As the world pays tribute to Ellis Marsalis, we wanted to repost this GCP post from June 2012 which focused on his talent not as a musician, but as a parent. Parenting Lessons from Ellis Marsalis Last night I had the incredible pleasure of sitting at a friend’s small dinner party for Jazz at Lincoln Center and listening to [...]
Yesterday brought news that rocked the world of art and culture. Two African American giants, one of art and one of music, are gone, fallen to COVID-19: artist, art historian and curator Dr. David Driskell, and jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis. In today's Thoughtful Thursday we pay tribute to these great men. Dr. [...]
In an earlier post we talked about the importance of caring for yourself physically and mentally during this COVID-19 crisis. Today we want to focus on caring for others: what can you and your family do to help others in this time of need? Even though parents have so much on their plates now, taking some time to focus [...]
Hang in there, homeschooling parents, more help is on the way! Common Sense Media has just launched its Wide Open School platform, a free collection of high quality online learning experiences for families and educators. Common Sense Media recognizes that our education system is not prepared for this abrupt transition to remote learning, and that while some schools are [...]
Need more homeschooling materials? Here are the latest online learning resources to help you and your children: Common Sense Media, a trusted guide for media and technology, has just released customizable learning packets for K- 2nd grade students. While these packets were principally designed for teachers, they are intended for use by parents and children as well. The materials [...]
Do you have a high schooler who had planned to take AP exams this spring? Here's two bits of good news: 1)The College Board is developing a new at-home testing option for students; and 2) The College Board has just launched a full schedule of FREE AP review classes on their AP YouTube channel. You can find more from [...]
It's Thoughtful Thursday, and boy could we use some poetry to distract us right about now. Poets.org, the website of the Academy of American Poets, asked its membership to suggest poetry to help us cope and give us courage. Four of the many poems suggested are featured below. "Alone", by our beloved Maya Angelou (1928-2014), reminds us that we [...]
Parents, how are you doing in all of this craziness? Are you holding it together, and could you use some help to do so? Today we want to focus on the importance of self-care. You know, put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others. It is especially important to take care of our physical and mental selves, when [...]
Trying not to overwhelm you all, but we want to send along some more great homeschooling resources: Khan Academy: This free online learning site is taking it's responsibility to help parents and teachers with remote learning very seriously. Starting with the page that asks "How Can Khan Academy Be Used For Remote Learning During School Closures?", the site gives [...]
My mom taught 5th grade and was a reading specialist in NYC public schools for over 30 years. When I was young, we knew that whatever weekend family activity we planned would need to end by Sunday afternoon so Mommy could focus on her lesson plans for the week. When I started teaching my Parenting courses at Hunter last [...]