In some cultures where educational advancement is entirely tied to big examinations, student anxiety is very high, more often leading to suicide and other dramatic emotional outcomes. The situation is serious among students in the United States as well. "The Mental Health Tsunami" An article from the National Educational Association (NEA) quotes a kindergarten teacher [...]
Middle school is a difficult period of growth and change for students. Not only are they experiencing changes in their body, but expectations in school are also changing. Students have recently grown out of their elementary school routines and are experiencing more responsibility. With more difficult content, kids may begin to struggle with their academic [...]
Dyslexia and dysgraphia began as classic neurological syndromes identified in the 1890s by Joseph Jules Dejerine, a French neurologist. From the standpoint of classical neurology, these conditions were seen as a profound inability to communicate, dyslexia referring to speech and dysgraphia referring to writing. Looking at the diagnosis from a medical standpoint from the perspective [...]
Most parents have heard of dyslexia before, but how many know what dysgraphia is? The word "dysgraphia" is composed of two Greek words: "dys," meaning difficult, and "graphia," meaning writing. From that, we get difficult writing, messy writing, or incomprehensible writing. Dysgraphia is becoming a common diagnosis among students, so it helps to understand the [...]
Teen Anxiety and Depression Increasingly, children and teens of all ages struggle with anxiety and depression. It's still too early for research to verify for certain, but many professionals believe that the steadily increasing rate of teen anxiety and depression can be attributed to the increasing use of social media, smartphones, and the internet. If [...]
The teen years are a difficult period of transition for most people, even in the best of circumstances. Moodiness, emotional reactions to peer conflicts, and struggles with physical changes while growing are all typical and expected conditions of being a teen. However, today's teens are dealing with something that goes beyond normal teenage issues, and [...]
It seems like every day we hear frightening new data on the rise of bullying, and it doesn't take much more than a casual scroll through our social media feeds to find horrific stories of bullying and the awful impacts it has on the children who have endured this abuse. Especially with the rise of [...]
A few weeks ago we asked our teachers to let us know the things they would like their student's parents to know. The responses we received back covered many different angles, but they were so good we thought we should share it. This is a Tenney teacher list, but we think this list would resonate [...]
We've had some cute dogs hanging around the school recently. We don't know where they came from, but they certainly made themselves at home quickly. When the weather was wet, they were especially likely to hang around the school in either our covered shrubs or garage. As cute as they were, stray dogs present a [...]
Winter Break It's the end of the fall semester, and winter break is here: a great time to relax, get away from school and work responsibilities for a little while, and enjoy time with your family. If you have a trip planned for those two weeks, you'll be busy until it's time for school to [...]
