Greetings GCP'ers! Today we focus on several opportunities to examine and explore the impact of race on our sons' education. American Promise: We hope by now you have heard about "American Promise", the Sundance Grand Jury prize winning documentary which follows the journeys of two African-American boys and their families from kindergarten through high school graduation. (Check out our [...]
Even though school has barely begun, if you are looking for a new school for your son or daughter to start next fall, particularly if it is a private or highly sought after public school, you are likely starting the search and application process now. Today's post comes from writer and editor (and GCP contributor) Rachel Christmas Derrick. In [...]
School is out for most of the nation, which means it is report card time. Are you eagerly anticipating your son's great grades, or awaiting with trepidation what that dreaded envelope will bring? Before you open that envelope, take a deep breath and remember the following: 1. Your son's grades, good or bad, do not define him. Good grades [...]
It is National Teacher Day! Let's take a few moments to think about special teachers who have influenced our lives and the lives of our children. My favorite teacher from my elementary school was Mrs. Portia Paterson of Public School 116 in Queens, New York. Mrs. Paterson was my third grade teacher, and even though third grade was a [...]
As we continue to hear news from Boston following the multiple explosions that have rocked that city, we should be mindful that our children are hearing this news as well. GCP covered the topic of how to talk with your children about tragedy after the Newtown massacre ("How Do We Talk to Our Children About Newtown?" December 17, 2012); [...]
Nearly one in five high school age boys in the United States and 11 percent of school-age children over all have received a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (A.D.H.D.), according to new data from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compiled by the New York Times and reported in a recent article found here. The data [...]
Two recent news items give us food for thought with respect to the development of a young person's self-esteem. Yesterday's New York Times features an article found here about Joel Baumann, a young African-American sophomore on the University of Minnesota's wrestling team who is also an aspiring singer and rapper. His latest video, "One's in the Sky", which urges [...]
Good teaching matters, and good teachers can make the difference in how well students learn regardless of how the students performed in previous years. Parents know this instinctively, as we angle to get our children in the good teachers' classrooms from pre-school days on. Our instinct has been recently confirmed by a study funded by the Bill and Melinda [...]
With Thanksgiving less than a week away, thoughts turn towards the family meal. Holidays aside, how often do you and your children eat dinner together as a family? After-school, sports and work schedules can make gathering for family meals tough to organize on a regular basis. But researchers at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at [...]
"Teenage Bedroom as Battleground", a recent NY Times article found here, offers parents advice on how to cope with their messy teens. Those of you who have figured out how to crack the whip at home so that your teens regularly pick up after themselves around the house and always keep their rooms neat without your intervention, skip to [...]