Technology

Setting the Standard(ized Testing)

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

After a great first week back to school, our kids will jump right into iReady standardized tests to set their baselines for the year. From i‑Ready diagnostics to Amira reading fluency, spelling screeners and even gifted screeners, it feels like the expectations are already high.

However, schools emphasize that these tests aren’t about pressure or performance. They’re simply tools to understand where each child is starting and what support they may need to thrive throughout the year.

Early and frequent student testing isn’t unusual. American students are tested more than students in any other developed country. Recent comparisons show that the average U.S. student takes about 112 required standardized tests before graduating high school, far above international norms. In grades 3 through 8 alone, children often sit for 20 to 25 different standardized assessments each year, not including practice tests or test‑prep weeks. And unlike other countries, the U.S. layers federal, state, district, and benchmark tests, creating an unusually dense testing schedule.

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Gen Z: A Cautionary Tale

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

A couple weeks ago, a study reported that we are entering a post-literate society: people simply aren’t reading books anymore. The horror!

Before that, there was a trend of managers sharing what their new Gen Z hires were saying/requesting/complaining about in the workplace. For shame!

And lest we forget the article about Gen Z never having completed an entire book during high school before showing up to college. WTF!

Gen Z carries a reputation that’s hard to ignore. Yes, they’re the most socially tolerant, entrepreneurial, tech‑fluent (to an extent), emotionally aware, and scientifically literate generation we’ve ever seen. But, they’re also routinely labeled as entitled, fragile, phone‑obsessed, socially awkward, overly sensitive, and unprepared for adulthood. Those criticisms show up everywhere, especially in headlines about academic struggles, resilience gaps, and workforce readiness. But context matters.

As we’ve been told many times, Gen Z’s identity has been shaped by an always‑on digital landscape, rising mental‑health challenges, and a level of societal instability no previous generation faced at the same age. Many of the behaviors older generations interpret as weakness or entitlement are actually signs of a generation growing up under unprecedented pressure. And that’s exactly why Gen Z has become a warning for parents raising younger kids today.

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Child(ish) Review: Toy Story 5

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

I’ll be honest, I never really got into the Toy Story franchise. I know Woody, Buzz, and Jessie are beloved icons, but I just wasn’t into sitting down and watching the movies when they came out, and even now as a parent. So when Patti told me Toy Story 5 was coming out and I casually mentioned that I was indifferent, the gasp she let out was audible. For reference, the first Toy Story came out when we were 10.

But then the Toy Story 5 trailer dropped, Lilypad appeared on screen, and suddenly I was fully invested. In this installment, Bonnie is introduced to a new high‑tech tablet which completely disrupts the balance of playtime, forcing Jessie, Bullseye, Buzz, Woody and the rest of the gang to confront what it means to matter to a child in a digital age.

Toy Story 5 is essentially a child‑development case study wrapped in a Pixar movie. The film directly tackles themes that map onto core developmental domains: social-emotional growth, imaginative play, peer relationships, technology use, and the psychological experience of being “enough.”

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OT Month: The Gen A Nervous System

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

A few months ago on Instagram, we ran into a ton of posts about how you can’t parent Gen A kids like they did in the 90’s because they have a different nervous system.

We thought it was an interesting claim; despite that when “influencers” copy the same material word-for-word, it’s usually a sign of clickbait. They even referred to kids having a “Digital Nervous System”, living in a high-speed brain environment.

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Child(ish) Reads: Dopamine Kids, Pt. 2

| Patti Webb

In part 1 of my Dopamine Kids review, I said that Michaeleen Doucleff’s five-step plan is very easy to implement. She walks through each step and gradually builds the plan with each chapter. Just like a textbook, you read the material in the first section and do the direct application right after.

So for part 2, I’m sharing my family plan and how I’ve adapted the steps for A&Z.

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