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School district aims to get parents involvedPAGE 8

Common Core math can give parents headachesPAGE 4

TODAY’SPARENT

February 2016

Today’s Parent/2016 3

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Living in toddlervilleClaremont Kids reporter talks motherhood.

The core of the issueCommon Core proves challenging for many parents.

Getting involvedSchool district welcomes new parent involvement liaison.

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Time to care for parentsPamela Bergman-Swartz discusses care for aging parents.


The Common Corecurriculum and itsassociated Smarter

Balanced assessment are thenew normal for Claremontschoolchildren.

Under the Common Core, bothlanguage arts and math look prettydifferent than they did a few yearsago. It’s the math, however, that reallyseems to be throwing some students—and plenty of parents—for a loop.

“In the last two years, I’ve had themost parents come to me expressingexasperation, saying they really can’thelp their students with the math,”Joe Tonan, a sixth grade teacher atSumner Elementary School, said.

He’s noticed some distinct issueswhen it comes to teaching CommonCore math to elementary schoolchildren.

“Some of it is the Common Coreformat, where students are beingasked lots of why questions and beingasked to give another way to do it—another way to solve the problem,” hesaid. “Some of the problems show astudent making errors and thestudents are asked how they madethose mistakes. They are having toanalyze and go deep into it.”

Complicating matters is the factthat there’s a great deal more writinginvolved with Common Core maththan there used to be. This can posedifficulty for English languagelearners and their parents, accordingto Mr. Tonan.

“Before, the students who werebeginning English language learnerscould feel very successful at math,and that could be the bridge to helpbuild success academically here inClaremont,” Mr. Tonan said. “Now,even students who did very well intheir home country may have a verydifficult time in Common Core-typeof math.”

Even students who have grown upspeaking English but face challenges

when it comes to language arts maybe befuddled.

“Some students who were good atmath are not great writers. They don’texpress themselves that way. Andnow we’re judging themmathematically by their ability toarticulate their answers,” Mr. Tonansaid. “They’re being asked to explain

a problem in writing, reflect on it orcreate another problem similar to it.For some kids, it’s just not in theirwheelhouse.”

One more factor making CommonCore math a challenge to teach at theelementary school level is that moreadvanced concepts are introducedearlier.

“They’ve pushed down intoelementary school things that I didwhen I was in ninth grade math, andthey’re having to do it in sixthgrade,” he said

He noted that his students wererecently presented with the equation“1.3=c/4” and asked to solve for c. It’san algebra problem. Some of the kids

Common Core math can equal problems, divide parents from homework help

COMMON CORE/next page

Sometimes acadmenic changes can bring challenges.


he teaches, who are 10, 11 and 12, are ready to isolatea variable and that’s good, he said.

Others get bogged down because they havetrouble dividing and multiplying fractions. Still

others “are really not developmentally ready toknow the abstract concept of ‘What does C standfor?’ They’ve got that literalism. They’re thinkingmore on a concrete stage rather than abstract.”

But it’s not all bad news. Mr. Tonan believes there are serious problems to

be ironed out with the Common Core. Still, he can

see some significant benefits. “There is absolutely a lot of value to the Common

Core math and its method of encouraging students tothink deeply and understand what they do,” he said.

What’s more, he notes, there is help available forkids and parents struggling with math homework.

One option he points to is Harvey MuddCollege’s free homework hotline, which is aimed atstudents in fourth through 12th grade and isavailable from September through May. Kids can

COMMON CORE/from previous page


COURIER file photos/Steven FelschundneffPitzer College student Jordan Olmstead helps Sumner/Danbury student Wilfred Hidalgo with his math homework.

Today’s Parent/2016 6COMMON CORE/from previous page


call the free hotline Sunday throughThursday from 6 to 9 p.m. with theexception of national holidays, HMCsemester breaks and finals week. Thenumber is 1-877-827-5462.

“It’s a great resource. They put youon with the tutor one-on-one over thephone. Lots of parents utilize that,”he said.

Another course of action is to getyour child involved in ClaremontAfter-School Programs (CLASP), anonprofit that offers after-schoolhomework help, mentoring andenrichment/recreation activities tochildren in grades K-6 in theClaremont Unified School District.

CLASP sites include Blaisdell ParkCommunity Center, 440 S. CollegeAve., grades 4-6; ClaremontPresbyterian Church, 1111 N.Mountain Ave., grades 4-6;Claremont Village ApartmentsCommunity Room, 965 W. ArrowHighway, grades K-6; GoodShepherd Evangelical LutheranChurch, grades K-3; and the WheelerPark Recreation Building, 626 VistaDrive, grades K-3. For information,call (909) 450-1079 or visitclasp4kids.org.

There are many other resourcesaiming to familiarize parents with

Examples of fifth grade computational fluency strategies fro Common Core math.


concepts and specific problemscommon to the Common Core.California GO Math! is the bookused by Claremont elementary schoolstudents.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, thepublishing company behind thetextbooks, offers a number of videotutorials—arranged via grade level—which parents can use to get up tospeed on their child’s math lessons.

Type “Go Math” and “On the Spot”into a search engine and you’ll findthe Think Central tutorials. You canpick your student’s grade and selectthe topic they’re tackling and thenstart learning along with your kid.

Don’t forget to keep the lines ofcommunication open with yourchild’s classroom teacher, lettingthem know if your student isstruggling or if you are.

You may, however, want to profferan extra dose of patience for theperson instructing your child in theCommon Core.

“I think right now every teacher isstill trying to figure out the best wayto teach Common Core. No teacherI’ve talked to says they have a realhandle on it,” Mr. Tonan said.

—Sarah [email protected]

COMMON CORE/from previous page

COURIER file photo/Steven FelschundneffCLASP relies on volunteers to tutor elementary school students in all subject areas.


Rosa Leong, the Claremont UnifiedSchool District’s new Parent In-volvement Liaison, knows she has

a challenging job ahead of her.Ms. Leong, who began her new job at the school dis-

trict at the beginning of the year, is on a mission totransform parent involvement in Claremont schoolswhile fostering community engagement.

“Primarily, my job will be focusing on our Englishlanguage learners and those schools that have a higherpopulation of foster youth and socioeconomically dis-advantaged [youth],” Ms. Leong said. “So those areour targets. I was hired to work with those families.”

Ms. Leong will also be tasked with providing work-shops and engaging parents who have a desire to getmore involved with their students’ school through ac-tivities such as serving on committees, volunteering andtranslating information for Spanish-speaking families.

“When I say engage parents, it’s not just ‘Hey,come to our meeting and we’re just hoping to throwa bunch of information,’” Ms. Leong said. “But howcan we collaborate? How can we make you part ofthe process?”

Based on her background, Ms. Leong is qualified forthe undertaking. She spent nine years at the RowlandUnified School District working with parents. Herwork in Rowland Heights was on a much more grass-roots level—she would regularly visit homes of chil-dren who struggling academically or socially in theschool setting.

New school district liaison aims to engage parents

COURIER photo/Steven FelschundneffClaremont Unified School District Parent Involvement Liaison Rosa Leong listens to a presentation during a recentEnglish Learners Advisory Committee meeting.PARENT INVOLVMENT/next page


Ms. Leong likened the job to social work.“I've seen a lot and I've done a lot of home visits—

it's been pretty intense and draining at times,” sheadded. “But I think it's prepared me to be at a districtlevel. I'm working with parents and I know what tolook for. I'm an immigrant, and so I can really relate toa lot of the cultural barriers that these families havethat we had while growing up.”

One of the endeavors Ms. Leong was involved with atRowland is the “parents as teachers” program, which, asthe label states, places parents as the child’s first teacherand instructs them on what milestones and developmen-tal achievements to look for in the first five years.

COURIER photo/Steven FelschundneffNew Parent Involvement Liaison Rosa Leong helps a parent sign in during the District English Learners AdvisoryCommittee meeting last week. Ms. Leong was very busy during the event, addressing the various needs of the dif-ferent participants.

PARENT INVOLVMENT/next page

PARENT INVOLVMENT/from previous page


“We did a lot of parenting workshops.We found that with the programs thattargeted children at that young of an age,the parents tended to be more involvedwhen their kids went to school, becausethey’re more comfortable in an educa-tional setting,” Ms. Leong said.

Ms. Leong also worked at a districtthat placed an emphasis on college edu-cation at an early age. Students from el-ementary schools all over RowlandHeights were encouraged to wearsweaters from their favorite colleges,and to have teachers hang college ban-ners in classrooms. This, Ms. Leong ex-plains, plants the idea of college as anachievable goal at a very young age—an idea that is right at home in a collegetown like Claremont.

Ms. Leong’s expertise in bridging thegap between cultures comes from herown life experiences. Born in Mexico,she arrived with her family to the UnitedStates at a very young age and grew upin a bilingual household, often servingas a translator for her mother through-out her childhood.

Ms. Leong’s background gives her in-sight to her work, especially since Clare-mont schools have a healthy populationof English learner students and parents.She aims to provide necessary interven-tions to help English learners in Clare-mont maintain the expectation that theywill catch up and thrive.

After first working as an insuranceagent to support her four kids, Ms.Leong was drawn in to education on the

advice of a principal at one of her chil-dren’s schools.

“I worked, but I was always volun-teering because it was important to me,”Ms. Leong said. “And our principalsaid, ‘You would be very good at thisposition. I think you should really apply.It’s part time, you get to be with the kidsand you’re at the school all the time any-way.’ It was a community assistant—that was my title back then—and I saidokay. So that’s how I started.”

She instilled a desire for collegewithin her own children. Her oldest sonis set to graduate from Swarthmore Col-lege with a degree in mathematics, andplans to pursue his PhD afterward. Ms.Leong is on the road to getting a bache-lor’s degree herself after years of help-ing other children succeed.

“I don’t know if at 18 or 19 I wouldhave appreciated going to school orbeing passionate about something as Iam now,” she said. “So I hope to getmy bachelor’s in sociology within twoyears.”

One of Ms. Leong’s challenges asClaremont USD’s new Parent Involve-ment Liaison is to level the playing fieldwhen it comes to parents getting in-

volved in their children’s education.Some schools have larger parental rep-resentation than others, and Ms. Leongwants to work with the others schools toincrease parent involvement and im-prove communication between the dis-trict and parents.

“Some schools have workshops,other schools don’t have it,” Ms. Leongsaid. “So how can we support theschools that don’t have it? What dothey need from us?”

She also wants a larger collective ofparents involved, not just the samefaces. Engaging them from a districtlevel, she says, will hopefully increasethe amount of people involved and de-crease the amount of “double-dipping”on committees.

Claremont Unified School DistrictAssistant Superintendent MyrlenePierre told the COURIER that Ms.Leong’s job was borne out of a desireto bridge the gap between parents andthe district.

“Parents really want to be more in-volved in school,” she said. “Not just re-ceive information, but they really want

COURIER photos/Steven FelschundneffRosa Leong was recently hired as the parent involvement liaison for the school dis-trict. Ms. Leong works as a mediator between parents and the district with the goalof greater parent involvement.


PARENT INVOLVMENT/next page


CUSD’s new Parent Involvement Liaison Rosa Leong says thepledge of allegiance during a recent District English LearnersAdvisory Committee meeting in Claremont. Ms. Leong hadseveral tasks during the meeting from getting participants tosign in to interpreting for a woman who spoke mostly Spanish.

to have dialogue. We’re just really pleased to have her,”Ms. Pierre added.

Ms. Leong will spearhead a parent workshop at Sum-ner Elementary that will start on March 23 and will runthrough June 1. The Spanish-language class will beevery Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., and English-languageclasses will be every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

—Matthew [email protected]



Having a toddler changes you.

Are you shy, reticent and gener-

ally uncomfortable with public

shows of enthusiasm? Not any more.

You become an active participant at life.You’re seated next to a two-year-old, catching a gig

by the Enchanted Rainbow Bunch, and are urged toclap along to the music. You’ve got a tiny person nextto you—getting a kick out of seeing everyone clap-

ping, and trying her own hand at keeping time—andso you clap as loudly as the next person.

You do it because there’s no such thing as “cool” intoddlerville. And you don’t want to be the only one inthe crowd acting like life is a chore.

You take things less seriously. There’s a popular meme floating around on the In-

ternet. “When a toddler hands you a toy phone, Idon’t care who you are. You answer.” I would posit anaddendum to that axiom: “And you may well be theone initiating the phone call.”

Having a toddler prompts you to play, laugh and getsilly. After all, joy—and a broad streak of animalwildness—is your toddler’s natural state.

My precocious two-year-old Savannah loves put-ting on her dad’s hat and her seven-year-old brother’sboots and then clomping around. She sometimespicks up a harmonica while thusly clad, wheezing outa merry tune. She looks like a miniature vaudevillianor one of the “Little Rascals” of TV fame.

I’m partially sharing this anecdote out of maternalpride. Like any mother, while I note that many chil-dren are adorable, I sense that mine are the off-the-hook, “you outta be in pictures” kind of cute.

Still, Savannah’s performances illustrate the factthat toddlers are constantly on stage. They love to dooutlandish things, and love it even more when youlaugh and applaud.

So get off Facebook and get out your camera, be-cause no performer wants their act to flop or, worse,go unnoticed. (In case I sound judgmental, know theadmonishment goes double for me, because I’m adyed-in-the-wool workaholic.)

And with daily demonstrations of the “kids do thedarndest things” principle, you’ll find yourself doingthe darndest things. This morning, while at a gas sta-tion, I played peek-a-boo with Savannah upon her re-quest—nay, demand.

As I threw a blanket over my head repeatedly,emerging with a shout, I realized I looked nuts to anyone who might observe the scene, given that Savan-nah wasn’t visible over the back of the car seat. Shewas laughing, though, and I didn’t care. After all,she’d asked me to play peek-a-boo. And when a tod-dler hands you a toy phone, you answer.

You’ll find yourself laughing a lot. Savannah is inthat “big baby” stage where she’s begun to reject thediaper without embracing the potty. At any giventime, she’s wont to throw off her Pampers and runbare naked around the house.

It’s a sight that never fails to amuse me, becauseshe looks every bit the Renaissance cherub. I’ve de-veloped a character with a thick Bronx accent: “Got acherub problem? Are cupids running amuck? CallBoticelli’s. I’ll take care of your cherub infestationbefore you can say fettuccine alfredo.”

You realize how fast it all goes. We’ve all heard it, that wistful declaration parents of

older children make: “They grow up so fast.” It may be a cliché but it’s also true. You’re going to

want to keep your eyes peeled and your pocketbookhandy, because your toddler is developing at warpspeed. Shoes and clothes are outgrown in what seemslike a matter of days. A TV show that was rollickingfun last week is now downright boring.

Savannah has a routine when she disapproves of thesmall-screen fare. She repeats, “No. No. No. No”until someone changes the channel. In a newer devel-opment, she’s also begun to inform us that “TV isbroken” when it’s not tuned to her favorite cartoon.

Her language skills are growing by leaps andbounds, and so is her creativity when it comes to

Knee-high in toddlerville: A lesson in life and laughter by Sarah Torribio

TODDLERville/next page


expressing her opinions. Yesterday, I tried to read her the children’s story-

book “Once Upon a Potty.” Savannah, who views theprospect of potty training with a jaded eye, had somechoice words. “No, potty isn’t a book,” she said, clos-ing the cover. They grow up so fast!

You practice patience every day.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. When you havea toddler, you find yourself experiencing frustrationand anger.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that we like andneed to accomplish things. A toddler has no itiner-ary, however, except to play and grow and vent andexpress.

If you’re loading the dishwasher, your toddler islikely to sidle up and begin to remove the dishes. Ifyou mop the floor, your toddler is likely to decideit’s a good time to fling her lunch on the floor fromher high-chair perch. And if you organize a book-shelf or toy shelf, your toddler will follow behindyou, de-organizing it.

Getting out of the house is a special exercise instick-to-itiveness. Heading for a party recently in-volved brushing Savannah’s hair—which when leftunfettered is a curly, bangs-in-eyes mop—and puttingher in a dress and shoes. Each step was met as thoughit were torture. And the shoes were kicked off within30 seconds.

But as Mark Twain once said, “Humor is tragedyplus time.” And, in the same way, the plain old dailytravails of raising a toddler look funnier and sweeteras the days go by.

I know that my daughter will grow up and be-come embarrassed of the photos of her traipsingaround in her altogether. I know that, given that herdad is some six-feet-six, she won’t just grow up.She’ll outgrow me.

That’s when I’ll appreciate her time as a near-con-stant clown most, and when I’ll most fondly recallthose chimpanzee-like moments when I am chasing agirl who is running away at full speed to avoid beingtrapped in a dress.

And that’s when I’ll tell other parents of toddlers,“They grow up so fast.”

Photo courtesy of Penelope TorribioBaby sings the blues: COURIER reporter Sarah Torribio’stoddler, Savannah, loves to play the harmonica.

TODDLERVILLE/from previous page

Notable Quotables:

“”

Humor is tragedyplus time.

—Mark Twain


:California1. What is California’s nickname?

A) The Big Orange

B) The Land of Sky and Sea

C) The Golden State

D) The Gold Rush State

2. What is California’s state bird?

A) The roadrunner

B) The California Canary

C) The chicken

D) The California quail

3. What is California’s state flower?

A) California poppy

B) California rose

C) Dandelion

D) Sunflower

4. What is California’s state animal?

A) California panda bear

B) Grizzly bear

C) Poodle

D) Raccoon

Key: 1) C, 2) D, 3) A, 4) A

Californiaword search

Alcatraz

Catalina Island

Claremont

Death Valley

Golden Gate Bridge

Hollywood

Joshua Tree

Knotts Berry Farm

Los Angeles

Missions

Redwoods

Sacramento

Santa Monica

Yosemite


Did you know the most famoushighway in the United Statesruns right through town? It’s

called Route 66. While the signs in Claremont call it Foothill Boulevard,

it’s all part of a highway—built way back in 1926—thatstretches more than halfway across the country.

If you head west on Route 66 you’ll get to Santa Monica,where you can eat cotton candy on the Santa Monica Pierand dip your toes in the Pacific Ocean.

If you drive east long enough, you’ll find yourself inChicago. All in all, Route 66, sometimes called the “MotherRoad,” is more than 2,451 miles.

In 1946, Nat King Cole had a hit with the song “(Get YourKicks On) Route 66.” The tune, which encourages anyonewho wants to motor west to “take the highway that’s thebest” helped put Route 66 on the map. The chorus is prettycatchy: “Won't you get hip to this timely tip when you makethat California trip? Get your kicks on Route 66.”

In 1985, Route 66 was removed from the United States

Highway System, because by then you could get across thecountry quicker taking freeways. Still, many people lovetaking Historic Route 66 as they travel across the country.

Route 66 goes through a whole lot of towns, some listedin the song: “Now you go through Saint Louie and Joplin,Missouri, and Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty. You'llsee Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico, Flagstaff, Arizona—don’t forget Winona. . .”

When people think of Route 66, they picture Americaninventions like Harley Davidson motorcycles, motels androck ‘n roll. They think of the 1950s when, even thoughthere were problems, the country was growing and peoplewere optimistic—or had a good feeling—about the future.

There are lots of cool landmarks you can visit along Route66, things like the world’s largest concrete totem pole inAfton, Oklahoma and the Cozy Dog Drive-In in Springfield,Illinois, where they say the corndog was invented.

Next time your family goes on a vacation, you just mightwant to take the Mother Road and get your kicks on Route 66.

—Sarah [email protected]

Get your kicks on Route 66

Knock! Knock! Who’s there?AlexAlex who?Al explain later.

Knock! Knock!Who’s there?Ya.Ya who?I’m excited to see you too!

Knock! Knock!Who’s there?Nana.Nana who?Nana your business!

KNOCK KNOCK ON WOOD

Flickr photo/Dave ToussaintThe colorful chain of Wigwam Motels used to be spread acrossthe country along Route 66. One of the two last remainingWigwam Motels still open is in nearby San Bernardino.

Flickr photo/Glennia

It was a week beforeChristmas. I just had alarge holiday party, there

were still dishes in the sinkfrom the night before and un-wrapped presents in the sparebedroom. It was the phonecall you never want to receive.

My aunt telephoned me fromHawaii telling me that my dad hadgotten up in the middle of the night,got disorientated and fell. At the time,my dad lived alone, so he lay there onthe floor throughout the night and intothe next day, unable to reach thephone, too weak to get up from thefloor, calling for help. Fortunately, theyoung girl I had hired to come in oncea week to help my dad with cookingand cleaning came by as it was herscheduled day. She called for help,just in time.

I dropped everything and bookedthe next flight out. As doctors wouldsoon discover, my dad would needemergency open-heart surgery. Due tocomplications with the surgery, mytwo-week stay turned into six months.I remember laying on the bed in theroom I grew up, realizing I was nowcaring for an aging parent.

Through those months that fol-lowed, I was now tasked with payingmy dad’s bills, reviewing his check-book, bank and investment state-ments. Upon reviewing my dad’scheckbook, I discovered he had madeseveral errors, gotten into a couple offender benders with his car (accordingto my dad, it was always the otherperson’s fault) and the Trust Depart-ment handling his investments hadmade a huge error and failed to dis-burse the Required Minimum Distri-butions from his IRA account for twoyears in a row.

My dad told me the months leadingup to his heart event that he had notbeen feeling well, he sometimescouldn’t remember where he put hiskeys, was misplacing things and noteating much. As it turned out, he wasin the early stages of dementia andover a period of time, had been havingmini-strokes. However, since he livedalone, there was no one to detect anychanges in his health.

I was fortunate enough that my dadwas open to engage in “the conversa-tion” with me. Since my parents weredivorced, there was no one to managehis care or his finances for him. Webegan having conversations aroundvarious topics such as: did he havelong-term care insurance? Was there atrust in place? Did he have a power ofattorney or an advance medical direc-tive? Did he have any other accountswith any other financial institutions?

Through time, my dad’s physiciandeclared he was no longer able tomake medical or financial decisionsfor himself. I had to go through theprocess of removing my dad from histrust, getting my name added to bank

accounts and coordinating with mydad’s financial planner, CPA and themyriad of doctors to continue provid-ing the best care. We needed to insurethat his money would last for as longas he needed it. Thankfully, my dadhad always been frugal with hismoney. Little did I know at the time, Iwould need to stretch his monies for13 years.

As an adult child who cared for anaging parent, and as a real estate pro-fessional specializing in helping fami-lies transition through this process, Iam passionate about educating othersabout planning for this time in yourlives. I see it all the time in the workthat I do, families are unprepared andare left scrambling at the last minutewhen there is a major life event. As aresult, medical decisions need to bemade but no one is authorized tomake them, and bills continue tomount as no one has been given theauthority to pay them. Oftentimes,adult children find their hands are tiedbecause there was never a simplepower of attorney or advance medicaldirective in place.

What can you do?The Conversation: I can’t stress

enough the importance of beginningto have a conversation with your par-ents while they are still cognizantenough to express their desires andwishes with you. Ask if they havelong term care insurance, what type ofhealth insurance do they have? Wasyour Dad or Mom a member of theArmed Forces, are they eligible to re-ceive the VA Aid & Attendance bene-fit? Do they have a list of theiraccounts, life insurance policies?Where do they keep this information?If you find it difficult to have this con-

versation, check out theconversation-project.org. It is a great resource tohelp take those first steps.

Educate yourself: Something Ilearned very quickly while searchingfor a care home for my Dad was thedifferent levels of care each facilityoffered depending on the overallneeds of the individual. After a coupleof years, my dad’s level of care in-creased and had to be moved. I had 48hours to locate a bed in a skilled nurs-ing facility. We never ended up havingto move him as he then went to a hos-pice facility. Take the time to visit dif-ferent facilities, ask questions aboutmonthly fees, fees for transportationto doctor’s appointments and fees toadminister meds. Do they have theroom and the capacity to handle it ifyour parent’s level of care increases?What is the patient-staff ratio, cleanli-ness of the facility, complaints filedwith the Board of Health?

If you are caring for an aging parentin your home, educate yourself aboutthe local senior services that are avail-able for help. The city of Claremonthas some wonderful organizations thatprovide great support—the JoslynSenior Center and Community SeniorServices are two local agencies thatprovide excellent resources to seniorsand their families.

Evaluate costs: When evaluatingcosts, first consider the cost to con-tinue to maintain your parent’s homeand the overall health and safety ofthem being able to stay in their home.My dad wanted to stay in his ownhome and I wanted to make sure thishappened for him. But, in the end, itwas costing him $7,000 a month for apart-time caregiver to come in 12hours a day. When he needed full

time care, I moved him into a carehome where the cost was $4000 amonth for round-the-clock care, mealsand medication administration. Mod-ern medicine is causing people to beable to live longer but the truth of thematter is people are outliving theirmoney. So as much as you want tohonor your parents request aboutwanting to stay in their own home,this can make all the difference inmaking sure your parent does not out-live their money.

Alternatively, be sure you have yourown personal Financial Plan B. Whatcosts will you incur as the caregiverfor your aging parent? I cared for mydad over 13 years and he lived in an-other state. I spent thousands of dol-lars on travel, time away from my job,loss of income and, eventually, loss ofearnings to contribute to my 401k.Make sure you are planning for your-self. Have a Plan B financially, in theevent you can no longer work becauseyou are caring for your parent. In ad-dition, take into consideration proxim-ity so you can easily check in to seeyour parent. Consider the change ofdoctors, easy access to shopping,banking and if they are still active intheir social circles.

Assets: Ask your parents to speakwith their financial planner aboutwhich assets to spend down first inthe event of a catastrophic healthevent. This was imperative for taxplanning purposes. A recent interviewI had with Carlos Arcos, an elder lawattorney, revealed that he is seeing arise in clients that now need care, whohave lived in their homes for manyyears but, if they sell the home, couldsuffer huge tax implications, some-times in the hundreds of thousands ofdollars. In these circumstances, some-times the adult children may take asecond mortgage on their own hometo finance the care for their parentsuntil the parent has passed and the es-tate pays back the loan to avoid pay-ing the huge tax burden for the parent.

Lastly, I would have to say the oneitem that helped make my life easierwas having a notebook with all of mydad’s important papers, i.e., Driver’slicense, Social Security Card, accountnumbers, names of all of his doctors,including telephone numbers, list ofmedications, etc. I did not know it atthe time but I was providing CaseManagement and Prescription Man-agement services for my dad.

Today’s parent looks much differ-ently than they did before. My experi-ence caring for my dad changed me inmany ways and left me with a passionto educate others who are goingthrough the same experience.

If you are an adult child who is car-ing for an aging parent, I hope this ar-ticle has been helpful for you. If youhave questions, need resources orwould like a list of the documents youshould have in place, feel free to con-tact me at (909) 636-2744 or email [email protected] for moreinformation.

Caring for an aging parent by Pamela Bergman-Swartz


Pamela Bergman-Swartz, right, spent 13 years caring for her elder father.


Among the open stretched La Vernecampus of Hillcrest, retirementcommunity are many gathering

places for residents, their families and friends. The multi-generational sounds of laughter and con-

versation sharing the events of the day are heardthroughout Hillcrest.

Hillcrest invites you to visit its newest gatheringplace Cedar Court, which offers a colorful decor

featuring an exclusive dining room and sittingplaces. Cedar Court offers all-inclusive assisted liv-ing care. Along with the foundation of our caringassociates, are Hillcrest’s Life Enrichment and Well-ness programs.

Cedar Court is a place to get well and stay wellwithin the gloves of our comprehensive care.

Guests are welcome to visit the Hillcrest campus toexperience first-hand the comfort of Cedar Court. CallHillcrest for more information at (909) 392-4375.

Cedar Court at Hillcrest offers warm,inviting space for families to gather


Air Balloon at the TRACKSActivity Center

On Friday, February 26 beginning at 4 p.m., TACparticipants can compete in a game of air balloon bytrying to keep their balloon in the air without theirhands. For more information, contact the TAC, locatedat El Roble, by calling (909) 399-5378.

Dinner at the Youth Activity CenterThe YAC, at Cahuilla Park just north of CHS, will

host its monthly "Dinner @ the YAC" on Friday, Feb-ruary 26 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. TAC participants, alongwith all CHS students, are invited to come by, spendtime with friends and enjoy a free meal. TAC partic-ipants will need a signed permission slip to attend thedinner. Dinner is available for free to all students whoattend. For more information, contact the TAC at(909) 399-5378 and/or YAC at (909) 399-5363.

Loads of fun events in spring fromthe Claremont teen committee

The Claremont Teen Committee, a council of localyouth sponsored by the city of Claremont, is com-prised of students from Claremont High School, SanAntonio High School, El Roble Intermediate Schooland other local youth. The mission is to represent theneeds of Claremont youth by adding a youth voice toClaremont politics and accomplishing goals that helpsupport teens in our community.

The teen committee meets at the Youth ActivityCenter at Cahuilla Park each third Wednesday of themonth at 3:15 p.m. for students in grades seventhrough 12.

Upcoming spring events sponsored by teens for teens,which are free, include museum trips, tours of collegesand an evening beach trip with a bonfire. The full ac-tivities list is below. All events are free to participants.—Getty Museum on Saturday, March 20 from 9 a.m.to 6 p.m.—March Madness from Tuesday, March 15 throughFriday, March 18 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the YAC.—Mental health awareness event on Wednesday,March 30 from 4 to 6 p.m.—Teen committee lock in from Saturday, April 2 at 7p.m. to Sunday, April 3 at 7 a.m.—Union rescue mission on Tuesday, April 5 from 9a.m. to 5 p.m.—Metrolink ride to tour University of Southern Cal-ifornia (USC) and Cal State Los Angeles on Wednes-day, April 6 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.—A tour of the Claremont College on Thursday,April 7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.—Bonfire at Huntington Beach on Friday, April 8from 5 to 11 p.m.LACMA on Saturday, May 4 from 5:45 to 11 p.m.—Youth Recognition Awards on Wednesday, May 2from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.For more information on any of these events, visitclaremontrec.com or call the YAC at (909) 399-5363.

Apanel of statewide leadersfrom each level of highereducation—community

colleges, California State Uni-versities and the University ofCalifornia systems—will bespeakers on a panel discussing“Is California Higher EducationWorking?” sponsored by theClaremont Area League ofWomen Voters at their “Food forThought” public meeting.

Geraldine Perri, PhD, has served as su-perintendent/president of Citrus Com-

munity College since 2008. Her experi-ence includes 20 years as an administra-tor in several Southern Californiacommunity colleges. She holds a doctor-ate in human and organizational devel-opment from the Fielding GraduateUniversity of Santa Barbara.

Representing state universities on thepanel is Shanthi Srinivas, PhD, associatevice president for academic planning, pol-icy and faculty affairs at Cal Poly Pomona.She leads the university’s eLearning teamresponsible for technological advances inteaching and learning. She has served inshared governance on the Faculty Senate.Her PhD from Pennsylvania State Univer-sity is in business administration.

Paul D’Anieri, PhD., provost and execu-tive vice chancellor of the University ofCalifornia, Riverside will discuss the UCcollege system. At UCR, he is responsiblefor implementation of the campus strategicplan, “UCR 2020: The Path to Preemi-nence.” He came to UCR from the Univer-sity of Florida as dean of the college ofliberal arts. He is also the author of the text-book, International Politics: Power and Pol-itics in International Affairs. He was also aFullbright Scholar as a visiting scholar atLviv University, Ukraine. His doctorate isin government from Cornell University.

This public “Food for Thought” paneldiscussion is offered in conjunction withthe League of Women Voters Statewide

Study of Public Higher Education. SueKeith, president of the Citrus CollegeBoard of Trustees, and leader of the localLeague study will moderate the discussion.

The meeting will be held on Saturday,February 27 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the PaduaRoom at the Hughes Community Center,1700 Danbury Rd. Light refreshments willbe served. Admission is $20. To confirm at-tendance and pay, visit eventbrite.com/lwv-claremont or simply pay at the door.

This meeting will be followed by fur-ther study sessions on March 17 and April14 when LWV members will respond toconsensus questions to work toward thedevelopment of a state LWV position onhigher education.

Claremont Area League to explore higher education

today's parent 2016

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