Archive for 2013
When our children are preschoolers, we tend to have easier access to their teachers. We see them at drop-off or pickup, and there may be field trips or other activities at which parents are welcome. We can get a sense of who their teachers are and make a connection. As our children move through elementary […]
My instinct as a mom is to shield my children from disappointment. I’d like to be able to guarantee them lives free from worry and stress. That, of course, is unrealistic. Disappointment is inevitable: Things do not go the way we would like all the time. So, I’ve decided on this approach: I want my […]
If you work in the medical field, or legal, or auto mechanics, or retail, or wherever, you likely have your own unique vocabulary, a lexicon that means something to you but flies right over an outsider’s head. It’s the same with education. Everyone on the inside eventually slips – sometimes unconsciously – into educational jargon, […]
First impressions count – a concept that has been particularly relevant as we’ve worked our way around the Northeast looking at colleges with our high school senior. Creating a list of college possibilities started with a visit to CollegeBoard.com, where my daughter whittled down options based on her interests, grades and test scores (SAT, ACT), […]
New York’s new teacher evaluation system has gotten a great deal of press and caused much anxiety for public school educators in the state, and emotions are likely to ratchet up another notch as parents are able to view their child’s teacher’s scores sometime this fall. The Annual Professional Performance Review – or APPR – […]
My 11-year-old nephew loves salmon, relishes broccoli, devours salad and would gladly dig into strip steak for dinner. His favorite meal is pasta with clams. My soon-to-be-9-year-old son, on the other hand, has a very limited repertoire. To say he is picky is an understatement. When my brother and his family visited this summer, I […]
When my daughters first acquired their cell phones several years ago, their thumbs got so much “exercise,” I envisioned them winning thumb-wrestling contests. Thankfully, their activity levels even then surpassed the physical demands of texting. But as technology has evolved – and their interest in fitness has increased – they have found ways to use […]