In celebration of Pride Month, today's Thoughtful Thursday features works by LBGTQ poets. Some of these poets have been featured in many Thoughtful Thursdays, like June Jordan (1936-2002) and Audrey Lorde (1934-1992), and others, like E. Ethelbert Miller (b. 1950) and Blas Falconer, are new to these pages. The voice of the other, the ones less heard, is strong [...]
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 [...]
At the end of every school year, my mom would make a date with my brother and me for a night out to celebrate. She was an elementary school teacher, so we were all celebrating having finished up another year. We would usually go out to dinner, and then to a movie (for several years running, we saw "Shaft" [...]
As school winds down for the year, now is the time to focus on how you can help your sons and daughters stay on top of their academic game throughout the summer. As you probably know, when math and reading skills aren’t practiced over the summer, kids can lose 2 to 3 months of progress—that's the dreaded "Summer Slide". [...]
As the school year comes to an end, is it time for your high school son or daughter to start thinking about college? We've got some tips on starting the process! The course that I developed and taught at Hunter College in April, "The Inside Guide to NYC Parenting", continued its second two weeks with a focus on College [...]
Did you know that April is Financial Literary Month? (So many themes, only 12 months, some months have to do double duty.) In 2004 the U.S. Senate designated April as Financial Literary Month in an effort to encourage Americans to establish and maintain healthy financial habits. Since it is Financial Literacy Month, today's Thoughtful Thursday features poems about money. But [...]
On our last Thoughtful Thursday in Women's History Month we celebrate the work of three wonderful poets: the wonderfully accomplished and prolific June Jordan (1936–2002); the brilliant British poet and activist Warsan Shire (b.1988), who is most widely known as the poet whose work was featured in Beyonce's visual album Lemonade; and the young talented poet and writer Alexandra [...]
Would your high schooler be interested in spending two weeks in New York City or Washington DC diving into unique academic pursuits which take advantage of the best these cities have to offer? The New York Times Summer Academy offers high schoolers two week courses in June -August which cover a host of great topics including "Diverse Voices in [...]
BIG NEWS! I've developed a series of parenting classes called The Inside Guide to NYC Parenting, and it is coming to Hunter College in April!! If you live in or around NYC, you can join us to discover answers to some of the pressing parenting questions I've been focusing on for years in this blog. I'll be offering resources, [...]
Looking for ways to help your children stay motivated and succeed in school? Check out these resources we've recently discovered: Code.org. It is no secret that knowing how to code will put children at a huge advantage when they reach the job market. Jobs that require coding make up 58% of all projected new jobs in STEM fields, and [...]