Am passing on to you all a delightful and witty piece written by a young friend which appeared in today's New York Times' "Motherlode" parenting blog. When Doreen Oliver's 3-year-old son Bug wanted to be a princess for Halloween, Doreen was concerned. Not because he wanted to dress up in a costume usually worn by girls; she could work [...]
The last post introduced the education experts at yesterday's panel discussion, "How All Children Succeed", and noted their focus on the critical role parents play in their children's education. Today's focus is on two other important issues raised in that discussion: Managing Stress and the Benefits of Failure. Managing Stress Having been a practicing child psychiatrist for eighteen years, [...]
This morning I attended a fascinating panel discussion of educational issues hosted by Kimberly Morgan, President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. The discussion, "How All Children Succeed", was moderated by Michele Norris, host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, and featured the following great group of panelists: Paul Tough, author of "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the [...]
How can we help our wonderful, maddening, lovable, frustrating, genius, unmotivated, spectacular sons grow into healthy and happy young men? In our ongoing efforts to seek parenting advice and info from people who have made finding answers to these kinds of questions their life's work, GCP connected with Dr. Michael G. Thompson, the renowned clinical psychologist and boy guru [...]
Today's New York Times includes the article "Admitted But Left Out", found here, which chronicles how minority students at various NYC private schools feel isolated and alienated among their wealthy white classmates. Students in various schools describe how they felt uncomfortably out of place when their white classmates talked of weekends in the Hamptons and exotic vacations. They complain [...]
"Brooklyn Castle", a documentary opening in NYC on Friday October 19, chronicles a year in the life of the chess team at Intermediate School (I.S.) 318, a middle school in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The I.S. 318 chess teams have won more chess championships over the past decade than any other school in the country. This statistic is even more impressive [...]
A recent New York Times article, "Before A Test, A Poverty of Words", found here, notes the difference in the number of words young children growing up in poverty hear versus their peers whose parents are professionals. According to a study conducted by psychologists in the 1980's, children of professionals heard, on average, about 1500 more words hourly than [...]
On November 21, DreamWorks will release "Rise of the Guardians", its latest animation feature. Based on “The Guardians of Childhood,” a series of children's books by author and illustrator William Joyce, the Guardians are a no-nonsense Santa Claus, a rebellious Jack Frost, a fearless Tooth Fairy and a tough Easter Bunny, who must band together to protect the children [...]
In "The Perils of Texting While Parenting", a chilling article in Saturday's Wall Street Journal, experts associated a recent rise in infant and toddler injuries with parents and caregivers distracted by mobile devices when they are with young children. The article, found here, cites tale after tale of young children suffering injuries (and even a fatality) while the parent [...]