Long Island Lutheran Middle & High School:
A private Christian school serving grades 6-12
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Coffee with the Principals

A week ago today, we welcomed about a dozen parents to our first Coffee with the Principals event. Designed to offer an informal platform for discussion and learning about topics of interest to families, our first event focused on strengthening the connection between home and school. As we shared ideas and anecdotes, the conversation yielded a few helpful take-aways that we would love to share with our entire community. Read on, below:

1. Give children a chance to decompress and “download”.
    • Several parents mentioned intentionally giving their children time to be quiet and decompress after returning home, before even asking how the day went. From some parents’ experience, this may yield a greater tendency to share about the day!
    • Another parent mentioned the time to “download”. We loved this term, and think it could just be a chance for children to share, free from questions, what’s on their mind!
2. Encourage estimation and planfulness. 
    • One parent shared that she daily asks her children to develop a to do list, and then estimate how much time each task will take. She noted that her children were often inaccurate at estimating, at first, but over time she noticed an improvement. She just sent one to college this fall, and his estimation skills are at work. She recommended releasing responsibility gradually over time.
    • Calendars seemed to be at the fore-font of home organization systems. Whether it’s a virtual calendar that all family members can add to, or an analog, color-coded calendar in a central location, calendars can be a useful tool to manage the home, school, and outside obligations.
3. “You are driving the bus, but your child should think you’re a passenger.”
    • This quote was a major take-away for all of our principals, as parents. Several parents shared about providing choices for their children as a way to ensure fulfillment of obligations, be they homework or instrument practice. The provision of two carefully selected choices can help children to use their time most wisely.
    • We loved this one: a parent shares a motivational quote via text with her daughter while she’s on the bus to LuHi. The parent never receives a response, but interestingly, one day she forgot to send the quote. Imagine her surprise when her daughter texted wondering where her daily quote was! Remember - they are watching and listening! 
4. Don’t forget the social side of things.
    • One parent stressed the importance of making sure you meet the other families.
    • They identified events such as Family Association meetings, Coffee with the Principals, and Back to School Night, which allow for you to start to recognize familiar faces.
    • One parent expressed the concern that making friends at a private school presents a distance challenge for social gatherings. Suggestions such as a common meeting point that doesn’t allow for too much driving on either party may be a good solution! This also allows for parent introductions.
    • Another parent shared that she encourages communication (Facetime) between her child and students that she was friends with from her other school. This allows for students to feel that they have not lost their old connections, just added to their growing circle of friends!
What a great forty-five minutes we shared! We hope you’ll join us on Tuesday, December 3 at 8:30. More information, including the topic of focus, will be shared in upcoming Principal’s Newsletters. We hope to see you there!
Long Island Lutheran Middle & High School    |    131 Brookville Road, Brookville NY 11545    |   516.626.1700
Long Island Lutheran Middle & High School is a Christ-centered, college-preparatory school whose mission is to glorify God by educating young people in body, mind, and spirit.