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Capital Region BOCES
Archive for 2018
When I was a kid, I don’t remember my mom ever packing my school lunch for me. I’m sure she did from time to time, but for the most part, she made sure that we had things in the kitchen that I could easily grab and throw into my lunch box. I wasn’t the most […]
Growing up, my family moved a lot. Besides being concerned about whether or not I would have to share a new bedroom with my older sister, I was most worried about being the new kid at school. It was one of my biggest fears as a child — besides the invisible gorilla that I insisted […]
One of the things I have learned both professionally and as a parent is that there often is no better time to communicate than when you have a captive audience. That’s where my truck comes in. With the kids in the backseat, there is no Netflix, no YouTube and no Minecraft – just seat belts […]
A few years ago during a grocery shopping trip, one of my sons pulled me aside to tell me he had just seen Officer Andrew. His tone was hushed with a hint of awe, one that was typically reserved for the 1,000-piece Lego sets in Target. My son was eight at the time and I […]
Vacations can be hard work. It seems like you spend days making lists; packing the car; rounding up kids; battening down your home; and inevitably forgetting something. Last year, we went to Cape Cod with another couple and their grandchildren. We had a lot of fun. But it wasn’t always relaxing. Kids get cranky whether […]
“No Jane….don’t do cartwheels on the field during the game!” “Timmy…don’t climb the soccer goal, it’s not a cargo net!” “Great pass Charlie!” “We are going the other direction Sam!” This was pretty much what my first experience coaching a youth soccer game was like. My children have been playing soccer as long as they […]
Have you heard about “summer slide”? Psst, it’s not nearly as fun as it sounds because it has nothing to do with water parks or playgrounds. And it’s not something any parent wants their children to ride. The first time I heard the term “summer slide” was in an end-of-year conference with my son’s second-grade […]
For some of the nation’s students, when school is in session, it not only means getting an education, but a nutritious meal. In 1946, President Truman signed the National School Lunch Act, which funded states to provide school lunches to children in need, and today, over 30 million children still benefit, as a part of the […]
As a teenager, one of the best pieces of advice I ever got from my dad was when he told me to take a hike. Although I probably deserved to “get lost,” my dad was really telling me to go for a walk in the woods to calm down. I can’t remember what the crisis […]
Homework is almost always a struggle at my house, especially when it’s math. I try to help my fifth-grade son but am thrown back into a time warp to my own elementary and middle school mathematics challenges. With both of us floundering, homework time is less than pleasant. I recently learned that some sixth-grade teachers […]