GCP parents, it's time to get focused on helping our sons and daughters get ready for their best school year yet. Here are some helpful resources: Readiness Check: You know what grades your kids got last year, but how much of the material do they confidently understand? Does a C in math for the semester mean that your child [...]
Miles and Malik George, twin brothers who were co-valedictorians at their Woodbridge High School graduation last week, are both headed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall. The George brothers, who got their last B's in third grade, both set their sites on MIT as high school freshmen, and worked towards this goal, both making near [...]
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 [...]
Parents can use all the help we can get to encourage our sons (and daughters) to see math as an interesting and useful discipline, especially as we encourage them to pursue studies in the STEM fields. As a recent article in Education Week reveals, museums around the country are providing this help by developing programs and exhibits to encourage [...]
What is your son doing in his gym class? Are he and his classmates running around, learning sports and playing games? And are they reviewing vocabulary words and math concepts as they play? Some schools in the 45 states which have adopted more rigorous English and Math standards are bringing this intensified curriculum into gym class as well. In [...]
You may recall an earlier GCP post describing Wu Tang Clan member GZA's work on his album "Dark Matter", which focuses on his interest in science. ("The Latest Lesson from Hip-Hop...Science!" May 31, 2012.) An article in today's NY Times reports that GZA has recently teamed up with a Columbia professor and the website Rap Genius to use hip-hop [...]
How do you talk to your sons and daughters about spending and saving money? Teaching our children financial responsibility is one of the most important and beneficial things parents can do. Forbes.com's article "Raising Financially Savvy Kids", found here, features helpful teaching tips from Mary Hunt's recently released book, "Raising Financially Confident Kids". Hunt recommends starting financial conversations early, [...]
Today's Wall Street Journal includes a story of how one family has started their son on the road to financial literacy using his allowance. The article, found here, features adorable Ryan Emah, a 7 year old second grader, who gets $3.00 a week from his parents for fufilling "basic expectations " like emptying the dishwasher and folding clothes. He [...]
A recent story from a Portland high school, found here, demonstrates what we already know -- young Black men (and women) can excel in challenging subject areas if given the opportunity. Portland's De La Salle North Catholic High School, which enrolls students from low-income backgrounds who come to 9th grade an average of 18 months behind academically, has an [...]
You may have already heard the news that MIT has a free online program called "Open Course Wear" which contains course material for roughly 2,100 MIT classes. If you haven't, you can read all about it in the Forbes article, "M.I.T. Game-Changer: Free Online Education For All" found here. What you may not know is that included on MIT's [...]