Are you in partnership with your children's teachers to make sure your children are thriving in school? In today's second session of "The Inside Guide to Helping Your Child Thrive from K-8", Lower school teacher Jennifer Vermont-Davis offered parents advice on how to establish strong and productive relationships with teachers each year. Here just are a few of her many [...]
April is National Poetry Month! National Poetry Month was established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to increase America's awareness and appreciation of poetry. Our first Thoughtful Thursday of National Poetry Month begins with a beautiful poem about poetry from Archibald MacLeish (1892-1982), whose career over the course of his long life included being a lawyer, Fortune [...]
When is the last time you were at a museum with your children? Did your kids have a great time discovering and learning about the museum's treasures? Or did their melt downs and/or complaints of boredom and hunger force you to end the trip early? In today's first class of "The Inside Guide to Helping Your Child Thrive from [...]
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 [...]
We were all heartened to learn how 8 year old Tanitoluwa Adewumi became a state wide chess champion while living with his family in a homeless shelter. And now the news gets even better. Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times columnist who broke Tani's story, reports in a recent update that thanks to the generosity of people who read [...]
In today's Thoughtful Thursday we continue our month long tribute to women poets in honor of Women's History Month. Today we shine a spotlight on the four African-American female poets who have been appointed by the Library of Congress to serve as the U.S. Poet Laureate, our nation's chief poetry consultant. Originally called the "Consultant in Poetry to the Library of [...]
Have you heard about the 8 year old Nigerian refugee living in a NYC homeless shelter who took first place in the NYS Scholastic Chess Championship for his age bracket? This is a story of hard work, perseverance, and kindness to share with your sons and daughters. Eight year old Tanitoluwa Adewumi, who is known as Tani, came with [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday continues the celebration of Women's History Month, featuring women poets from a variety of cultures and generations. Today we offer a delightful assortment of poems about women by women. First Patricia Smith (b.1955) gives us a "Hip Hop Ghazal" celebrating femininity. A ghazal, originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love, consists of couplets [...]
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, [...]