New! kiddybites – conversations for moms with kids aged 4+
Posted on November 5, 2009 under Parenting, kiddybites
Hello fellow “Biters”! I want to introduce myself. I’m Heather Ouida, co-founder of our kiddybites program. In addition to all the standard, run-of-the-mill facts you can read about me on my bio, here are a few juicier tidbits: (1) nothing makes me laugh harder than hearing my sons laugh; (2) I eat one jar of Nutella a week (straight up); (3) I have been addicted to yoga for years and still can’t touch my toes; (4) when I met my husband he had a Mohawk; (5), I was once escorted at gunpoint from the Giza Pyramids in Egypt for mistakenly entering a restricted zone (my-bad); (6) Chuck Bass (enough said); and, (7) I am crazy-passionate about moms supporting each other without passing judgment Please see my blog post, Non-Judgment day in the Village.
In addition to introducing myself, I wanted to let members know that in the very near future, we’re going to be creating even more ways for you to keep the conversation going on key ‘mom’ topics (kiddybites primarily focuses on issues for kids aged 4 and up), by asking our experts questions and interacting with each other online. Stay tuned to kiddybites.com for news on upcoming “conversations”, and you may also receive updates by joining our mailing list.
And, I’m really excited to get our first conversation going right now. It has to do with a topic that felt ripe to me, but I had no idea how “hot” it really was until we announced our first “kiddybites conversation” seminar event — Demystifying the ERB. Within an hour of the announcement, it was sold out! We’re so pleased to be able to re-open registration today after moving the event to a larger venue; please go to the registration site if you’d like to participate.
That brings me to my conversation yesterday with Dr. Amy Schwartz, our expert presenter for the event. We were discussing some points from the incredibly informative hand-out she has prepared for our attendees, when I thought it would be interesting to ask her what facts parents typically find most surprising about the ERB. I found the answer so unexpected, that I decided to engage the broader babybites and kiddybites communities to get your thoughts. Here’s what she had to say:
- The ERB is NOT the name of the actual test.
- You cannot practice for this test.
- The test does NOT predict future school success.
Here’s my response: “Get outta here!” Even though I’m a trained learning specialist, and knew that children could not actually practice for the test, I was shocked to hear that it does not, in fact, predict future school success.
Huh? Then what’s the point? I know we’ll hear more about this, as well as a lot more on Tuesday, but in the meantime, what do you think? Can academic success be predicted at such an early age? If formal tests can’t help make predictions, are there other ways to foresee academic achievement? And, how are we defining ‘academic success’? What’s more important for our children, traditional IQ or EQ (emotional intelligence)?
What are your experiences with the ERB?
So, please help us get the conversation going, and I can’t wait to hear what you all have to say!
I promise to continue this conversation by posting an update after the event on the 10th with more insights and follow up from Dr. Schwartz and our participants. Stay tuned!
Nice intro post, Heather, and congratulations on your new venture! I have to say, I was at a big charity event in NYC last week and every parent at the table was talking about how intimidating the ERB test is and how they felt completely unprepared for both the test procedures and the comments from the test admiinistrators. Not having kids in pre-school, I had no idea what they were talking about. I told them that you were planning an entire seminar on the ERB and they all were passionate about how important they think it is to get informed sooner vs. later.
Great topic for your first kiddybites conversation!
Heather- Good for u love the site. A real resource! My opinion on the ERB is that its a necessary evil for those of us who LOVE this city. Best advice is to stay calm in the whole process and ENJOY your kids. They grow too fast to be worried about things out of our hands. Giving parents information and support is the way to go.
Go kiddybites!
Heather – Great topic to inform parents about! As a 2nd grade teacher in an Upper East Side private school, I hear a lot of apprehension regarding the ERB’s from parents who have children in Nursery and Pre-K. It’s important for parents to know that some schools place more emphasis on the scores than others. Our school looks at the whole child when deciding on accepting an applicant. Their social and emotional development is weighed just as heavily, if not more so, than their ERB scores. It will be wonderful for parents to become more informed on this important subject at your event!
Thank you Heather for your most interesting topic and blog! I have 6 year old twins and they had to go through the ERB test – the day after a 16 hour flight from Asia! I found the whole process quite stressful and confusing. Looking forward to reading more of your comments/ideas:)
Love the blog! As an expectant mother, I feel so fortunate to have sites like babybites and kiddybites to consult so I can learn about about all these topics that are totally new to me, as well as what parents and parenting experts are saying. SO informative–thanks!!
Well now that I am in the burbs of NJ we have other types of tests to worry about. However, lets not forget our children our not robots, some will be better test takers , some will be better writters , some better in sports and well some, will be just fine.
Congrats on your new venture heather and what is nutella?
Am very glad to hear Heather question how we define academic success and bring up the potential importance of emotional intelligence. I am also looking forward to hearing more about how the perceived importance of this testing differs between NYC and other locations. Do the private schools in NYC use this test as part of admission criteria? I’m lucky enough to live in an area where admission to pre-school isn’t an issue and my children will attend public school. Awesome website, Heather, what a great resource! Kris (Heather’s cousin and a Family Physician).
Excellent topic Heather! As a middle school math teacher and mother of two, standardized testing is always a hot topic. I’ll be sure to direct parents and friends to your very helpful website for information and answers to their endless questions
I love your website – CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Great topic to discuss. I am lucky enough to not have to go through this process but have watched many friends suffer through it. As a first grade teacher and mother to two young children I really question the validity of such a test. I would have serious doubts about sending my child to a school that placed too much emphasis on the ERB. It never ceases to amaze me, even after 15 years in the classroom, the huge academic leaps children can make in the early years. I think we really need to take a long, hard look, as educators and parents, at the way the world has changed and how best we can prepare our children to deal with it. I feel academics are only a small part of the equation.
Wow! This site and these seminars are so valuable. I love that you are planning to post an update afterward, as I am unable to attend this event. I am looking forward to learning more about the ERB from Dr. Schwartz and all topics to follow. Thanks for making this information so accessable.
Very interesting info! Thanks for all of the EXTRA work you are doing to keep this going! I am interested in learning more about the ERB…but I also must share that as a mommy I am much more concerned about the emotional education of my children. I want them to be good people that others want to be around. And I want to know that my husband and I have equiped them with the skills they need to successfully interact in this crazy world of ours! I just think there is so much more to educating our kids than just the “required” courses! I will keep checking in to see how this conversation continues and evolves! thanks again~
Love this site and laughed out loud at the bio. I have a 9 year old daughter who took the ERB as an entrance to PreK in NYC (yes, PreK – not K – as we were looking for a full day PreK program when my daughter’s birthdate did not make the K cut off date). I did stress over the test (let me tell the truth) – but in the end it was not a predictor of my child’s learning abilities.
Congratulations — the site looks great! I am curious about ERB comment #2. If it is true that you cannot practice for the test, why do so many people tutor? Also, many preschools have excellent results across the board because their kids are well prepped. I’d love to know more….