Two recent news items give us food for thought with respect to the development of a young person's self-esteem. Yesterday's New York Times features an article found here about Joel Baumann, a young African-American sophomore on the University of Minnesota's wrestling team who is also an aspiring singer and rapper. His latest video, "One's in the Sky", which urges [...]
What is your son doing in his gym class? Are he and his classmates running around, learning sports and playing games? And are they reviewing vocabulary words and math concepts as they play? Some schools in the 45 states which have adopted more rigorous English and Math standards are bringing this intensified curriculum into gym class as well. In [...]
Today's New York Times has two articles in its sports section, each featuring a talented young Black male basketball player with NBA dreams. Jahlil Okafor, a 17 year old high school junior at Whitney Young High School in Chicago who stands at 6 feet 11 inches, is considered the top high school player in national rankings. He was offered [...]
Today's post comes courtesy of GCP Dad Michael Mayfield, who lives in North Carolina and has two college-aged children. I never envisioned myself married to an incredible woman and having two amazing children. It seemed like too much responsibility. Seems so even now - so much to teach and instill. Too many mistakes were made, and maybe that's why [...]
During February and March, K-12 independent schools across the country will be notifying parents about whether their sons or daughters have landed a spot in the upcoming kindergarten class. (Good luck to parents awaiting this news.) One of the issues which frequently comes up as parents consider applying their children to an independent school kindergarten is when they should [...]
It's February. Black History Month. While many of us wonder why only one month out of the year (and the shortest one at that) is designated for paying national attention to African-American contributions to American history, let us put our cynicism aside, and embrace the many opportunities available this month to help our children learn about our history. Our [...]
It is the end of January, the time of year when the winter blahs can settle in for parents as well as children. Especially this year, when the monster flu season is upon us, taking out entire families for days, even weeks at a time. Even if your family has avoided the flu (and congrats if you have), you [...]
Public School 163, an elementary school on the Upper West Side of NYC, has a general student body that is 63 percent Black and Hispanic, 27 percent white and 6 percent Asian. But the demographics are quite different in the school's Gifted and Talented ("G&T") program: 47 percent of the children enrolled in the nine G&T classes are white; [...]
A recent NY Times online article, "The Dicey Parent-Teacher Duet" provides thoughtful commentary from Sara Mosle, a parent who is also a teacher, about how parents and teachers both approach these relationships with trepidation. While everyone agrees that parent involvement is a critical component of a child's success in school, overly involved parents risk interfering with their child's maturation [...]
Good teaching matters, and good teachers can make the difference in how well students learn regardless of how the students performed in previous years. Parents know this instinctively, as we angle to get our children in the good teachers' classrooms from pre-school days on. Our instinct has been recently confirmed by a study funded by the Bill and Melinda [...]