Are you or your sons STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) enthusiasts? Do you want to be? Sounds like the new show "The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius" premiering on the Discovery Channel tomorrow (May 1) is right up your alley. This show will feature an impossible sounding engineering challenge each week which teams of skilled contestants will attempt to [...]
Rachel Christmas Derrick, whose thoughtful piece on Affirmative Action you read on GCP a few weeks ago ("The Myths and Realities of Affirmative Action", April 1, 2013) is back with recommendations for wonderful summer camp experiences that her children (and she) have enjoyed. * * * * * * * * * Looking for an excellent summer camp or [...]
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 [...]
The Summer Camp search season, which began in January, is well underway. If you haven't made any camp decisions yet, don't worry, but know that it is really time to focus on this, as programs are filling up. Lots of issues to consider: Sleep away or Day Camp? Sports, arts, or academically focused, or some combination of all three? [...]
Let me start by stating the obvious: the sexual assault of the inebriated young woman in Steubenville, Ohio by two high school athletes was a heinous act for which punishment is just and proper. This is a tragic case in which everybody lost. A young woman will be haunted by the sexual assault itself, by the knowledge that online [...]
It is the end of January, the time of year when the winter blahs can settle in for parents as well as children. Especially this year, when the monster flu season is upon us, taking out entire families for days, even weeks at a time. Even if your family has avoided the flu (and congrats if you have), you [...]
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 [...]
The last post introduced the education experts at yesterday's panel discussion, "How All Children Succeed", and noted their focus on the critical role parents play in their children's education. Today's focus is on two other important issues raised in that discussion: Managing Stress and the Benefits of Failure. Managing Stress Having been a practicing child psychiatrist for eighteen years, [...]
This morning I attended a fascinating panel discussion of educational issues hosted by Kimberly Morgan, President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. The discussion, "How All Children Succeed", was moderated by Michele Norris, host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, and featured the following great group of panelists: Paul Tough, author of "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the [...]
How can we help our wonderful, maddening, lovable, frustrating, genius, unmotivated, spectacular sons grow into healthy and happy young men? In our ongoing efforts to seek parenting advice and info from people who have made finding answers to these kinds of questions their life's work, GCP connected with Dr. Michael G. Thompson, the renowned clinical psychologist and boy guru [...]