Last night's Grammys were full of interesting performances and surprising wins (Beck, what?). No doubt your sons are familiar with many of the winners. But one Grammy award they might not have focused on deserves their attention: The 2015 Grammy (Children’s Album) was awarded to Neela Vaswani for her narration of I AM MALALA: HOW ONE GIRL STOOD UP [...]
We have all heard and seen the aftermath of the Ferguson grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown. We've had many conversations with our friends and colleagues about what a failure to indict means for the Brown family, for Ferguson, for black boys everywhere. But as time passes after this decision, we at GCP [...]
Even though Election Day has come and gone, we can continue to have conversations with our sons about the importance of voting. Today's Thoughtful Thursday is the poem "Vote of Die", written by Margaret Block, a civil rights activist and member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In this poem she champions some of the unsung heroes of the civil [...]
Greetings GCP'ers! Hope you enjoyed your summer break (we certainly did) and are settling back into your fall parenting routine. We at GCP have been spending a good bit of our break focusing on ways to improve this site and create a stronger and more interactive GCP parenting community. Stay tuned, upgrades coming soon. So much to focus on [...]
In a recent New York Times Motherlode blog post, the author confesses "I've Ruined My Boys" as she describes how she has "over coddled" her 6, 9 and 11 year old sons to the point that they are unwilling to do much of anything for themselves around the house. In her post, found here, she confesses that she has [...]
As many of you regular GCP readers may know, for the past 5 year Chicago's Urban Prep Academy has been sending 100 percent of its high school graduates off to college. (See "Good News on the College Admissions Front", April 16, 2014.) Recently Urban Prep Academy celebrated another milestone, as the first class of those high school graduates graduated [...]
As the shootings in schools, malls, and other public places seem to be happening more and more frequently these days, parents are once again wondering if violent video games, especially the "first person shooter" games which allow the player to travel armed throughout the game and "kill" everyone in sight, contribute to actual gun violence. In the aftermath of [...]
Although Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5-9) has come and gone, it is not too late to show your appreciation for special teachers in your son's life. In fact, the end of the school year is a great time to thank teachers for the hard work they have put in all year on your son's behalf. Looking for cute year [...]
As summer approaches, thoughts turn to family vacations. We at GCP love hitting the road with the kids, and have been doing so since they were tiny tots. Family vacations can provide some of the best times of your life. Whether it is a road trip of a few hours or a journey to another part of the world, [...]
Common Sense Media has recently issued a report on children, teens and reading. While the report found here has some good news about children and reading, some of its findings relating to boys of color are particularly troubling. First, the good news: Reading is still a big part of many children's lives. Young children read or are read to [...]