As the 2018-2019 school year begins, we want our children to perform at their peak performance. Parents can help by providing the environment children need to be top notch students. The best thing parents can do is to provide daily rituals designed for peak school performance. First, establish parameters. Kids work best with daily rituals…
About the Book Title: The Heart of Aleppo Author: Ammar Habib Genre: Young Adult / Coming of Age / Contemporary Page Count: 235 After standing for over 7,000 years, Aleppo’s ruin came overnight. Separated from his family during the night the rebels attacked the city, thirteen-year-old Zaid Kadir is lost in the middle of a…
Many parents set up computer schedules for their kids and trust them to use their time responsibly. It is important, however, to spot-check their history use. One parent told me, “I prepared computer schedules and spot-checked the sites my kids visited, but one day my nine-year-old visited a kid site I thought was okay until…
“Grandpa, why are you wearing that red plastic flower on your shirt?” Mikey pointed to a poppy on his grandfather’s breast pocket. “It’s Memorial Day,” Grandpa said. Mikey flopped on the floor in front of Grandpa’s chair. “I know. No school today.” “Memorial Day is more than that. I wear this flower in honor of…
Rosetta Douglass was nine years old when her famous father enrolled her in a private school, Miss Tracy’s Female Seminary in Rochester, New York for the 1848-49 school year. The child had never attended a public school because the Rochester schools wouldn’t permit African Americans on their campuses. However two Quaker women from Albany had…
Holiday shopping is right around the corner. Are you really looking forward to spending hours fighting for a parking spot or waiting in long checkout lines at Macy’s, Sears, or Best Buy? If you want to avoid the hassles, think about buying your favorite child a book this year. You will want your book choice…
Dear Pop, I was a grad student at California State University Northridge (CSUN) when passenger planes collided into the Twin Towers. Now, a mom of twins, and the sixteenth anniversary of 9/11 drawing near, how do I teach my children about that infamous day? Concerned Mom. Dear Concerned Mom, Unfortunately, many children rely on rumors…
Author Lou Ann Walker’s primary language is American Sign Language (ASL). Born to Deaf parents, it was her job to be the ears and voice for her family. Raised in Indiana during the early 1950s-60s, Walker eloquently writes about a loving family faced by an ignorant public to the problems inherent in deafness. Over twenty-three…
Benchwarmers is a non-profit nascent organization with the mission to promote access to team sports for all kids by providing a nurturing environment where children who are less athletic can thrive and feel they belong. Benchwarmers’ focus is on sportsmanship, education, and deliberate practice. A decade ago retired Teledyne engineer Joe Bock had a dream….
I was at the American Airlines baggage claim waiting for Rico, an exchange student from a suburb of Zurich, Switzerland, to deplane. I checked my phone and noticed this text, “I’m here! Where are you?” Oops! I didn’t know American had two terminals at LAX. When I finally reached the newest one, Rico, age 16,…