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My seven-year-old loves tape. I have gotten into the habit of buying a roll, or two (OK, sometimes three), whenever I’m at the store. He has created cars out of wooden blocks, a bridge stretching from the back of a living room chair to a nearby desk and a small cardboard house for his Lego […]
When I was in elementary school, the Cold War was all the rage. We had Red Dawn, Top Gun and The Day After. We had Mike and the Mechanics asking if we could hear them running. We had Nina Hagen standing pretty in the dust that was a city. One rainy day our local daily […]
A family member posted an article on Facebook at the height of this past election season that made me stop scrolling for a moment. The headline was written in all capital letters, as if it were screaming at me, and the web address was clearly not a mainstream source. As someone who works in public […]
When I was in school, many years ago, I spent many hours studying and researching in my school library. The library not only had the greatest variety of informational resources, it gave my friends and me a place to gather and work on projects together. We had to rely upon encyclopedias, newspapers and books as […]
My kids love “brain breaks.” They will dance and follow directions with an attention I rarely see while they sing songs about syllables or follow brief workout routines. What’s a brain break? A brain break is a short mental break, typically limited to five minutes, taken during classroom instruction and work best when they incorporate […]
“How was your day?” is a four word question that can elicit apathy from even the most communicative of children. Contrary to what they say, they do not spend all day at school and do “nothing.” So what’s a parent to do? According to David Ksanznak, principal of Hamagrael Elementary School (Bethlehem Central School District) […]
Crumpled balls of wrapping paper; delicious holiday fare; and happy kids with new gadgets, games and gizmos. These are a few of my favorite things. This year, with Christmas and New Year’s Day both on weekends, there may be many parents who are fortunate to have the full week off at the end of December. […]
The weather has turned, snow is the new norm and retail stores are decked out for the holiday season. The biggest indicator for me that the holiday season is here are the television commercials; commercials that showcase the latest and greatest toys that cause my seven- and nine-year-old sons to franticly yell for me to […]
Welcome to the dark side Back in the day, when I was my children’s room parent, the holiday classroom parties were epic. Personalized presents to remember the day by? Check. Homemade goodies with a holiday theme? Check. Games to keep the students engaged? Check. We had it all covered. Ask my children what they remember […]
Not all of us have pantries that would be the envy of a doomsday prepper. And there are probably more of us who are closer to food insecurity than we might think. Students are wrapping up their holiday food drives in public schools across the state. They often get very enthusiastic about filling up those […]