Daughter: “Sign this so I can be on my school’s student council.”Me: “Oh, ok. You don’t have to have an election or anything, you’re just on it?”Daughter: “There’s an election, but I’m going to win!” Actually, everyone in the class was running for third grade student council (except for the five or six math club…
My daughter’s school has decided that it will no longer offer designated days for parent-teacher conferences but instead, just have parents and teachers work out when to have a meeting. How do I decide when to do that? Consider your daughter’s past school experiences and the challenges that have been typical for her. If the…
If your spouse is like mine, he or she never takes vacation. In fact, at one point my husband built up more than 100 days of leave. That’s a ton of days where I could have been lying on a beach or hiking or skiing or even sleeping in for a staycation. But around the…
They sit there on the counter…the math assignment, the library book that’s due today, the worksheet she worked so hard on the night before…forgotten, left behind as she ran out the door to catch the bus. What was the distraction that caused her to forget this time? Was it Spirit Day and she spent her…
My first grader brought home a slip of paper with his lexile number on it following a recent standardized test. He said that he should be reading books at that number. Can you explain what “lexile” means? Why shouldn’t he just read whatever he wants to read? Lexile is a number developed by The Lexile…
Because we have family who live far away, we are often piling into the car like so many sardines, accompanied by snacks and pillows, band aids and toys. We like to think of ourselves as experienced road-trippers. One of our tricks is to have a surprise to reveal partway through the trip. Like a spoonful…
Are you ready to get into the holiday spirit? Check out a compilation of all of the holiday specials and movies. RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (CBS, Dec. 9, 8 ET/PT): Shunned for his glowing schnoz, Rudolph finds kindred souls on the Island of Misfit Toys, especially Hermey the Elf, the wannabe dentist. Soon, both their…
In a rather frightening bulletin issued jointly by the FBI and The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. military members were urged to rid their social media profiles and online presence of personal information or anything that might pique the attention of violent extremists. Why this advice and why now? The good folks at the FBI…
I have two toddlers, which means I have two heads, two necks and four little hands to keep covered in winter gear – not to mention the four feet, which seem to require so many socks and boots! I don’t know about other moms out there, but I think that keeping those appendages cloaked in…
Studies have shown that children have an easier time reading words that they already know than words that are foreign to them. In addition, the more words a child knows, the better she is able to comprehend what she’s reading. So, it seems to follow that building a child’s vocabulary is an extremely important part…
