Several months ago, GCP posted "Summer Planning", which listed ways that you could help your son have a fun and productive summer. Now here are some suggestions of things you can do right now to help your son have a productive fall. Summer Reading. How's that summer reading going? Many schools assign books for each grade to read over [...]
In Part II of GCP’s interview with Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor of Teaching and Learning at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, GCP asked Dr. Noguera for suggestions to help parents identify the best educational settings for their sons from pre-school to college. Pre-school Dr. Noguera noted that parents often look for the most [...]
With the post college job market looking pretty weak these days, college students need all the help they can get to make themselves as marketable as possible. GCP talked to two senior executives who regularly hire college graduates and asked them what resume items resonate with employers. Parents would be well advised to pass on this information to sons [...]
BlackStudents.com offers an extensive list of scholarships of interest to minority high school and/or college students. Some are specifically designed for minority applicants, others are open to the general public. A list well worth checking out! See the list here.
Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D. is a psychologist and school consultant who has made the study of boys and their development the focus of his career. He is the author or coauthor of many books on this subject, including, "It's a Boy!: Understanding Your Son's Development from Birth to Eighteen" (with Teresa Barker, Ballantine, 2008), the New York Times bestseller, [...]
Eighty-two percent of children between the ages of 14 and 17 use social networks, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. A generation ago, parents could monitor their children’s’ social activity much more easily. Today, with the proliferation of social networks such as Facebook, Bebo, Myspace and Formspring and the ubiquity of computers and smartphones, your kids [...]
Here’s an idea for family fun this Spring Break season or on any rainy weekend: board games. Sounds corny, perhaps, but you can have a great time playing board games with your children. It is a golden opportunity to spend time together without any screens, and a good way to build skills, confidence and good sportsmanship (which you must [...]
At GCP we are always on the lookout for resources that can help parents boost our sons' (and daughters') achievement. Below are some sites that may be helpful: Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org) This site, created by Sal Kahn, has over 2100 videos which feature mini lessons and self-paced exercises covering math (from basic arithmetic to advanced calculus), science (biology, [...]
When should you hire a tutor and what type of tutor is best for your child? GCP sat down with several established tutors who work with students in Maplewood, New Jersey and New York City to get some expert advice on what to look for, what to expect and how best to work with tutors. A threshold question is [...]
Are Black and Hispanic college educated parents doing all that they should to help their children learn? Ask Dr. Ronald Ferguson, Harvard professor and director of Harvard’s Achievement Gap Initiative, and he will point to Table A8 in his book Towards Excellence With Equity: An Emerging Vision for Closing the Achievement Gap (Harvard Education Press, 2007), which justifies the [...]