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Inspiration for today’s post came in a conversation this afternoon with a dear friend about a documentary film she is producing about Paul Williams, the renowned African American architect. She described interviewing an African American architect who worked with Williams. This architect came from a family of doctors and lawyers, and my friend asked him how he came to be an architect. He replied, “Growing up, I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew I was going to do something. I didn’t have to be a doctor or a lawyer, but I had to be something.” He knew that whatever he did, he was supposed to have a “meaningful, purposeful life”.

He grew up knowing that he had to do something, he had to be something. So simple. But what an important and powerful message for us to deliver to our boys, and to hear ourselves.

Our sons don’t always have to have specific goals and dreams for the future which they must pursue everyday; great if they do, but so many of them don’t. They don’t have to know exactly what they are going to be when they grow up. Their discovery of their passions and their development of their expertise is a journey we can gear them up for, but we can’t manage for them. We just have to make sure they know that they have to do something, and they have to be something. They have to develop the will to do what it takes to get there.

How do we make sure they know they have to do something? We can show them by example; by doing all we can to live meaningful, purposeful lives ourselves for our boys to see. We can take the time to talk to them about why we do what we do professionally; the satisfaction it brings to solve problems, help others, use our expertise. We can also talk about why we do what we do outside of work: why and where we volunteer, why we read books and newspapers, how we continue to learn, why we go to church, what we believe. Sometimes we are so caught up in doing what we do we don’t take the opportunity to talk to our boys about it. Rather than consistently give them a hard time about what they are not doing, we can show them how satisfying it is to do something.

The vagueness of that “something” is also important for us to remember. Our sons don’t have to be what we want them to be. For some of us, achieving our professional goal is one of the greatest accomplishments of our lives. For others, our failure to achieve it haunts us regularly. In either case, small wonder that our expectations for our sons are usually higher than those we had for ourselves. If they show an interest in science, we tell them they can be rocket scientists. If they have writing talent, their great American novel is but a few drafts away. But the weight of such lofty expectations can crush even the most curious mind. We have to remember to be supportive of the something they are interested in doing even if it is not the something we imagine, hope, dream, or just plain know that they should do.

Perhaps my friend’s story struck such a chord with me because I know how hard it is to remember all of this for my children and for myself. I’ve known families where children with a diversity of talents and achievements were celebrated, and I’ve known families who have unwittingly squashed their sons with their expectations, then wondered why they weren’t measuring up. In fact, I’ve both celebrated and squashed my own children from time to time. It’s hard to find the perfect balance between helping our sons stay as motivated as we know they have to be and giving them room to grow towards their meaningful, purposeful lives. But as we tell our sons, just because something is hard doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

If our sons grow up knowing that they have to do something, and be something, and live a meaningful, purposeful life, we parents should proudly pat ourselves (and them) on the back. While we all know it is ultimately not that simple, these simple words can take us all a long way.

Parents can use all the help we can get to encourage our sons (and daughters) to see math as an interesting and useful discipline, especially as we encourage them to pursue studies in the STEM fields. As a recent article in Education Week reveals, museums around the country are providing this help by developing programs and exhibits to encourage children to think about math as a fun and useful tool.

In New York City, a former hedge fund analyst has recently opened the National Museum of Mathematics located at 11 East 26th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues. At “MoMath”, children dance on polygons in a light activated math square, ride an oversize tricycle with square wheels on a bumpy track, and frolic in front of screens that illustrate fractals during their fun-filled hands on visit to this museum. As the Education Week article found here explains, MoMath’s goal is for its visitors to see that math is about thinking and discovery, not just rote memorization, and that it is everywhere—from highway design to musical composition to roller coaster construction.

The MoMath website, found here, is filled with opportunities for children to become more engaged in mathematics. Among them is a summer math camp program, Transformations, which offers one week Math camps for 4th through 8th graders at the museum, with need based scholarships available to ensure that all children have a chance to participate. Their summer program schedule also boasts lots of free events for families to enjoy, including MoMath story time, a Scrabble strategy session with a Scrabble national champ, and “Folding in Geometry”, featuring origami instruction for the entire family. “Changing perceptions is our goal,” explains Cindy Lawrence, the co-executive director of MoMath. “From the minute people walk in the door, we try to highlight the creative side of math: that it’s colorful, it’s beautiful, it’s exploratory, fun and engaging. None of these are words people typically associate with math.”

Across the country science museums are developing fun and accessible math exhibitions in an effort to inspire students to think differently about math. The Exploratorium in San Francisco developed the Geometry Playground and Garden, which is designed to change the way people think about geometry by “engaging their hands, brain, and body in playful investigations of this most visible branch of math”. Visitors are encouraged to explore the Geometry Garden to experience “the beauty that emerges from the basic rules of geometry”. The Geometry Playground is a traveling exhibition which will visit other cities including Oklahoma City, OK and Lehi, Utah.

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry has recently developed the Design Zone, with 25 exhibits to engage 10- to 14-year-olds in algebraic thinking. Karyn Bertschi, a senior exhibit developer at the Portland museum, explains the focus on algebra: “People think about algebra as a gatekeeper subject. Without success in it, many students are blocked from other opportunities.” The 6,000-square-foot exhibit has been touring the country and is booked at museums through 2015. Check the Design zone tour schedule, found here, to see if it is coming to a museum near you.

The Science Museum in Minnesota, the Museum of Science in Boston, the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina and Explora in Albuquerque, New Mexico have collaborated with two research centers (with National Science Foundation support) to develop Math Moves!, long-term math museum environments that children can interact with over multiple visits and over several years. The Math Moves website, found here, provides details of the exhibitions and includes teacher’s guides to the exhibition, and additional math enrichment activities for families and educators.

Parents, check these websites and your local museums to find math exhibits near you, and make plans to take your children on a summer learning adventure. If you live in or around NYC, a visit to MoMath is a must. (I plan to grab my youngest and head there; will report back.) Let’s do our part to help our sons and daughters find out how cool math can be!

Ebony Magazine has been running a series of special reports on “Saving Our Sons” in recent issues. Part three of this series in the July 2013 issue focuses on how parents can prime their sons for success in the classroom. Pick up this issue and read this report, as it is chock full of interesting and informative advice about the many ways parents can help their sons. Their list of 10 Things Parents Can Do For Their Sons, restated below, includes many issues upon which GCP has been focused since our inception. Most of them are relatively simple things which can yield big positive results. We’ve added in a few extra comments and resources in italics which can make the list easier to implement.

10 Things Parents Can Do For Their Sons

1. Don’t put a television in his room. Researchers have found that this can impede his intellectual and academic development.

2. Closely monitor his usage of the computer, cell phone and the music he is listening to. Make sure all media content is age appropriate. The list of media to monitor should also include films and video games. Go to http://www.commonsense.org for help with understanding what is age appropriate. Remember that age appropriate in your house does not mean the same thing in his friends’ homes. Chat with him regularly about what he does with his friends, and aim for a non judgemental tone to encourage him to share information. When he is old enough to understand, talk with him about why you don’t approve of some games, apps, sites or music his friends may be allowed to view. While you can’t guarantee that he won’t be exposed to inappropriate content, you can help him develop the tools to deal with it.

3. Talk to him as much as possible, beginning in the womb. Studies show that boys generally talk less and later than girls, and the more words children hear by their third birthday, the greater their chances for academic success. So as soon as you know you are having a boy, get to talking, and don’t stop until he heads off to college! Seriously, with smartphones and other technological gadgets distracting us on an alarmingly regular basis, we have to remind ourselves to talk to our children as much as possible, especially our boys. Put down that phone and pay attention, Mom and Dad!

4. Involve him in music and arts programs in addition to sports.

5. Feed him a healthy breakfast every morning.

6. Make sure he gets a good night’s sleep every night. Remove the gadgetry from the bedroom at bedtime. Putting him to bed with computers and phones within reach will give him cause to stay up later. Resist giving into his argument that reading on the computer helps him go to sleep. Researchers have determined that reading a lighted screen at night in bed makes it more difficult for the brain to shut down and get good rest.

7. As much as you can, sign him up for outside academic programs and tutoring, such as Kumon and Khan Academy online. Khan Academy, found at http://www.khanacademy.org, has thousands of free videos which provide brief but helpful instruction on a wide variety of subjects. Check out our GCP archives for more info on this great resource, and other outside help.

8. Particularly as he moves into adolescence, help him find an outside activity he loves that will help him to learn discipline and how to self regulate his behavior. Team sports works well in this area, but non sports activities work well too (e.g., chess, drama, etc.). Finding one’s passions is a key objective in life, and the sooner he is encouraged to find things he likes outside of school which require his focused attention, the better prepared he will be to pursue his passions later in life.

9. Do as much as you can to instill a love a reading. Read aloud to him and as he gets older read the same books so that you can discuss them with him. It is critical to continue encouraging your son’s reading and discussing what you both are reading even if he does not develop a love of reading (despite your best efforts). Don’t give up; let him know that even if he is not inclined to pick up a book on his own, it is critical that he keep up with his reading in school. As we’ve recommended in previous GCP posts, read along with your son’s English syllabi through high school (pick up the Cliff notes versions if necessary). Asking for and listening to his perspective of his reading not only gives you a sense of how well his reading comprehension is developing, it is also fun conversation, especially when he hits upon an interesting interpretation that hadn’t occurred to you.

10. Keep him engaged and stimulated during the summer, signing him up for camps and fun summer programs. If you can’t afford them, design a fun summer curriculum for him yourself. Check out the many GCP posts on Summer Learning in our archives for help with this.

Good stuff, Ebony. GCP readers, be sure to see their July 2013 issue for more information about how to help our boys succeed in school, and check out their entire series on “Saving Our Sons”.

If school is not out already for your sons, they (and you) are counting down the days until summer vacation begins. As you are locking in their schedules, don’t forget to make time for summer learning. As we’ve noted in previous posts, research indicates that children lose learning skills over the summer, and summer learning programs can not only stem that loss but can also have a significant positive effect on reading and math skills.

Looking for ways to incorporate learning into your son’s summer? Here are some suggestions:

Common Sense Media’s Digital Fun for Creative Kids: 100+ Summer Learning Ideas– Common Sense Media has created a guide to more than 100 apps, games, and websites to pique the interest of children from 2 to 17. You can find the guide here. Storytelling, Building, and Coding are just some of the categories you and your sons can explore here. While some of the digital media reviewed in this guide is free, much of it is not, and if it is not the site tells you where you can buy it. I loved reading about the coding games and apps. This is a skill we’d be wise to encourage our boys to acquire, and playing games seems like a fun way to do so.

KIDS: Summer Planning 2013–The State of Connecticut’s website for children includes a “Summer Planning Guide 2013″, found here, which is worth perusing. While many of the links on this site are most relevant for Connecticut residents, there are several links from which all parents can benefit. Clicking on the “Summer Fun” link will lead you to articles like “I’m Bored – Summer Tips for Parents” and “Summer Tips for Parents of Teens”. Click on “Summer Safety” and you will be led to “Summer Safety Tips for Parents”. The “Summer Reading” link offers book lists as well as “Summer Reading Tips for Parents”. Lots of good stuff here, worth taking the time to find it.

Barnes and Nobles Summer Reading: Barnes and Nobles offers a summer reading program for children which gives them the opportunity to earn a free book over the summer. All they have to do is read eight books, record them in the reading journal provided on their site, bring in the completed journal to their local Barnes and Nobles, and they can choose a free book from the Barnes and Noble Reading Journal list of books. Check out the details here or visit your local Barnes and Nobles for more info.

Summer Reading at New York Libraries: This site, found here, is chock full of reading activities, games, and crafts suggestions for toddlers through teens, courtesy of the New York State Library.

Summer Reading 2013: The New York Public Library system has compiled a lengthy list (in English and Spanish) of great books to read for everyone from babies to adults. Click on the list here.

We’ll keep looking for resources and will pass any we find along. Let us know if you find any good ones. Happy Beginning of Summer Vacation to us all!!!

It has been a long Mother’s Day (spending the morning having “Mommy and me” time with my mom, the afternoon with my family, and a quick trip out of town in the evening), but I would be remiss if I didn’t post on Mother’s Day.
So Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms, which includes moms, grand moms, great grandmoms, godmoms, and village moms (no children of your own but key members of the village it takes to raise our kids) out there. Hope you had some time during the day when a loved one said or did something to say “Thanks” for all that you do. And you do a lot.

Can’t resist including a few poems and quotes on motherhood to celebrate the day.

First, a favorite, “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. My mom used to quote the first line to me regularly in response to my complaining that some task or assignment was too hard. Sometimes she’d say it sweetly, sometimes wryly, sometimes in a joking manner, but it never failed to remind me that hard didn’t mean impossible.

Mother to Son
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor –
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now –
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Here’s a well-known poem which extolls the power of motherhood:

They say that man is mighty,
He governs land and sea,
He wields a mighty spectre,
O’er lesser powers that be,
But a mightier power and stronger,
Man from his throne has hurled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle,
Is the hand that rocks the world.

William Ross Williams

A couple of thoughtful quotes on parenting:

“A good mother loves fiercely but ultimately brings up her children to thrive without her. They must be the most important thing in her life, but if she is the most important thing in theirs, she has failed.”
― Erin Kelly, The Burning Air

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one. -Jill Churchill

And finally, “The Parent”, by Ogden Nash, which can bring a smile to our faces when we are too through with our children:

The Parent
Children aren’t happy with nothing to ignore,
 And that’s what parents were created for.

Hope all you Moms had a great day!

It is National Teacher Day! Let’s take a few moments to think about special teachers who have influenced our lives and the lives of our children.

My favorite teacher from my elementary school was Mrs. Portia Paterson of Public School 116 in Queens, New York. Mrs. Paterson was my third grade teacher, and even though third grade was a ridiculously long time ago for me, I can still easily remember her warm, sweet nature, her expectations of best efforts and success from her students, and how much I looked forward to every day in her class. She was (and still is) married to attorney Basil Paterson, a New York City and State political leader. Basil Paterson was a colleague and friend of my late father, and it was especially thrilling to see Mrs. Paterson every once in a while away from school. Mrs. Paterson was my first African-African teacher, and she and her husband were great role models for our third grade class. I still run into her every so often now and it is still thrilling to see her and give her a hug. Thanks Mrs. Paterson!

Ms. Eliza Kuberska of Hunter College High School immediately comes to mind when I think about my children’s special teachers. She was my daughter’s seventh grade honors math teacher. Ms. Kuberska LOVES math, and her enthusiasm for the subject and her students was unending and irresistible. She is Polish, and while her command of English was flawless, her quick wit was delivered with an adorable accent. I went to see her to talk about a segment of the class my daughter was struggling with, and to talk generally about how we could help my daughter feel less anxious about taking tests (and do better on them). After I poured out my concerns about quelling my daughter’s anxiety, Ms. Kuberska responded with a mischievous grin: “I know what I must do. I must make more scary tests! Lots of scary tests. This will be good for her.” She smiled at my horrified expression (this certainly was not the answer I was looking for) and explained that if she gave more tests, the import of each would be less, and the class would be less focused on the grades and more on mastering the material. By learning to tackle and conquer “scary tests”‘ (which they would go over in great detail during and after class), she explained, it would give my daughter the confidence to approach difficult looking new material.

I walked away from that conversation convinced I had succeeded in dashing any hope my daughter had in improving in math. More scary tests–yikes. But Ms. Kuberska was right. She cheerily gave the class more tests and quizzes, assuring them that the goal was to learn, and that they were being given more chances to make sure they understood the material. With her help and enthusiastic support, my daughter succeeded in her math class. Thanks in part to those scary tests, she went on to excel in honors math throughout high school. It was a pleasure to watch Ms. Kuberska in action. Thanks Ms. Kuberska!

GCP readers, in honor of National Teacher Day, tell us about your favorite teachers. The favorites you had and the ones you loved for your children. We want to hear your stories! And if you are in your son’s (or daughter’s) school today, make a special effort to greet and thank a teacher whom you admire and appreciate. As we all know, their work is vitally important and invaluable.

Are you or your sons STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) enthusiasts? Do you want to be? Sounds like the new show “The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius” premiering on the Discovery Channel tomorrow (May 1) is right up your alley. This show will feature an impossible sounding engineering challenge each week which teams of skilled contestants will attempt to solve. Each week the expert panel of judges will determine the winning team and eliminate a team member from the losing team. The ultimate winner will receive $50,000 and a year long contract to work at an award winning design firm.

The show is hosted by Kal Penn, most well known as an actor (the “Harold and Kumar” films and a regular on the tv series “House”) but whose resume also includes a recent two year stint as the Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and an adjunct professorship at the University of Pennsylvania. The regular and guest judges include experts in renewable energy and robotics as well as astronauts and inventors. The show follows the contestants (which include one young man with an awesome Afro) as they work on the various challenges and captures the tension, excitement and angst of their creative process.

The show’s website, found here, has a lot of interesting information about the show and its participants. It also includes some Brain Games which you and your children can try. Check it out, and make a note to check out the show’s debut with your children. It comes on fairly late (10pm Eastern Standard Time), so you might want to record it and watch it with them at a more convenient time. Let us know what you think!

Rachel Christmas Derrick, whose thoughtful piece on Affirmative Action you read on GCP a few weeks ago (“The Myths and Realities of Affirmative Action”, April 1, 2013) is back with recommendations for wonderful summer camp experiences that her children (and she) have enjoyed.

* * * * * * * * *

Looking for an excellent summer camp or travel program? Consider the following, all of which my family has loved:

Independent Lake Camp
https://independentlake.com/

My daughter adored this sleepaway camp for five years, starting when she was ten. You can choose the number of weeks your child stays, from two to nine weeks (for kids aged 6 to 17). A sprawling camp along a beautiful lake in Orson, PA (Pocono Mountains), ILC offers the usual swimming (lake or pool), sports, horseback riding, fine arts, drama, music, hiking, camping, etc. But the highlights of this camp are twofold:
1) the circus program (my daughter is now an expert flying trapeze artist–without lines!) in which kids learn everything from riding unicycles and juggling to clowning and tightrope walking
2) the multicultural, multi-geographical staff and campers: The Magic teacher might be a black man from England. A counselor might be a Chinese woman from Australia. Your child might be able to practice French or Spanish with bunkmates from Paris or Caracas–or compare notes on city life with fellow campers from Philly and LA.

Institute for Spanish Language Studies
http://www.isls.com/

When my daughter was 14, she lived with a family in Costa Rica, studied Spanish, and volunteered at an orphanage and a senior center, as part of the community service camp. The nice thing about the teen program in Costa Rica is that kids can select one-week increments, so, for instance, they could spend a week in the community service camp, a week in the surf camp, and in week at the travel camp. Or they could spend three or four weeks in one camp. The students in the different camps all get together on weekends for white water rafting, hiking, etc. Cooking and dance classes are among evening activities.

The Experiment in International Living
http://www.experimentinternational.org/

One of the most memorable experiences of my life was living with a family in a small red-dirt-road town in Mexico, studying Spanish, and traveling around the country–when I was 15 (a couple of years ago). This summer, my 15-year-old daughter is doing the Peru program: She’ll be living with a family in an Afro-Peruvian, Indo-Peruvian area, performing community service, and studying Spanish. The Experiment has a variety of other high school student programs in the Americas as well as in Africa, Asia, and Europe, from language study (French, Italian, Japanese) and eco-adventure to culinary exploration and arts immersion.

And if you live in or close to New York City:

Day Camp in the Park
http://www.daycampinthepark.com/

In peaceful Harriman State Park, this lakeside camp has snagged my son with all kinds of sports, water activities, art, drama, theater, and nature (deer hang out under the main building, which is on stilts). The rustic waterfront setting and the cabins make it feel like a sleepaway camp–but every day the kids get DOOR-TO-DOOR transportation between home and the camp, about 45 minutes from Manhattan!

Please let me know if you’re planning to apply to any of these programs or camps!

Rachel Christmas Derrick
rcderrick.nyc@gmail.com

As we contemplate the myriad of summer camp options available for our children it is very helpful to read these glowing recommendations. If you haven’t signed up your son or daughter for a summer program yet, you should consider these. Thanks so much Rachel!

New York Knicks shooting guard J.R.Smith recently received the NBA’s 2013 Sixth Man award, which is given annually to the league’s most valuable player coming off the bench as a substitute. A recent New York Times article about the award found here describes Smith’s transition on the Knicks team from a talented but volatile lone wolf player to an incredibly valuable teammate. Smith made this transition under the guidance of Knicks coach Mike Woodson, who saw the potential in this young man despite his reputation for being hard to handle. Smith initially disagreed with Woodson’s decision not to include him in the starting five lineup, but took Woodson’s coaching advice to heart and worked hard to change his ways. “I’ve been known as such a selfish player for so long,” Smith acknowledged after receiving his award. “I just wanted to show everybody that I can be a team guy and it’s all about team.” Woodson was beaming like a proud father when Smith rose to accept his award.

This is a good story for many reasons, not the least of which is that I am a big Knicks fan. (Go Knicks!) But what I really like about this story is the lessons it offers us and our children. A lesson about having the determination to make a difficult situation better, and most significantly, a lesson about the power of a good mentor.

J.R. Smith is a talented player who developed a reputation early in his career for being a loose cannon on and off the court. When Smith joined the Knicks last year, Coach Woodson knew that Smith needed a different perspective. Woodson told the NY Times that he began by helping Smith look the part of a team player: “I want his shorts pulled up. I want him to look presentable, be a professional.” Woodson also knew that he didn’t want Smith to start. He strategized that Smith would be more helpful to the team and to himself if he came off the bench, and told Smith this on the first day of the Knicks pre season training camp.

Smith was not happy with this news. As he told USA Today Sports, “Once I heard I wasn’t starting it threw a monkey wrench into my goals.” He didn’t like Woodson’s explanation that “it’s not a matter of who starts but who finishes the game,” and that he wanted Smith to come off the bench to execute winning plays for the Knicks. But Smith figured out how to swallow his disappointment and anger, put things in perspective, and over time accepted his role. And he has become a better player for it, as evidenced by the Knick’s strong performance in the latter half of this season, and Smith’s being voted as the best sixth man in the league.

Smith had tremendous professional and personal growth this season: he faced a difficult situation, learned to accept it, focused on a goal bigger than his individual desire, and success followed. But key to this was having Woodson as a mentor. Some might say that this is just part of a coach’s job, but Woodson took a focused interest in helping Smith change his ways. He assessed Smith’s strengths and weaknesses, engineered a plan to use Smith’s talents to maximize team effort, and guided Smith along the path to becoming a more mature and better player.

The power of mentoring was also greatly in evidence at the Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC’s fundraising benefit which I attended a few nights ago. Their mission is to provide children facing adversity in New York City with professionally supported 1-to-1 mentoring relationships with adults. This organization, which has been facilitating such mentoring relationships for over 108 years, proudly declares as their motto that their mentoring work has “The Power to Change Lives”. We saw this in action that night as three pairs of “Bigs” (the mentors) and their “Littles” (the children) introduced themselves, talked about their mentoring relationship, and introduced the honorees for the evening.

Watching those adorable, well spoken “littles” (one of whom proudly proclaimed that his favorite Knick was J.R. Smith, by the way) confidently tell the packed room how much they admired and appreciated their “Bigs”, and hearing the “Bigs” say how rewarding it was to spend time with and learn from their “littles” was truly inspirational. No doubt that these are life changing relationships.

So as you are watching the Knicks sweep the playoffs(!), and J.R. Smith makes an impressive move on the court, chat with your sons (and daughters) about how he got there, and the lessons he learned along the way. Remind them that everyone can benefit from the power of mentoring.

As we continue to hear news from Boston following the multiple explosions that have rocked that city, we should be mindful that our children are hearing this news as well. GCP covered the topic of how to talk with your children about tragedy after the Newtown massacre (“How Do We Talk to Our Children About Newtown?” December 17, 2012); how incredibly sad it is that we must return to this topic just a few months later. Boston Children’s Hospital has just posted “Talking to Children After Tragedy”, found here, to help us help our children cope with the frightening events of this afternoon. As their piece notes, the advice for today is not vastly different than the advice given after Newtown. But it is worth reading to prepare ourselves to be as helpful and supportive as possible to the young ones who may need it.

Our thoughts and best wishes are with everyone affected by this terrible circumstance.