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High School

April is Autism Awareness Month

April 12, 2013 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

Look for spring colors to emerge this month – not only underfoot but also on car bumpers, jacket lapels and Facebook pages – in the form of the multi-hued “autism awareness” ribbon. The ribbon – whose puzzle pattern is meant to reflect the mystery and complexity of autism – will be on full display throughout […]

Occasional ‘sick’ days have negative side effects on your child’s education

March 28, 2013 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

If you think it’s OK for your child to occasionally miss school “just because,” you might want to consider the following statistics: Students who are chronically absent in kindergarten and 1st grade are less likely to read proficiently in 3rd grade As early as 6th grade, missing 18 or more days of school in a […]

More kids prefer broccoli to math; why we should learn to love STEM skills

More kids prefer broccoli to math; why we should learn to love STEM skills

March 28, 2013 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

Who likes to clean their bathroom? Survey says: More people than like to solve math problems! These results from a study by Change the Equation, a nonprofit initiative to further math and science learning, raise concern about the state of STEM-related education in our schools. Massachusetts policy maker JD Chesloff argues that STEM skills should […]

Is your prom preparation careening out of control?

March 28, 2013 | Posted in: High School

There is a vivid video clip in my memory of my oldest girl when she was about 2½. She is wearing a dress she loves: pink and white striped with a watermelon collar that is trimmed with green and dotted with black seeds. The string tied to her wrist tethers a Barney balloon that is […]

Are good grades contagious?

March 6, 2013 | Posted in: High School, Middle Years

Whom your child hangs out with can have an effect on the grades he or she gets in school. At least that’s the finding of a new study recently published in the online journal PLOS One. The research suggests that the grades of friends rise or fall toward the average of their social circle over […]

It’s not OK to say ‘You can’t play’

March 6, 2013 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

U.S. Education Department says public schools must make sports accessible to all “Senioritis” is not a word in Joey Fazzone’s vocabulary. A dedicated student who’s making plans to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology next fall, Fazzone is a gifted artist who’s busy preparing a portfolio of his best paintings. He is also a valued […]

Open children’s eyes to the fun of science

March 6, 2013 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.” ~Edwin Powell Hubble, The Nature of Science, 1954 Several weeks back, my high school junior and my third grader quizzed each other as they studied for tests. The elder was studying photosynthesis for an AP biology test; her younger […]

Holy India ink, Batman! This book has pictures

March 6, 2013 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

So you’ve been nurturing a daydream in which your middle-schooler marches past the XBox and cozies up instead to a 400-page Russian novel. And who could blame you for such visions? Reading is, after all, fundamental. But reality throws cold water in your face when, instead of a weighty, leather-bound book, your child reaches for […]

Hail to the Chief

Hail to the Chief

February 15, 2013 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

Each year, we commemorate our presidents on the third Monday in February – aptly known as Presidents’ Day. Presidents’ Day can sort of get lost in the midst of winter break. Kids tend to view it as just another day off, and they may be thinking more about late-night sleepovers, sleeping in and hanging out […]

Bone chilling news for teenage smokers

February 15, 2013 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

A friend recently pointed out to me – a former smoker – one more reason for teenage girls not to smoke: It might weaken their bones. Scientists at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center found that teenage girls who smoke are more likely to develop osteoporosis later in life than their smoke-free counterparts, according to […]