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Capital Region BOCES
Middle Years
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 […]
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 […]
Mastery-based education. Competency-based learning. Personalized learning. Project-based learning. Differentiated instruction. These are some of the terms used to describe different education practices. Maybe you’ve read about them. Maybe you’ve heard them used in reference to your child’s school. The commonality amongst them is a shift away from the traditional classroom model of students seated at […]
Whether it’s kids twirling fidget spinners or eating Tide pods, there is never a dull moment in the world of parenting. Trends seem to spring from nowhere. Of course some of these trends, like popping a Tide pod in your mouth, aren’t as innocent as others. We’ve come a long way from when Motley Crue […]
Sometimes, for fun, I ask my kids what they want to be when they grow up. Kids, as we know, say the darndest things. Some of their answers include: Power Ranger, fast food worker, motorcycle mechanic, famous soccer player, singer, lawyer (okay, I made them say that last one.) Although my children are 7 and […]
When my mother was a little girl, she lived a poor, challenging life in Puerto Rico. But when she turned 7, my grandmother – who I call Ita – packed up their few belongings, and moved my mother and her sister to New York. They had no money and they didn’t speak English. Children of […]
It’s hard to forget Keaton Jones – the middle-schooler who tearfully recounted his experience with bullies in a video that went viral on social media. That’s probably because nearly everyone can relate in some way, whether it be a time you were bullied personally, or a time when you wiped away your own child’s tears […]