We are still reeling from the tragic loss of basketball great Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi, and seven other passengers on that helicopter flight. For today's Thoughtful Thursday, rather than presenting more poetry to soothe our collective pain, we offer inspirational quotes from the man himself. Taken from interviews over the years and his book "The Mamba Mentality", his [...]
Happy Belated Birthday to Dr. King! While we as a nation will officially celebrate on Monday, we should not forget (or let our children forget) that January 15th was his actual birthday. Today's Thoughtful Thursday will break from our normal poetry/inspirational quotes offering to ask: How are you planning to commemorate Dr. King's holiday? Here are an assortment of [...]
With Thanksgiving a few days away, everyone is gearing up for family gatherings and good eating. Whether there are just a few of you or you are having a family reunion around the table, it is important to enjoy the time together for this holiday meal. Here are some Do's and Don'ts to help make sure the holiday is [...]
GCP has been writing about how to talk with our children about mass shootings for too many years. Sadly, we are running an edited version of this post again below. Our children are learning to live in a world where schools and other familiar places we all visit can be targets, and we have to help them cope [...]
Ever wonder where to find high quality, teacher-tested educational materials online to help your child master a tough subject or learn more about a subject he or she loves? You may soon need look no further than the site from which you can get just about anything else: Amazon.com. Amazon Education has just launched "Amazon Ignite", an educational materials [...]
All hell broke loose, it seems, while GCP was on vacation last week. Not one but TWO mass shootings, where innocent victims were targeted by deranged shooters. We experience the shock, anger, and helplessness of watching people's lives be cut tragically short at a community festival, at the local Walmart. As adults we are shook to the core. It's been [...]
Last month, Joy Harjo was named the U.S.’s 23rd Poet Laureate. She is the first Native American to be appointed to this role. She takes the position in September 2019, following U.S. Poet Laureate Tracey K. Smith, whose work has been featured often in Thoughtful Thursday posts. Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1951, and is a member [...]
Summer's here and it's time to make sure your kids are set with their summer reading booklists, goals and plans. Here are some tips and resources to help you get going: Scholastic Read-a-Palooza Summer Reading Challenge: Once again, children's book publisher Scholastic is offering a great summer reading program for children of all ages. After signing up on the [...]
Last night I watched the first few minutes of the NBA draft, and saw the top three draft picks learn what teams they'd be playing for. For those of you paying no attention whatsoever, the Pelicans had the #1 pick and chose Zion Williamson from Duke, the Grizzlies had the #2 pick and chose Ja Morant from Murray State, [...]
I always encouraged (required, actually) my children’s friends to call me Mrs. Lewis, and I insisted that my children call most adults Mr. or Mrs./Ms. as well. If the parents were really good friends, they became “Aunt” and “Uncle” to our kids, and we were the same to theirs. But that was the only exception. Once my children started [...]