folks—Immersed first greeted the world this week in 2012! (October 12th to be exact.) Five years later, The New Century School‘s blog is going strong!
To celebrate this milestone, we thought we’d take a look at Five Fun Facts about Immersed.
Number 1: This is Immersed‘s 244th post.
Number 2:Immersed‘s most popular day is Sunday, which snags 24% of views. It’s best hour is 3:00 pm, garnering 14% of views.
Number 3:Before today, Immersed had a total of 62,005 views and 23,710 visitors. (We’re hoping to see a dramatic spike in the next few days!)
Number 4:Immersed‘s readership extends from the United States all the way to South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Albania, China, and South Africa!
Number 5:The most views Immersed ever got in a single day was on September 24, 2016. That was the occasion of another milestone post: Immersed’s Bicentennial!—making that the all-time most popular post. Why so popular? Because it lists and links to each of the first 200 posts, providing a snapshot of how the blog—and the school it covers—have evolved over time.)
Originally from Wheaton, MD, Mr. Wallace now lives in Linthicum but has lived all over the country at different points. “I’ve had a lot of different jobs. I’ve worked everything from bicycle mechanic to fast food. It’s fun to travel to different places and just live in different areas. I’ve lived in Arizona, Montana, Texas, and a few others,” he said.
As with 
On Wednesday, October 11th, 
