Shhh, Don’t Tell Them They’re Learning
Want to know the fastest way to clear a room? Tell your child you are going to sit down together and learn something! Children generally feel like they spend enough time learning at school and want their time at home to be less about lessons and more about fun....
9 Post-Holiday Learning Groove Tips
The holidays are over, and while many of us parents enjoy a return to predictable routines and schedules, often the same cannot be said about our children. Most kids are less than thrilled to exchange the days of sleeping in, relaxation, and extra screen time for...
Jingle All The Way to New Year’s Day
The word “holidays” conjures up thoughts of my favorite foods, nostalgic holiday movies and songs, time spent with family, cookie baking, decorating, gift wrapping, and… a heaping helping of heartburn. The dizzying pace of all I try to accomplish in a too-short...
Austin ISD Enrollment, Why the Decline?
Austin ISD is grappling with a decline in student enrollment. According to its 2023-24 School District Demographic Analysis report, the district is projected to enroll 73,495 students for the upcoming 2024-25 school year, a decrease of 212 students over last...
What is the Role of a School Board?
Many parents are aware that their school district has a school board comprised of members known as trustees, but that is often where their knowledge of trustees ends. Simply put, trustees are elected representatives and advocates for the school district....
The Benefits and Drawbacks of School Uniforms
School uniforms have typically been the purview of private schools, but they are being adopted by U.S. public schools in increasing numbers. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 20 percent of all American public schools now...
How to Develop a Life Long Love for Learning
Children are born with an innate curiosity about the world and a natural love for learning. This can be seen in how a baby tracks a parent’s face, studying his environment. It’s obvious in the glee of a toddler chasing bubbles for the first time and the...
A Sweet Approach to Holiday Learning
As a kid, I was thrilled at the thought of winter break. I dreamed of beginning and ending my day in the same pair of pajamas, taking to the streets on my bike to find a friend – this was pre-cellphone, mind you – and catching up on my favorite cartoons. I can...
Parents or Children: Who is Teaching Whom?
I am a mom of three children - boy/girl twin tweens and a 17-year-old-daughter. I struggled with infertility when my husband and I first started trying for children, which left me with even longer to dream about what parenting our firstborn would be like. I pictured...
Meet the Mean Girls, Now What
In the movie “Mean Girls,” the ruling girl clique, known as “The Plastics,” reinforces its social standing by deliberately excluding and deriding other students. The movie is based on the nonfiction book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” by Rosalind Wiseman and...
Top 4 Benefits of Scouting
My youngest daughter is still going strong in her seventh year of Girl Scouts, and I’ve managed to land myself in the role of troop leader for the last six of those years. I’ve seen our troop of 11 girls grow up together, make incredible memories and...
Why Fine Arts Matters in Education
When we think of school subjects, most likely the core academic classes of math, language arts, science and social studies come to mind. Often, the fine arts – music, dance, theater and visual arts - are an afterthought. These special subjects, however, can...