Dear parents,
Good morning!
I hope this email finds you all well and that you are enjoying this extended weekend with your family. The XLIS staff have all been participating in Professional Development this week, with the primary division focusing on elevating reading instruction for our multi-lingual learners. Erin Kent Consulting (EKC) is a well-known literacy consulting organization supporting international schools worldwide to learn about current best literacy practices that will benefit our students. We are excited to continue working with Justine Otte (our strategist) until Thursday.
Today, I have two items I would like to bring to our parent community for the health and safety of your children. Please consider both of these items carefully and reflect on your own goals as a parent and the potential impacts on your children.
1. Access to Social Media
It’s true, that we are living in a more digitalized world, and our children love to be connected to their friends through platforms such as WeChat. However, children of a younger age (up to 12 years old) have a difficult time understanding the complexities of the ‘online world’ and, in my opinion, do not have well-developed relational skills to manage and monitor their own behavior online. Joining groups with other children online can easily lead to bullying or the use of inappropriate language, images, and hurtful comments to others that would not ever be said face to face.
As parents, it is our responsibility to educate our children about the impact of their online behavior. If you wish for your child to have access to these platforms, have you first spoken with them about being a responsible online citizen? Any words they put into an online chat or forum are permanent, just the same as the words that come from our mouths. They cannot be taken back. I encourage you to ensure your child is of a mature mindset and that they fully understand the purpose of using social media before you give them access to such platforms. There are some very good resources to educate yourselves and your children about being responsible digital citizens.
Here are some examples:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/talking-child-online-safety/
https://mediasmarts.ca/parents/digital-citizenship-guide-parents
At XLIS, we teach children at school about responsible online behavior, however, we cannot monitor how our students are using their devices outside of school. A partnership between the school and the parent community to educate children about digital citizenship is important.
2. Sleep > Homework
Recently, I was in the cafeteria during snack time and noticed one of our students resting her head on her table. I checked in with her to see if she was alright, and she told me she was tired. I followed up to ask when she went to bed, and she told me it was 11:00 pm. Her reason for staying up so late was to complete the homework given to her by her parents in addition to what she received from school. Being tired impacted her ability to engage and socialize with her friends during break time.
Our growing children need sleep. This is an essential time dedicated to their growth, brain development, and regeneration for the next day. When a student arrives at school tired, it becomes very challenging for him or her to engage in the activities of the classroom, to give energy to building relationships with peers, to focus well on tasks, and to learn the essential skills that are being taught to them throughout the day.
The parents.com website has this quick reference chart for the average sleep recommended for children:
Here is another good resource if you would like more information:
If it is approaching 9:00 pm, and your child is still trying to finish homework either from school or other sources, it’s important to prioritize sleep over homework completion. A note to the teacher to explain that it became too late to complete will be well received by any teacher in our school. At XLIS we have a homework policy, intended to limit the amount of time our students are spending on homework to ensure a balanced and healthy lifestyle at home. I am attaching the policy to this email.
At XLIS, we hope our students can be their healthiest and happiest through their formative years. I’d be welcome to any feedback by our parent community regarding this topic.
I hope you have a wonderful day!
Sincerely,
Marly Song
Primary Principal
WeChat: principal_marly
