Today is International Women's Day, where we honor and celebrate the social, political and cultural achievements of women, and encourage awareness of gender inequality on a global scale. Wow, that is a tall order for one day--good thing it's Women's History Month so we don't have to have to do it all in one post! In honor of International [...]
Yesterday we said bye to February's Black History Month, and today we say hey to Women's History Month. While we at GCP are not the biggest fans of the designation of just one month out of the year to focus on the great contributions Black people and women have made to our nation's history, for now we'll take the [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday offers a break from the sadness and sorrow that surrounds us in the aftermath of the horrific Florida school shooting. Here are a delightful hodgepodge of poems to read aloud to your little ones as you tuck them in at night. We hope you have shielded them from the bulk of the coverage, but even the [...]
In honor of Valentine's Day next week, today's Thoughtful Thursday features love poetry from an array of poets. We begin with a couple of love poems from Langston Hughes, whom poet Elizabeth Alexander rightly calls “'our' poet laureate, our'Shakespeare in Harlem.'" Then on a poem from Nikki Giovanni, one of the world's best known African American poets, who speaks [...]
Today begins Black History Month! Actually, we like to think of every month as Black History Month here at GCP, as we want our children to learn about their history all year long. Today is also Langston Hughes' birthday, so on this Thoughtful Thursday we honor him by featuring a few of this great poet's works. We begin with [...]
For today's Thoughtful Thursday we celebrate the lives of three men who passed away this week: artist Jack Whitten, pastor and civil rights leader Rev. Wyatt T. Walker, and musician Hugh Masekela. Great men with noble spirits all. Jack Whitten, born in 1939, was a pioneering abstract artist. Born in Bessemer, Alabama, he attended Tuskegee Institute and Southern University [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday features a delightful video from PBS News Hour in which author Jason Reynolds explains how poetry can help reluctant readers learn to love literature. Reynolds notes, "The separate stanzas aid and perpetuate a kind of incremental reading one small chunk at a time" which makes it much more approachable and enjoyable. Definitely worth viewing--it will inspire [...]
Monday is Dr. King's birthday, and in celebration this Thoughtful Thursday brings you lots of suggestions for books about Dr. King to read with your children. Enjoy. Children's Books About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. < strong> My Brother Martin by Christine King Farris My First Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Marion Dane Bauer March On! The [...]
If you are on the East Coast as we are, you are are experiencing the aftermath a snowstorm of epic proportions, which has been called a "bomb cyclone", "bombogenesis" and a winter hurricane. Whatever you want to call it, it has dumped a lot of snow on us, and the winds are whipping around at high speeds and at [...]
Baby, it's cold outside! As the first day of winter approaches, here in the Northeast the temperature has been dropping and the wind has been whipping up. We've gone from light breezes to gusty gales, and we have had our few first snowfalls. Just in time for the holidays! Today's Thoughtful Thursday celebrates the chilly days of almost-winter, with [...]