Butterflies Know How to Respond to Strangers

Consider Huakailani Girls prepared to know what to do when approached by a stranger!

I was trying to find a way to connect my Hawaiian Story Telling Time on our school Luau Day to my "Stranger, Danger Butterfly Chat." Not an easy connection to make! Then "Viola", while I reading one of my favorite "Retold Hawaiian Style" stories to the girls, The Three Little Hawaiian Pigs and the Magic Shark, I discovered a connection.  The story I was reading actually had a "Beware of Strangers" moral of the story tucked into it. Wish I could say I was ingenious enough to have planned it this way but it happened quite spontaneously!

"The shark disguised as a Shave Ice Man."

Right on cue, after I had finished reading the story, one of the students shared "Don't Talk to Strangers" as a lesson learned from the story. All of a sudden, one of my best "Butterfly Chats" to date metamorphosed!

Since this chat involved all of the students from Kindergarten to Sixth grade, I needed to make sure that we talked about the important elements of the topic without scaring any of the girls. Therefore, we started the chat by talking about the story and how the pigs reacted to the stranger knocking at the door.

The girls made connections such as - "The Magic Shark was a stranger and how the pigs should not have even opened the door when he knocked" and how the  "Magic Shark" disguised himself as a friendly ukulele musician,  sweet Aunty lei seller and  shave ice man, all things that the pigs loved, in order to get them to open the door.

I then transformed myself into varying strangers ranging from a lady looking for her lost puppy to a man who was offering their favorite candy or snack for free! Our settings varied from the playground, mall, beach, walking in town to the public restroom. Groups of students were called up to role-play the students in the scenario. 

As you see this "Butterfly Chat" became a spontaneous "role-playing" journey. The girls completely became immersed in the topic and absolutely loved the role playing scenarios. 

While they were all having fun they knew that this was a very serious topic and they were being trained to be Butterflies who knew how to react in such situations. Some of the girls were aware of the recent stranger encounters Kailua students had experienced. 

Benefits of Multiage Setting Reflection - 

I didn't even have to remind the younger students about this being a serious and important topic. The older girls picked up on how some of the younger girls were getting giddy and having a little too much fun with the scenarios and spontaneously reminded the younger girls that although they were having fun, to make sure they were reacting seriously because this was important lesson to learn and not just a fun a game to be silly.

Behind the Scenes Teacher Observations and Reflections:

What I noticed while facilitating this role-playing activity, was how a majority of the girls were initially completely drawn in to talk to the stranger and would even approach the stranger to get closer when called over.  I then realized that girls are especially vulnerable victims to cunning strangers with bad motives due to their sweet, compassionate and well-mannered personalities. Unfortunately, the "Bad Stranger" knows this too and uses it as a lure. 

When we first began the role-playing, the girls would talk to me (playing a stranger) and would even come closer when called over if the scenario involved any kind of lost animal (puppy, kitten), animal in a box or needing help of any kind.

After each scenario we would talk about the things they did right and wrong.

Butterfly Comments During Scenarios or Debriefings:

"This is hard! It's hard not to talk to them  (stranger) because I don't want to be rude."

"It is hard not to want to help, even when you know they are strangers and you shouldn't"

"It is hard not to want to go over to see the kitten!"

"If I scream, he/she will hear me!"

As we chatted and practiced more the girls learned to become more weary the strangers (me)  and would walk away from me (stranger) but only after contemplating looking at what I had or pausing to respond to me. Many of our more "friendly" Butterflies would begin to engage in conversation with me (stranger) and naturally without knowing would even physically come closer to me when talking to me.

Many of these girls had shared with me that they have had these conversations with their parents but what became  obvious to me was that because of their developmental ages, how role-playing and revisiting such talks with our children is essential.

It was only after role-playing for 45 minutes (which seems like 10 minutes) because they girls were so involved and interested in playing this Stranger, Danger "scenario activity" that most of the girls began to react to the stranger encounters in safer and appropriate ways.

Many didn't want to even end the scenarios activity when we were called down to eat (other teachers were downstairs preparing the Luau Lunch Feast). They begged me to be able to continue the scenarios after lunch.

(Side note: I was beginning to run out of scenarios). By this time I had been everything from a woman who lost her earrings in the mall, a homeless person on the street to a stranger who pulled up in a car to pick them up because mom and dad were hurt and at the hospital.

Muilti-age Benefits

Fortunately my older and wiser 4-5-6 graders stepped up to the plate after lunch and helped me come up with new scenarios. These girls then led the younger girls though their final "Stranger, Danger" tests. The older girls were having a lot of fun coming up with scenarios and I smiled behind the scenes because I knew if they could come up with the scenarios, they definitely knew what to do if they ever were caught in similar situation. Being older, they were also able to identify such "tricky" situation because they were come up with them on their own, thinking like th "bad guy or girl."

After another half hour of final scenarios, everyone graduated from "Stranger, Danger" School.

At the end, the girls asked more great "what-if" questions...

Butterfly Comments During Scenarios or Debriefings:

Q - "What if they put tape on my mouth?"

A - "They won't put tape on your mouth because you will have walked/away from a situation that could result in your mouth being taped."

The most reflective comment was shared by an Upper School Student, she said -

"It is good that we are learning about how to act around strangers because as a Huakailani Butterfly we know know to be safe and act now. There are obviously a lot of kids that don't know or have not been taught this because we hear about them in the news or read about it in the paper every day."

I encourage you to partner with us and continue "Stranger, Danger" conversations with your children.Try doing scenarios at home. You may even want to get a neighbor of friend to "test" your daughter to see how she reacts in a planned real-life scenario.

As I shared with the girls "Better to be safe, than sorry."

Other Reflective Butterfly Comments:

"We may feel funny or not cool when doing these scenarios but it is like our school walking to the park rules. It feels like things like "Focus Forward and Cross" are dumb  and the teachers probably don't like wearing those bright orange vests, but it is really saving our lives just like these scenarios."

"We are smarter with street safety too because we walk to the park!"

Another Huakailani Butterflies never cease to amaze me moment. I told the girls that these "Butterfly Chat" lessons are even more important to learn than math, reading and writing.

My hope is that the Butterfly internalized these lessons to not only lead a safe life but be advocates and role models for others who may not have had the opportunity to learn such lessons.

Huakailani Butterfly - strong ready and prepared.

Shedding a Light on Brain Development

Did you know that brain grows at a phenomenal rate from pre-birth to age 12?  It never develops at such a fast rate any other time in a person's life. Physically, you see the results of this growth as a fetus grows inside the womb and an infant learns to suckle, babble, walk and talk.

Scientifically during pregnancy,  a quarter million neurons connections are being made and by age three, a child has over a thousand trillion more neural connections!

This scientific information on brain growth sheds a new light on the importance of early childhood education. It actually shines a giant spotlight on the elementary years, which typically spans ages 4 - 12.

The "rockets red glare" fact based on brain research is that girls peak with full brain growth an average of 2 to 3 years before boys. Girls reach this peak growth period on average between 10 - 11 years of age and boys reach the same peak growth at 13- 14 years of age.

"The bombs bursting in air" or wake up call is that after this peak growth, although the brain continues to develop into the early twenties, a pruning process is also going on at the same time. Neural pathways of the brain that were developed in the early years but have not been used get pruned away. This pruning process begins slowly but then continues on through out a person's life, which becomes sadly evident beginning in our mid 40's when we can't seem to remember where we put our phone or keys and it only progresses in the area of forgetfulness in the latter years. It also shows why learning a foreign language is easier for a younger child than a teenager or adult.

The facts listed above, based on recent brain research, support why Huakailani focuses specializes in the elementary years in a all-girls setting.

There are no structural differences between the female and male brain but there are developmental differences in the sequence in which the brain develops.Take a look at the MRI time lapsed video clip posted here on the blog that shows the similarities and differences of a male and female brain from age  10 to 20. You can see how the growth, in girls and boys,  is very different early in a person's life and then becomes very similar later on.

The more I read and learn about the brain the more I am intrigued by it's complexities and growth patterns, especially how it relates to young children and how they grow cognitively because that is my job, "Growing Dendrites".

I still have much to learn on the topic because brain research is a very "brainy" field and researchers have only reached the tip of the iceberg with uncovering the mysteries of the brain, how it works and develops. New discoveries of the brain are still frequently being unlocked each year.

As "dendrite farmer", my job is to keep up to date on how to maximize the cognitive development of children. Brain research is my almanac. I would love to share what I have learned so far in my journey.

If you would like to learn more about this, please sign up for the upcoming "Are Girls' and Boys' Brains Different?" presentation.

By learning about the brain,  maybe we can prevent a few of our dendrites from getting pruned for a few years longer in our brains.

Mindfulness Techniques

I recently received this article as a subscriber to Dr. Cohen- Sandler’s eNewsletter and was pleased to find that we already do this at Huakailani.

We already incorporate such calming/mindful strategies into our school schedule on a daily basis. We call them transitional activities in the Upper School, but they are strategies that Dr. Cohen- Sandler describes in her article.  

As an educator who is interested in brain development and learning practices and strategies that help maximize brain development, I was excited to learn how these techniques not only help with stress but support brain development.

It was reassuring to know that we are on the leading-edge at our school in this area, especially for our older upper school girls who are venturing into the teen years and are equipping our girls with important life-long  skills.

Our younger Lower School students also participate in such "mindful" activities through brain gym and yoga, so it begins in Kindergarten and continues on into Grade 6 at our school. GO HUAKAILANI!

This article justifies that Huakailani is on the right track to giving our girls the skills and activities they need to be intelligent, well-adjusted, happy students now and in the years to come! This article confirms that these activities our teachers take the time to incorporate into the daily schedule, give our girls the positive tools they will need for their life-skills took box.

I look forward to sharing more as I learn about the things we can do to give our girls an advantage in this fast-moving, complex world.

Here is her article:

____________

From: Raising 21st Century Teens:   

Issues & Solutions

by Dr. Roni Cohen-Sandler  

clinical psychologist, author and speaker

Mindfulness Techniques:  

Benefits for Teens--and Parents

          Recently, I was discussing the topic of stress with a group of articulate high school students. After they described the pressures they were experiencing, we spoke of various effective strategies they could employ to take good care of themselves, develop healthy attitudes, and set realistic expectations. The students taught me about new online resources for improving study skills that I am now passing along to other teens.  

          As positive and empowering as this conversation was, however, the issue stirred up tense feelings. So I ended the workshop with a short, calming exercise. The girls trustingly followed my directions to sit quietly for five minutes with their eyes closed and simply concentrate on the movement of their breath. When this time had elapsed, a palpable and visible sense of serenity had filled the room. The students, their faces relaxed and smiling, seemed reluctant to leave.

                

          In my practice, as well, I am seeing that mindful awareness is helping teens, tweens, and adults to make meaningful changes in their mood, sense of well-being, and behavior. These observations are borne out by a tremendous volume of new neuroscientific research on the physiological and emotional benefits of yoga, meditation, biofeedback, and mindfulness, including:

• Reduced stress
• Promotion of well-being
• Bolstered immune system
• Increased gray matter of brain
• Improved longevity

          It is no surprise that "Mindful Techniques" was featured on the cover of The American Psychological Association's October 2011 Monitor on Psychology. One recent study showed that after just three months of doing a s imple mental exercise such as the one I did in my workshop with high school students, there is a profound shift in how the brain allocates attention.  

          By focusing on sensations and gently, non-judgmentally letting go of whatever thoughts wander into our minds, we teach ourselves to be fully present in the moment. While open to thoughts, moods, and sensations, we don't become overwhelmed by or lost in them. Our minds are calmed and quieted. Over time, we become more adept at analyzing our own thought processes--an ability that psychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel refers to as the 7th sense or mindsight.  He talks of achieving a state of "Dual-Attention," which allows us to be aware of implicit memories so that they don't distort our awareness of the present.

          Mindfulness is a technique increasingly used to help parents approach challenging situations more effectively. Over time, mothers and fathers find that instead of behaving habitually or impulsively, developing focused attention allows them to see situations more accurately and to make better choices in how they respond to their kids. Even when dealing with impulsive and defiant children, parents find that by intentionally changing their reactions , they refrain from triggering further conflict and negative emotional experiences.

What helps in these situations? More balanced emotions, response flexibility, and more compassion for their teens as well as for themselves.  

          Teens and tweens who practice mindful techniques demonstrate similar benefits. Justine, for example, is a 17-year-old girl who made enormous strides in a relatively short period of time. When I first saw her, she was experiencing considerable anxiety, despair, self-deprecation, and symptoms of bulimia. As we worked together, she described being in a state of almost constant agitation at home, as she tensely anticipated her alcoholic mother's unpredictable volatility and hurtful verbal attacks. As Justine became better able to monitor and accept her own emotional reactions without becoming swept away by them, she could more accurately assess situations that arose.

          Once she did so, she quickly accessed healthier coping strategies. In the face of provocations, Justine became more adept at staying calm and focused rather than responding rashly.  She learned to communicate with greater clarity. Remaining in control fostered more self-acceptance. Most important, as she more astutely analyzed her thought processes, she was able to maintain love and concern for her mother while also taking more appropriate care of herself.

          Remarkably, such changes in parents and teens are long-term. Due to neuroplasticity, mindfulness and similar exercises alter the structure and functioning of even mature, adult brains. In fact, research increasingly shows that mindful awareness is effective in helping to treat attention deficit and mood disorders--and reduces or eliminates the need for medication.

          There are many different exercises that can be used to develop mindful awareness. To do the simple breathing exercise I used in the high school workshop, start with just five minutes in a quiet, private place. Focus on the flow of oxygen in and out of the nostrils or the rising and falling of the chest and abdomen. When inevitable, intrusive thoughts or feelings come to mind, gently note them and just refocus on your breathing. As comfort increases, gradually increase to 15 - 20 minutes a day.

 This practice is appropriate for tweens and teens in the family, too. In fact, many young people today are learning about and embracing yoga, meditation, and other forms of mindful awareness. Some are even being offered yoga as an option for physical education in public and independent schools. Talk with your teens and tweens about the scientifically proven, short- and long-term gains. Encourage family members to practice mindfulness, especially during times of the day that would bring everyone an immediate sense of peacefulness. This is one thing you can definitely try at home!

TOOLS TO USE

FOR RELAXATION DOWNLOADS: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~healthed/relax/downloads.html  

FOR GUIDED MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS PRACTICES:   

www.marc.ucla.edu  

                                                                           http://www.drdansiegel.com/resources/everyday_mindsight_tools/  

FOR FURTHER READING:

Everyday Blessings: The inner work of mindful parenting. M. Kabat-Zinn and J. Kabat-Zinn, 1997, Hyperion.

Parenting from the Inside Out: How a deeper self-understanding can help you raise children who thrive, by Daniel J. Siegel, MD, and Mary Harzell, M.Ed., 2004, Tarcher.

ONLINE MINDFULNESS COMMUNITY:   

 http://innerkids.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network  

  

More Amazing Service Learning

This week there has been amazing examples of the powerful impact of integrated projects in the Upper School Classroom. It reminds me of what goes on inside a chrysalis! 

The Grade 5-6 girls have been working hard all week on the Service Learning Presentation and Showcase for Windward Mall. They are motivated and working hard! The spark of learning is so ignited that even though typical girls in grades 5-6 would still need some guidance and direction from their teacher on what to do to complete such a project, I have served only as a person who provides the resources they need. They know exactly what to do and their showcase for the project is fabulous!

Not for Huakailani Girls!

Completely on their own, guided by their previous service learning experiences from the past 2 years and armed with their knowledge about bokashi, composting and environmental stewardship, they have  been completely working on their own (without needing any directions from me except to provide materials) to get the display and showcase items ready! 

Their demonstrated collaboration skills and the level of their work is something you would see on a Middle School and High School level! I am even amazed by the high quality of their work, just like I was last year when some of the girls on this current team presented at the "Plant Your Butts Here" project at the Service Learning Showcase 2011. (You can read about that Showcase Here - http://huakailanibblog.blogspot.com/. The girls, some of the youngest presenters at the showcase, amazed middle school teachers, students and service learning leaders with their confidence, knowledge and skill. 

They amazed the service learning leaders so much that the main guest speaker at the conference, Catherine Berger Kaye now uses our project as an example in all of her presentations all over the world. She even made our project, "Plant Your Butts Here" the centerpiece in a book she is writing about Service Learning for Kids. The book should be out soon!

This is an example of how Huakailani Girls take what they learn and get opportunities to integrate all of the learning to produce something phenomenal. These girls are all going to be the leaders in their groups when they work on group projects in Middle School and beyond. 

I am very impressed and everyone else will be too! I hope you can stop by to see what they have done!

We will be at Windward Mall from 10 - 2 on Saturday! Come on over to se their work and the work of other schools from around the island. This year they are showcasing the "Compost Bin." We hope to inspire others to turn their food waste into compost! 

These girls are soaring!  These butterflies never cease to amaze me!  Please congratulate these girls on a job well done by leaving them comments on the Service Learning Blog which they have helped develop and maintain.  

http://huakailaniadoptablock.blogspot.com

Teens

I recently attended a presentation by Dr. Roni Cohen-Sandler at La Pietra School. The topic was "Stressed Out Girls" and what parents can do to alleviate the stress instead of adding to it.

She shared that our children need to be encouraged and supported to do well but not at the cost of over stressing them. In Hawaii, it seems this "school frenzy" is even more heightened by the need to get our children into a competitive private school because of lack of confidence in our public school system.

Being a teenage girl is complicated enough with all the new pre-adolescent hormones rushing through the body by adding peer pressure and do well in school pressure, it is easy to see why our girls are stressed-out!  I didn't realize the additional stresses our high tech world teenagers are exposed to via texting, Face Booking and My Space.

Here is an article by Dr. Cohen-Sandler that was shared at the presentation.

The Achievement Frenzy
By Dr. Cohen-Sandler

Many parents are worried, and rightly so, about how achievement pressures today are affecting their teens. Too often I hear some variation of, “My daughter thinks that if she doesn’t take all AP and Honors classes and get straight As and perfect SATs she won’t get into a good college.” It is true that teens and even tweens these days are feeling tremendous pressure to succeed. Many are over scheduled, perpetually on edge and exhausted by taking challenging classes, doing extracurricular activities, getting perfect grades, and finding a way to stand out from their peers in the quest to “look good for college.”

The societal frenzy around achievement is a generalized and pervasive problem—a national phenomenon. With the surge in this age group, there is undeniably more competition for schools, internships, and jobs. Directors of college admissions confirm that there are many qualified applicants for every spot in the freshman class. Anxiety about standardized testing is cascading down from administrators and educators to parents and students. As they well know, there is an awful lot riding on teens’ grades and test scores.

Happily, there is much parents can do at home to try to counteract unhealthy cultural messages teens get about achievement. Of course, all mothers and father want their daughters to be as successful as possible; there is nothing wrong with that. But we don’t want them to be high achievers at any cost. Keeping in mind the big picture—that is, girls’ health and well-being—we all have to guard against getting caught up in the frenzy for success and losing our bearings.

It is hard for parents to maintain a calm perspective in the midst of what often seems like sheer panic. When we hear of other kids getting intensive SAT tutoring or going on community service expeditions, we may worry that we too should be giving our children these kinds of advantages, at least to keep the playing field level. Getting the facts can alleviate your anxiety while also guiding your decisions. For example, you might research the effectiveness of various SAT prep courses and programs. Or ask the experts at your high school’s College and Career Center what colleges are really looking for. But remember, getting into college is not the only goal.

National studies are reporting that students are arriving at college in worse psychological shape than ever before. Many are already burned out. Universities describe freshman as suffering from more depression, substance abuse, and eating disorders, yet having fewer coping skills. As a result, they are having significantly more trouble adjusting to college life. Girls are twice as likely as boys to say they’re overwhelmed by everything they have to do. So just because “everyone else” seems to lead hectic lives and be just as pressured doesn’t mean we should accept stress as the normal, even expected, consequence of raising successful daughters.

Clearly, chronic stress is harmful. Although teens need eight to ten hours of sleep per night, they routinely burn the midnight lava lamp to finish their homework, study for exams, print out papers before deadlines, go online, etc. Sleep deprivation leads to poorer concentration, slower learning, difficulty coping with stress, and greater susceptibility to illness. So insist on good sleeping habits. Even during adolescence, girls may still need parental guidance—and the voices of reason— to keep their lives in balance.

Encourage stress-reducing activities (e.g., non-competitive exercise such as jogging, swimming, martial arts, and yoga rather than highly competitive team sports). Teens benefit from the chance to create poetry, art, and music, as well as down time to think and dream. Keeping journals recently has been shown to improve concentration by cutting down on distracting thoughts—but only if writers try to make sense of distressing emotions and events. Many hardworking teens and tweens long for free time just to “chill” or catch up on their favorite mystery or chick lit authors.

But even these simple suggestions may not be so easy to do. That is because achievement is a complex issue that arouses intense feelings in all parents. Some soul searching may be in order. Ask yourself if your teens could be inadvertently picking up on your fears about achievement or college. Is it possible your expectations could be too high? Might your hopes for your children be coming from your own unfulfilled dreams? Are you trying to live vicariously through your kids? Answering “yes” or “maybe” to any of these questions might suggest areas for further thinking.

 Be more mindful of what your behavior conveys to your daughter. For example, do you proudly display on the refrigerator schoolwork that isn’t perfect, a B+ paper or 85% test grade? Do you focus mostly on external emblems of success, such as grades, wins, and awards? Or do you emphasize your daughter’s inner qualities—for example, her kindness, helpfulness, honesty, fairness, sense of humor, etc.? Studies have shown that undergraduates who base their self-esteem on inner traits not only experience less stress and more positive relationships with their teachers, but also they get better grades. Lastly, what might you model for your daughter by how you live your own life (e.g., the balance between work, play, and rest)?

At this point in their lives, teens need to feel free to explore their interests and discover where their true passions lie. They need to figure out who they are and follow their own dreams. They feel most supported when their parents see them for who they really are. Pressuring them to specialize too early—or in areas that seem meaningless to them—is usually counterproductive. Girls who go through the motions, striving for other people’s goals, are generally resentful rather than gratified. Instead, they need to know it is okay to stumble, to take wrong turns, and to find own their way in their own time.

It is helpful for parents to remind themselves that intellect and fine schooling don’t guarantee success. What really matters is girls’ emotional well-being, curiosity, perseverance, and integrity. What really matters is their capacity to get along with others and take pride in their accomplishments. Parents convey these values loudly and clearly when we expect them to do their own work, only offer  offer as much help as they really need, and encourage them to keep stress to a minimum.

After all, the most successful people are not necessarily brilliant, but they are passionate and self-directed. The happiest people are not necessarily the highest achievers, but they feel good about who they are, what they do, and their relationships with others. As parents, raising such individuals would be perhaps the ultimate achievement.

Benefits of Service Learning

I had read many articles and spent hours in many professional development classes learning about the benefits of service learning projects...

Benefits for Youth Participants

Youth who participate in high-quality community-based service-learning are likely to benefit in a number of ways (Chung, 1997; Coe-Regan et al, in press; Lewis-Charp et al., 2003; Tannenbaum, S. C., 2007; and YMCA of the USA, 2004):

• Young people gain access to the range of supports and opportunities (or developmental assets) they need to grow up healthy, caring, and responsible. One study of youth civic activism found that these settings had particular strength in cultivating youth and community involvement (Lewis-Charp et al., 2003).
• Increased sense of self-efficacy as young people learn that they can impact real social challenges, problems, and needs.
• Higher academic achievement and interest in furthering their education.
• Enhanced problem-solving skills, ability to work in teams, and planning abilities.
• Enhanced civic engagement attitudes, skills and behaviors. Many leaders in public service today speak about how they were nurtured, inspired, and shaped in early experiences in community service or volunteering.

 I did not completely understand the significance of what participating in such projects actually has on students until this weekend.

This weekend I attended an all day Service Learning Conference with another teacher, a fourth grader and two fifth graders from our school. We were participants in the conference but we were also presenters. We were asked to showcase our community service learning project "Plant Your Butts Here."

A majority of the conference attendees were middle, high school and college students and teachers. Our young, girls aged 9- 11, were definitely in the minority.

The girls were very nervous and worried about presenting and I became worried that the anxiety would just cause the girls to retreat into their shells and forget everything they had learned. I was ready to protect my little cubs like mama bear.

As teachers, we strive to teach these things to our students through various activities and assignments, but a teacher rarely gets to see what happens out in the real world or to see her students apply any of the things learned.

I had the amazing privilege to see it happen right before my eyes. What happened once we arrived at the conference was astonishing! The girls shined like confident superstars on a stage. They were motivated and inspired by their project, armed with knowledge they were eager to share with others and guided by confidence beyond their years.

I read in a recent report based on a service learning study that "The effects of service-learning on social responsibility and academic success were investigated among a large, racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of students in Grades 6 through 8 in three middle schools."

• Over the school year, service-learning students maintained their concern for others' social welfare, whereas control students declined on those concerns.
• Service-learning students, especially girls, also declined significantly less than did controls in their frequency of talking with parents about school.
• Compared with other students, students with substantial hours of service-learning, a lot of reflection, and a high degree of motivation attributed to service-learning, significantly increased their belief in the efficacy of their helping behaviors, maintained their pursuit of better grades and their perception that school provided personal development opportunities, and decreased less in their commitment to classwork.

 (Effects of Service-Learning on Middle School Students' Social Responsibility and Academic Success ( Scales, Blyth, Berkas, & Kielsmeier, 2000)

Studies also show that: "Students who participated in service-learning were found to have scored higher than nonparticipating students in several studies, particularly in social studies, writing, and English/language arts. They were found to be more cognitively engaged and more motivated to learn. 


Studies on school engagement generally show that service-learning students are more cognitively engaged in school, but not necessarily more engaged behaviorally. Studies of students' problem-solving abilities show strong increases in cognitive complexity and other related aspects of problem solving. Service-learning, then, does appear to have a positive impact on students by helping them to engage cognitively in school and score higher in certain content areas on {standardized} tests.

(Billig's May 2000 article in Phi Delta Kappan and subsequent research updates from RMC Research in 2001 and 2005.)

The Huakailani Girls were inquirers, teachers, leaders, and active participants at the conference. I received numerous compliments on how articulate the girls were, how engaged they were in learning, how they asked such deep questions and most were very surprised to find out how young they were. 

I just became Service Learning Project's number one fan! These experiences are supporting my girls to soar and I will continue to find ways to incorporate such activities into our program.

I was not mama bear but proud as a peacock!

Huakailani Girls Soar through Service Learning Projects!

Journeys - Science and Social Studies Units of Study

Each "Journey" is a guided science/social studies inquiry that leads our students to learning to ask the questions that lead to bigger ideas.  These questions help them to explore many subjects: languages, social studies, mathematics, science, technology, arts, and physical education under the umbrella of an engaging science/social studies theme that is supported by a concept/central idea.

Concept = A concept is a generalized idea. Each "Journey" has a central idea.


The "Journeys" follow the curriculum framework designed by the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.  There are six trans-diciplinary themes of global significance that guide study and exploration:

• Who we are
• Where we are in place and time
• Sharing the planet
• How we organize ourselves
• How we express ourselves
• How the world works

Our parents can log onto Grade Level Journey Pages to see how the units correlate to these themes. Parents receive an informative newsletter at the beginning of each Journey Unit  that lists the new theme, central idea, learning objectives and activities.


Why the IB framework? Why do you use the IB framework if you are not an IB School?
All of the program and methodologies used at Huakailani have been carefully selected based on research/experience/training. Ultimately, the programs and methods are selected to become a part of Huakailani's curriculum/program because it has been found to be a best practice for teaching and learning. Huakailani is all about maximizing the learning potential.

As an educator I have been writing social studies curriculum for over 20 years. From being on a team that designed the Social Studies Curriculum for the State of Florida (1990) to launching the IB PYP program for the Lower School at a private school on the windward side (2004), I have experience with the full spectrum of science and social studies education from textbook based instruction to trans-disciplinary instruction. I have also had the opportunity to visit several classroom throughout the nation to see the various curriculums in action.

My IB training, where I received training to be able to coordinate and teach the IB curriculum, guided me to select the IB framework for Huakailani's science and social studies curriculum.

Studies support that by guiding elementary aged students to make connections though a trans-disciplinary curriculum (theme guided by math, reading, science, social studies, character education, art, music, etc. using a concept as a focus) compared to more traditional subject/topic specific science and social studies curriculums, students learn to apply, transfer and integrate information learned more effectively. Students are also more motivated to learn and engaged in their learning.

Our students learn to make connections and to integrate information from different perspectives leading to a high level of learning. This lays the foundation needed for more compartmentalized and subject specific learning to take place in middle school and beyond.

Commonly Found Middle and High School Science and Social Studies Classes: anatomy, physics geology, chemistry, biology, early man, first civilizations, Greece, Rome, Medieval China and Japan, Medieval Era in Europe, Modern Era.

It easy to see how a trans-diciplinary approach to learning can greatly benefit even a student who experiences consecutive Huakailani Journeys for a few years.  Imagine what a student who matriculates thorough the Huakailani program from Kindergarten to Grade 6 will learn and gain!