Academics

Parenting Guru: Want to raise a future innovator?

Julie Weingarden Dubin — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 08:00:00 -0700

If you thought getting your kids “college-ready” was the key to a bright future, think again. Though business leaders, educators and policy makers stress loading up on math and science classes and getting good grades, it’s no longer enough, says Tony Wagner, Ed.D., the first Innovation Education fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard, and author of Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World. Wagner says kids today need to be “innovation-ready” and strive to create their own jobs for the future.

Preventing school dropouts: How you can make a difference

Sherri Kuhn — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 11:00:00 -0700

The statistics on school dropouts in America is staggering — 19 percent of young adults have not graduated from high school or obtained an equivalency certificate. Students who drop out of school give up education and skills that would not only be financially beneficial over their lifetime, but benefit the community as well. How can we encourage them to stay in school?

Parenting Guru: Raising bilingual kids

Julie Weingarden Dubin — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:00:00 -0700

Following the success of their parenting blog, SpanglishBaby, co-authors Ana Flores and Roxana Soto molded their ideas into a new book that gives guidance on raising bilingual kids. Their memoir, Bilingual is Better: Two Latina Moms On How The Bilingual Parenting Revolution Is Changing The Face of America, explores the politics of bilingualism and the authors’ opinions of being Latina moms in the U.S. Ana Flores talks to SheKnows about why we should consider raising bilingual babies.

10 Female scientist role models for your daughter

Jen Klein — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:00:00 -0700

Whether your daughter’s favorite subject is physics or she struggles a bit with algebra, sometimes you just want to give her a little inspiration. Girls who grow up to be prominent scientists aren’t anomalies; they’re girls just like your daughter who persevered and made scientific dreams come true.

College solicitations: Real mail or junk mail?

Jen Klein — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:00:00 -0700

In the increasingly competitive college application process, not only are our kids competing for spaces in the college or university of their choice, colleges and universities are competing for them, as well. When a child does well on a standardized test, such as the PSAT or SAT, colleges take note. And then they start the hard sell.

How to decipher standards-based report cards

Jen Klein — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Perhaps you didn’t pay attention when your child’s school announced a move to “standards-based” report cards. Yeah, whatever, you thought. But when the first such report card arrived home, you weren’t the only parent to think, “What the heck?” You were looking for simple As and Bs -- and you saw a complex grid of Ds and Ps, or 2s and 3s. Huh?

How to create a musical life for your child

Jen Klein — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 06:09:00 -0700

There are plenty of studies out there detailing the connection between academic achievement and music: kids that participate in music tend to do better in school. This may be reason enough for you to want to create a more musical life for your child -- but the desire to create a musical life for your child is equally valid if it’s just for pure enjoyment. And music is enjoyable for all ages. From classical to jazz to country to rock and rap, you can create a musical life for your child. And you.

Getting a jump on academics in the new school year

Jen Klein — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 05:12:00 -0700

Your child doesn’t want to think about algebra yet, and frankly, neither do you. Nor do you want to worry about science or Shakespeare. It’s summer! It’s still fun in the sun time! Well, yes, but the school year will be here before you know it and if you aren’t at least somewhat prepared, it will be shock to all of you! Knowledge loss during the summer season is real, and while you can’t prevent completely, you can mitigate it -- and make sure the whole family is really ready for the school year.

Promoting writing for adolescents and teens

Jen Klein — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 08:48:00 -0700

When a child reaches the teen years, writing is more and more critical to academic success. Teens are expected to be able to write essays for school and respond in words to questions in just about any subject. In addition, there are some big writing efforts coming up: many state standardized tests have an essay section, and the SAT now has a writing portion. Then there are college application essays, in addition the plain ability to communicate clearly in the world. Writing is important.