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". [...]
Today DonorsChoose.org, the crowdfunding non-profit that supports public school teacher's classroom requests, announced their latest campaign: #ISeeMe, which is designed to mobilize support for teachers of color and inclusive learning materials in public school classrooms. Research has indicated that children learn best when they see themselves in the classroom materials as well as in the teachers leading their classes. [...]
We've all heard about parenting styles that can hinder children's success: the over involved parent, the distracted parent, the super protective parent. But are there parenting styles that can help children become highly successful adults? According to Harvard economist Ronald Ferguson and journalist Tatsha Robertson's new book The Formula: Unlocking the Secrets to Raising Highly Successful Children, there are, and we [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Fifty four years ago today, on February 21, 1965, activist and religious leader Malcolm X was assassinated by a member of the Nation of Islam while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. Today's Thoughtful Thursday pays tribute to Malcolm X, first with the stirring eulogy Ossie Davis delivered at his funeral. Then, [...]
On Tuesday, the Obama Foundation’s first national My Brother’s Keeper Alliance convening, MBK Rising!, began in Oakland, CA. This two-day event brought together civic leaders, young men of color and representatives of the MBK organizations that are supporting these young men nationwide. The opening session of the convening featured a session with President Obama and Steph Curry answering questions [...]
So here we are in February, Black History Month. As I have noted for many years in this space, parents should celebrate Black History every month. We should regularly talk with our children all year long about the the critical roles that Black people played in the shaping of America. Our bookshelves at home should provide easy access to information about [...]
Twenty year old Jarrett Allen, a rookie on the Brooklyn Nets, has been excited about computers and math since he was a little boy. When he was in high school he built a computer (which he still uses). Basketball is his primary focus these days, and he has made a good impression on the court in his early days [...]