School is out for most of the nation, which means it is report card time. Are you eagerly anticipating your son's great grades, or awaiting with trepidation what that dreaded envelope will bring? Before you open that envelope, take a deep breath and remember the following: 1. Your son's grades, good or bad, do not define him. Good grades [...]
As June comes to a close, GCP congratulates all of the young men who are in the graduating class of 2013. Whether they are graduating from elementary, junior high, lower, middle, high school or college, these boys have worked hard and deserve praise for this important accomplishment. These transitions are important steps in their lives and should be heralded. [...]
Parents can use all the help we can get to encourage our sons (and daughters) to see math as an interesting and useful discipline, especially as we encourage them to pursue studies in the STEM fields. As a recent article in Education Week reveals, museums around the country are providing this help by developing programs and exhibits to encourage [...]
Ebony Magazine has been running a series of special reports on "Saving Our Sons" in recent issues. Part three of this series in the July 2013 issue focuses on how parents can prime their sons for success in the classroom. Pick up this issue and read this report, as it is chock full of interesting and informative advice about [...]
If school is not out already for your sons, they (and you) are counting down the days until summer vacation begins. As you are locking in their schedules, don't forget to make time for summer learning. As we've noted in previous posts, research indicates that children lose learning skills over the summer, and summer learning programs can not only [...]
As college admissions results roll in, here's some good news to consider: For the fourth year in a row, all of the 167 seniors in Chicago's Urban Prep Academies schools have been accepted into four year colleges or universities. The Urban Prep Academy network has expanded since GCP reported their success last year ("And Now For Some Good News [...]
Last year, GCP reported President Obama's establishment of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans ("President Obama’s Plan to Help African American Students Succeed", July 28, 2012). The President defined the mission of this Initiative as “[strengthening] the Nation by improving educational outcomes for African-Americans of all ages”. Here's an update: This month U.S. Education Secretary Arne [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]