"Tell us about your first relative to come to the United States. Where did he or she come from?" A third grader had this question for homework the other day. His dad called me in a panic: "We haven't told him about slavery yet--he's too young. How is he supposed to answer this?" After commiserating with the dad about [...]
Here's disturbing news from researchers at Yale University: Teachers may be more inclined to expect bad behavior from black preschoolers--especially black boys--than from white preschoolers. As reported recently in a Washington Post article found here, in a recent study over 130 preschool teachers were asked to view video clips of young children in classrooms and were told to look [...]
It is Black History Month! We all know what this means: Lots of tributes to and images of President Obama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and a host of Black "paving the way" entertainers and athletes will be floating around our children at school this month. While we at GCP believe our sons and daughters and [...]
Parents, here is some help with getting your sons ready for success in the coming school year: Summer Learning: www.education.com has tons of customizable and printable worksheets for students from kindergarten through high school. Print out a few from last year's grade and encourage your son to dust off the cobwebs and review the material. Or if he is [...]
We have all heard and seen the aftermath of the Ferguson grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown. We've had many conversations with our friends and colleagues about what a failure to indict means for the Brown family, for Ferguson, for black boys everywhere. But as time passes after this decision, we at GCP [...]
O.K. all you parents who are either in the midst of the school application process for your pre-school or kindergarden son or have submitted your applications and are counting down the months until you are scheduled to hear the responses, take a deep breath and let it go slowly. Time for a reality check. We've all heard the depressing [...]
Remember "Reading Rainbow"? That delightful children's series which encouraged reading, hosted by LeVar Burton and aired on PBS from 1983-2009? Burton has just launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise one million dollars to create an online version to expand the program's reach. When Reading Rainbow went off the air in 2009 Burton bought the rights to the show and [...]
Although Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5-9) has come and gone, it is not too late to show your appreciation for special teachers in your son's life. In fact, the end of the school year is a great time to thank teachers for the hard work they have put in all year on your son's behalf. Looking for cute year [...]
As summer approaches, thoughts turn to family vacations. We at GCP love hitting the road with the kids, and have been doing so since they were tiny tots. Family vacations can provide some of the best times of your life. Whether it is a road trip of a few hours or a journey to another part of the world, [...]
A good male friend recently described the relationship between his two teen sons as "non-existent". Different social circles, different schools, unconnected lives living in the same house. If one is away for a while, the other will eventually ask about him, but only casually, and he certainly doesn't want his brother to know that he cares. My friend assures [...]