According to recent research, the number of children 0-17 years of age who read for fun has dramatically dropped over the last decade. Those who said they read for pleasure “every day” or “nearly every” day have plummeted from 38% to 25%. Experts attribute this drop to a variety of factors including: the rise of technology and digital entertainment, the decline in numbers of caregivers who read aloud to their children at home, and some schools who focus on the acquisition of reading “skills” which leads to students approaching reading as work rather than fun. Oak Knoll prides itself on being a community that bucks that trend and furnishes our students with a lifelong love of reading.
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Topics:
elementary school,
reading,
success skills,
family
Is social media bad for teen health? It doesn’t have to be. That was the key takeaway following a talk with Upper School students by social media expert Bailey Parnell. Parnell is the founder of #SafeSocial and CEO of Skills Camp – a company that offers soft skills training to businesses and educational institutions. She presented students with some very compelling risks of social media addiction and its effects on mental health – especially with young women – but also offered advice on bringing balance to your online self by maintaining balance with your offline self.
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Topics:
health,
wellness,
social and emotional learning,
success skills,
building confidence,
growth mindset,
family,
online,
safety,
executive functioning,
life lessons
There are a variety of strategies a single-sex school can employ to capitalize on an all-girls environment and provide an array of opportunities for students to grow in confidence and hone their leadership skills. Running for office on a student-council may seem an obvious choice, but not all students have that comfort level. Oak Knoll deploys the following strategies to ensure that all students can explore leadership (whether with a lower case “l” or an upper case “L”) throughout their Middle and Upper School years.
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Topics:
education,
all-girls,
high school,
independent catholic school summit nj,
middle school,
success skills,
building confidence,
leadership
If you’re an educator or have been near an educational institution over the last few years, you’ve most likely heard the phrase ‘Growth Mindset.’ It seems to be the new buzz word as of late. But what exactly does it mean? And why is it so important? And if you don’t have one, how do you get one?
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Topics:
elementary,
high school,
learners,
middle school,
success skills,
growth mindset
There are proven benefits of small classroom sizes - from increased achievement to higher graduation rates. The way students learn and perform are significantly impacted by a small classroom environment - specifically those with fewer than 20 children. Students are more likely to receive individualized attention, which enhances learning opportunities, improves behavior, builds a community and produces overall better results, from test scores to grades.
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Topics:
teaching,
classroom,
elementary school,
tips,
success skills
Gone are the days of measuring student success by the grades on their papers or the scores on their tests. Today, it's about being socially and emotionally intelligent.
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Topics:
social and emotional learning,
success skills
