You may have heard about “ summer slide”, where over the summer students can lose two to three months of progress in math and reading and fall behind when they return to school in the fall. But did you know that by the time a student gets to the 5th grade, the summer learning loss can add up to [...]
Hello GCP'ers! Yes, it has been a while, and while it is not actually Thursday, (let's call it "Thursday Plus") here is a lovely Thoughtful Thursday poem for you all, "Blessing the Boats" by the renowned African American poet Lucille Clifton (1936-2010). Born in Depew, New York in 1936, Clifton's first book of poetry was published in 1969. She [...]
If your child tells you he wants to be a famous rapper, tell him he should be paying lots of attention in English class. In a recent interview with David Letterman, Jay-Z credited his sixth grade English teacher with fueling his love of language: "Her name was Ms. Lowden, and I just loved the class so much. Like reading [...]
Today's Thoughtful Thursday pays homage to the thousands of students across the nation who are making their voices heard in their fight against gun violence in schools and on our streets. May we all be inspired by these wonderful poets--Haki R. Madhubuti, Langston Hughes, and Claude McKay--and their poems which have energized activists everywhere over the years. Share these [...]
GCP parents, did your children participate in the walkout today? Students across the country walked out of their schools today in a well-coordinated national protest against gun violence and to mark one month since a mass shooting left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Many of the student demonstrations were designed to last for [...]
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 [...]
So you've noticed that your teenager has been more moody than usual. Do you dismiss it as normal teen behavior, or should you be more concerned? Read on for help with figuring this out. As noted in a recent Wall Street Journal article found here, depression in teens is on the rise. With all the pressures of increased academic [...]
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 [...]
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you must know that the "Black Panther" movie is opening on February 16th, just a few days away. This is the EAGERLY anticipated film, based upon a very popular Marvel comic book character, which stars Chadwick Boseman, Academy award winner Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Jordan, and is directed by Ryan Coogler [...]
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 [...]