The Secret Ingredient to Thanksgiving Dinner … Math!
Ah, Thanksgiving. The word summons visions of perfectly roasted turkey, fluffy mashed potatoes with melted butter, pumpkin pie topped with pillows of whipped cream, and … math. Math?!? Yes, that’s right! Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday to help your child...
Extend the Halloween Experience With STEAM Activities
October brings crunchy leaves, pumpkin-flavored everything, and most importantly to kids ... HALLOWEEN! Check out these fun STEAM activities to get the whole family in the Halloween spirit. Rotting Pumpkin What happens to a pumpkin as it rots? This experiment...
Grandparents as Teachers
With school districts beginning the school year in remote learning mode, families are figuring out how to make the demanding task of overseeing children’s learning at home actually work. The extra burden can weigh even heavier on single and working parents. The...
Impactful Books
Many children have some level of awareness of race relations in America right now. Maybe they’ve heard things on the radio, glanced at the news at home, or have even had frank discussions with friends and family. As a parent, it can be hard to find the “right” way to...
Making Your Child YouTube Friendly
As any adult who has ever gone on YouTube knows, it can be the Wild West of content. When you’re not able to be fully present with your children as they watch, it can be ill-advised to turn them loose on YouTube. However, there is some really good educational...
Explore Summer Library Services
In the past, while the content of library materials might have been exciting, on the whole, libraries’ reputations were that of serious, settled institutions. Today’s libraries, however, are nothing like the archaic models of the past. Most are modern,...
Learning Together at Home
For many Austin families, summer came before we expected it. Not the summer of pool parties, sprinkler playdates, and sparklers with neighbors after dark, but the summer of lots and lots of unexpected family togetherness. When you add in anxiety about the state of the...
How Nature Impacts Childhood Development
The statistics on how much time American children spend outside each day is startling. The National Recreation and Park Association states that the average child spends only four to seven minutes engaged in unstructured play outdoors, while spending an average of...
How to Help a Reluctant Reader
Getting some kids to read is like pulling teeth. Actually, for most reluctant readers, pulling teeth would seem like a walk in the park— that’s how resistant they are to reading! While most of us would agree that reading is good for children, we might not know...
Why Educational Summer Camps Matter
It’s February and love is in the air. I would say that a chill is also in the air, but we do live in Austin after all, so no guarantees! Good weather or bad, though, chances are that thoughts of summer and summer camps are not top of mind. You might want to try a...
Encouraging Kids to Try Something New
Childhood presents a wonderful opportunity to explore new activities and to try new things. Failure often doesn’t carry the same weight as it does in adulthood, and the playing field can be more level. By nature, many of those involved are also trying activities for...
Does My Child Have a Learning Disability?
A learning disability is a neurological condition that interferes with a child’s ability to store, process, or produce information. Its effects can be seen in a wide variety of areas, including reading, writing, speaking, spelling, math computation, reasoning,...