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Capital Region BOCES
Tag: featured
Pick the apples off the ground. Put them in the basket. Pick the apples off the ground. Put them in the basket. This was my first job. All…day…long. As a 13-year-old, a friend and I worked in a Saratoga County, N.Y. orchard picking “drops” in the fall. The farm for which I worked used the […]
Our local community center’s winter activities catalog arrived the other day in the mail. By the look of it, you would think it was the much-coveted holiday toy catalog because of the way my children have earmarked it, tagged pages, and circled activities. They even color-coded and put their initials next to what they circled […]
It was late morning and the students in Anne Killian-Russo’s fifth-grade class were in good spirits. You could feel the energy in the air as the mid-day breaks for lunch and recess approached. But it was not quite time for that yet. Killian-Russo reached for a Tibetan singing bowl, sent out a soothing tone and […]
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” Perhaps the most famous quote from everyone’s favorite neighbor, Fred Rogers, came from a lesson from his mother, detailing empathy in action. Our […]
Well, it happened already. My daughter came home from school, handed back her full lunchbox, and with pleading eyes said: “Please, Mom, no more ham and cheese sandwiches. Please.” We are only just beginning the second month of school and I’ve hit a lunch packing dead end. How is that even possible? After chatting with […]
Podcasts have become part of my daily routine. I wake up, brush my teeth, pour myself a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats and download a podcast for my commute to work. It sure beats listening to radio commercials, and – if I can sift through the hundreds of thousands available to find a good one […]
My first open house experience for my daughter was a little awkward. After walking in through the main entrance, we were ushered past several tables of older students and adult volunteers doing fundraisers and into the cafeteria. There, we had an inspirational briefing from the principal, before heading off to the classrooms. At my daughter’s […]
It’s a new school year–hooray! A new school year often goes hand-in-hand with brand-new backpacks filled with fresh school supplies, new teachers, and learning new things. But it can also mean making new friends. This is especially true for children who are going to school for the first time, are new to a school district, […]
The start of the new school year can be an anxious time for children, who see their daily routines change overnight. But what is the start of a new school year like for students who might have ADHD, be on the autism spectrum, suffer from anxiety or have other concerns that impact learning? It can […]
They’re in your gas stations. They’ve been in your children’s schools. They’re probably in your homes. Fidget spinners: the triangular device designed to freely rotate between your thumb and pointer finger aimed at helping fidgety kids focus. And even though they come in array of colors and sizes – some even bedazzled or featuring your […]