Author. Coach.
Speaker. Parent
Author
World Class: One Mother's Journey Halfway Around the Globe in Search of the Best Education for Her Children
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For parents, teachers, students, and legislators at schools, clubs, organizations, corporations, and conferences.
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To empower parents, students, and schools in their global commitment
Book NowAn Amazon Best-Seller! An eye-opening firsthand exploration of why Asian students are outpacing their American counterparts, and how to help our children excel in today’s competitive world.
The Woeful Inadequacy of School-Reopening Plans via @NewYorker Remember spring? Get ready for an even wilder fall with even more disparate school experiences. EVERYONE scrambling. Brace BRACE....
Read MoreJust released. My August #ParentEd newsletter: How to School 2020📚 Find out what parents need to know going into school this fall🧑🏽🏫, the global outlook 🌍with a secret (hint: it involves grit, respect, the cold, and caring👫), and much more: https://t.co/KdaPPDiIaW...
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Rave Under the Kosciuszko Bridge: Are Illicit Parties Endangering N.Y.C.? Our land is TOO “Free to be you and me.” How can I plan for a future when others’ wack decisions are threatening my health, family and livelihood? #gohome...
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Just released. My August ParentEd newsletter: How to School 2020. ⛱📚 Find out what parents need to know *and may not be told* going into school reopening this fall and beyond🧑🏽🏫, the global outlook 🌍with a secret we all need to consider (hint: it involves grit, respect, the cold, and caring 👫), and a perspective on bracing and embracing as we begin an uncertain future of education in this country. 📍
👆Link in bio for the full newsletter.
Swipe through 👉👉I am highlighting news and tips with a Teru perspective on my stories for students, teachers, parents, and anyone invested in our kids. There is too much (mis)information out there and anxiety-inducing ParentEd News changes constantly. 📰📊📉📈🗞
Please share. 🤳🏽 Understand. 💡Have the smart conversations. 🗣 Have the positive impact. 💪
@mercnews @marrrgee • @learningpolicylpi • @theatlantic • @wsj @allisonprang @katiehonan • @oecd_education_skills @the_oecd • @brookingsinst • @npr
Instagram vs Reality (swipe 🤪) ...
At the start of this outbreak, we said we would evaluate what is important to us. I’ve been thinking a lot about this this morning.
I’ve grown much closer to my kids. We operate as a pod like we used to when they were younger. We spend evenings and countless meals together. We share our highs and our frustrations together. They see when I’m struggling, and I see when they are. There are few, if any, secrets. ALL topics are on the table.
We get our work done and try to respect boundaries, but with limited space, we are on top of one another. And our wifi conks out from overload. We inadvertently interrupt one another. My kids chime in on my calls while I sometimes do the same to them. But it’s this shared experience that‘s bound us. For me, it’s been an invaluable and non-replicable experience.
As the US seems to be imploding, and I can’t seem to form a solid argument that doesn’t defy common sense, I would love to hear what has become important to you.
Please share. My kids had a DAILY HEALTH CHECK at their local Shanghai preschool every morning before they were even allowed to enter the building. 🌡
Swipe 👉 for page 64 of World Class…this is why other schools around the world are already back in session!
And when we lived in Japan, it was common practice to wear a mask if you were coughing or sneezing even a little bit — from the time you start socializing in early childhood. To respect your peers and community. And there is zero trauma associated with this. 😷
Wearing masks, washing hands and social distancing is all truly about how we frame it for our kids and what we make of it. 🧼
Frankly, I’m furious that our schools cannot open full-time in-person for all our kids across the country this fall. Other nations are! Why can’t everyone just put the pieces of this obvious puzzle together. Do your part. 🤜🏼🤛🏽
Wishing everyone a Happy Fourth. ❤️🤍💙
This photo was taken 13 years ago when I literally paraded my boys around on July 4th, and my youngest (now 11) was yet to be born. 🎈🎈
My hope lies in our empowering this generation. We have created our current ills, and they will be bearing the burden of our irresponsibility. Let’s please prioritize education equitably for all our youth. 🇺🇸💪
I am asking us to Get Uncomfortable. For Our Kids.
In my lifetime, I have been told that I was not allowed to have Black friends and it was their fault, I was not allowed to get an A in Honors English (from my 10th grade teacher) because English is my second language, and, “Teru, in America, we don’t have to do what we don’t want to do.” It all hurt.
I’m the child of a first generation single immigrant mother from Japan. I was born and raised in the US. I spent 10 years raising my 3 children in 3 foreign cities and have tried to balance the outside perspective with my own. I couldn’t wait to return to the US in 2016 with my three teen and pre-teen children. I was shocked at what I came back to...
Click the link in my bio for more in this month's newsletter.
My father passed when I was 12, and I wonder what his beliefs were. I just don’t know. Our current world is making me reflect. He was a World War II vet of the US Navy who went onto marry a Japanese woman. He was shunned. I was created.
Happy Father’s Day to all dads everywhere past and present who have bestowed love to us all. ❤️
On June 6, The @nytimes Editorial Board published an Opinion piece titled, “How to Reopen America’s Schools.”
Here was my reply, steeped in anger toward a publication I respect but whose ignorance further promotes systemic inequities.
My submission to the NYT Editorial Board on June 10:
“Parents and educators are already reeling from the tragedy of George Floyd, the BLM protests, record high worldwide numbers of Covid-19 and students experiencing tragic academic loss due to school closure and glaring inequity. How do we raise our kids in all this?
Citing a misleading survey stating 6-in-10 parents will now choose to homeschool is irresponsible. Pure conjecture. Break down the numbers. Who are the parents who responded? Surely not the disenfranchised. I would wager the referenced parents represent the dominant culture at the root of current inequality. The reality is many parents cannot stay home and have little knowledge to be able to homeschool. Period. That’s what the article should be about. The haves and the have nots.
I’d like to place an order for journalistic integrity. Adding fuel to the nation’s fire as we cry for healing is shameful. Try for actionable answers. Cut the sensationalism.”
Twin birthday celebration. With social distancing. In 2009 in Hong Kong, my daughter was born on my birthday, now our birthday. It was the best and most unexpected gift. And one that makes me love celebrating the day year after year. 🎂🎂
A bit of a respite amongst the visceral turmoil.
Thank you for all the birthday wishes. ❤️
As much as I don’t want my building to be spray painted, it’s true. This country needs to “Wake Up!”
There have been peaceful protests accompanied by unsafe looting just outside my front door. Before last week’s 8PM curfew, I walked around needing to know “what will change?” It must.
Will NYC’s most selective specialized high schools change their entry requirements to be more diverse — currently 74% Asian, 7 black students out of 895 admitted in 2019? How will we get more black teachers in our classrooms when education funding is getting slashed? And how can our democracy persevere when we cannot model acceptable civic engagement and equitable practices for our children?
So, yes, let’s please WAKE UP.
Side note: while living in Asia for 10 years, I returned to the US every summer for 2 months. I couldn’t believe the coddling of the children, low learning expectations, and completely disparate experiences between the wealthy and others. Let’s please start seeing outside of our own bubbles and experiences and respect and learn from the diversity of ALL humanity.
We are a single united humanity and cannot have such disparate lived experiences. It’s our fault. We have been living with this. Not acting on it gives it unquelled permission. Our systemic and pervasive racism and sexism makes me sick. If we are not consciously and actively seeking accessible equitable opportunities for all, we are contributing to the problem. #blackouttuesday
Family. We are their world. 87% of the Earth’s student population is home.🏡🌍
Collaboration across all levels is vital. There is no magic formula. We must work together to solve for our kids. 🤝
My advice to have a smart summer? Take action as a family. Explore practices outside your bubble: across the street🏘, town🏙, region🗺, highways 🛣, oceans 🌊and languages 🗣, for knowledge🧠, ideas💡, food 🍛, games ⛳️, films 🎥, books📚 and any and all practices to expand our worlds this summer. We are home, but we are not limited. 💫
LINK IN BIO to read my recent ParentEd newsletter for tips on the 8 Ways to Summer Smart 😎, plus the education news parents NEED to know! 🗞 Sign up for my bi-monthly newsletter on teruclavel.com #theworldclassroom