Today's terror attack on New York City has left 8 people dead and more than 15 injured. We mourn yet another attack on innocent civilians, and we send our thoughts and prayers to the victims of this senseless attack. Usually a GCP post after a horrific event like this focuses on how to talk to your children about it. But [...]
Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City have had an impressive track record of helping students achieve impressive results on statewide reading tests. Their website boasts that this year 84% of their students (their "scholars") passed the mandatory English Language Arts (ELA) tests and 95% passed the math tests, making them the #1 school system in New York [...]
Another mass shooting, this time at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas. How do we talk to our children about this tragic event? GCP has discussed this issue before, after Newton and Charleston . And now we must talk about Las Vegas. But what should we say? Experts say it depends on how old our children are: Preschool:Discuss only [...]
Worried about how your kids are getting (or not getting) along? Sibling squabbling and rivalry are to be expected in the normal course of things, but you do want them to establish a bond that stays strong when they are no longer obligated to live together under one roof. I thought a lot about this when my three children [...]
Just writing this title makes me weary and sad. Yet again we must figure out how to talk to our sons and our daughters about the acquittal of a police officer who stopped and killed a Black man for no justifiable reason. As you undoubtably know, yesterday the jury in the manslaughter trial of Officer Jeronimo Yanez acquitted him [...]
Our children are spending a lot of time with screens these days: computers, phones, ipads. Experts suggest that spending too much time looking at screens can lead children to develop computer vision syndrome and eye problems related to overexposure to harmful blue light. What can we do to prevent this? Here are some tips from the American Optometric Association [...]
How important is it for our kids from lower-income households to have a Black teacher? Very important, it turns out. A recent study conducted by researchers at American University, U.C. Davis and Johns Hopkins reveals that having just one Black teacher in third, fourth or fifth grade reduced low-income Black boys' probability of dropping out of high school by [...]
The stigma of talking about mental health issues is alive and well in the Black community. We've heard the comments: "Black people don't do therapy", "Nothing wrong with that boy that a little __________ (spanking, time out, grounding, fill in the blank) won't fix", and even "Black people don't commit suicide". But recent stats show we need to be [...]
Cybersecurity is very much in the news these days. How savvy are you and your children about protecting yourself in cyberspace? The Christian Science Monitor recently published "Cybersecurity in Seven Minutes, found here, which gives a quick and info packed summary of how to keep yourself safe online. Once you've gotten smart on how to protect yourself, time to [...]
Well, the sun did rise this morning, and we now face the reality of an America that has elected Donald Trump to be our next President. Among those of us who did not want or expect this result there is deep shock, sadness, anger, hurt and even disgust at the outcome. We grown folk can take our time dealing [...]