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Do you live in a child care desert?

Do you live in a child care desert?

February 11, 2019 | Posted in: Early Learners

One of the biggest challenges for busy families is often finding child care. Child care facilities, such as a licensed daycare or pre-school, can often be outside the financial means of working families. For many parents working in the retail, service or manufacturing industries, it may also be hard to find child care outside the […]

Getting Children into the Spirit of Giving

Getting Children into the Spirit of Giving

December 5, 2018 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

With the holidays fast approaching, your child might be perfecting their gift lists, and giving might not be a thought in their head. Perhaps they weren’t exposed to it, or they don’t understand the concept of it, but the holiday season is a perfect time to teach your children the power of giving. To help […]

‘A great time to be a government teacher’: Teaching civics at the midterms

‘A great time to be a government teacher’: Teaching civics at the midterms

November 9, 2018 | Posted in: High School, Middle Years

As the dust settles from the midterm elections, one of the stories that emerged was the massive turnout of young voters. The Atlantic reported that young-adult turnout “surged by 188 percent” in early voting, compared with 2014, with more than 30 percent of voters ages 18-29 casting ballots on Nov. 6. That’s a strong showing […]

Charitable giving that goes beyond the swipe of a phone

Charitable giving that goes beyond the swipe of a phone

December 18, 2017 | Posted in: Elementary, High School, Middle Years

One day last spring, as I picked my daughter up after school, she rushed to the car in breathless distress. Swinging open a rear door in a flurry of backpack straps, folders and loose homework, she pushed a slip of paper into my hands. “We have to help the animals!” I remember looking around, expecting […]

Why a community service mentality opens a world of possibilities for students

Why a community service mentality opens a world of possibilities for students

August 11, 2017 | Posted in: Elementary, High School, Middle Years

This week, my third child and soon-to-be high school senior received his application to the National Honor Society. My first thought? “Cool. It would be great to see him recognized in this way…” immediately followed by, “I hope he has fulfilled the community service requirement!” When this application arrived for my oldest child, I had […]

A history lesson on New York school budgets

A history lesson on New York school budgets

May 12, 2017 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

On summer days when I was my children’s age, I spent a lot of time outside in the yard of our rural New York home. It was not unusual for cars to drive by our house slowly. The driver or the passenger, who looked to be as old as my grandparents did then, would gesture […]

How field trips boost students’ lifelong learning

How field trips boost students’ lifelong learning

February 16, 2017 | Posted in: Elementary, High School, Middle Years

My second-grader recently went on a school field trip to the zoo to learn about bats. His teacher prepped his class leading up to the visit, asking the students to read books and magazine articles about bats. My son peppered me with bat facts. When the day of the field trip arrived, my son was […]

Helping children weather the storm from the news cloud

Helping children weather the storm from the news cloud

January 23, 2017 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

When I was in elementary school, the Cold War was all the rage. We had Red Dawn, Top Gun and The Day After.  We had Mike and the Mechanics asking if we could hear them running. We had Nina Hagen standing pretty in the dust that was a city. One rainy day our local daily […]

10 fun activities to avoid winter break boredom

10 fun activities to avoid winter break boredom

December 20, 2016 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

Crumpled balls of wrapping paper; delicious holiday fare; and happy kids with new gadgets, games and gizmos. These are a few of my favorite things. This year, with Christmas and New Year’s Day both on weekends, there may be many parents who are fortunate to have the full week off at the end of December. […]

Grow healthier eating habits: The benefits of gardening with children

Grow healthier eating habits: The benefits of gardening with children

November 14, 2016 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

Recently, dinnertime has become a lot more interesting in my household. Game changer: my nine-month-old son is eating solid foods. So far, pears and sweet potatoes reign supreme, and anything green –beans, peas and avocado, is met with a refusal of shivers and gags. Children not eating their vegetables is an age-old issue, and it’s […]