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Father Makes PTA History

When was the last time you saw a dad at a PTA meeting? Apparently, males are scarce at most Parent-Teacher Association meetings, which is why the appointment of Charles J. Saylors as the new president of the educational organization is making headlines around the country. The Parent-Teacher Association is a national organization of 5.5 million members, though most of them are mothers, who have a reputation of being domineering, highly-organized and driven (not that I’m into stereotyping or anything). According to The New York Times, men make up only 10 percent on the national PTA membership. However, studies show male … Continue reading →

Salem Ridge Press Answers the Call for Wholesome Books

Established in 2005, Salem Ridge Press mission is to revive quality wholesome children’s books the entire family can enjoy. Salem Ridge Press is bringing back books from the 1800’s and 1900’s to this generation of young readers. Solid “living books” should never go out of fashion. If you seek to bring your kids great literature you can trust then give these books a chance. Salem Ridge Press offers books in different genres such as historical fiction, allegory, adventure and young readers. They also carry plenty of historical fiction books that focus on church history. A great feature on the site … Continue reading →

California School Finally Approves Controversial Musical Production

Yes, no, maybe so… It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks for high school students in California, who planned to showcase their talents in the musical, “Rent: School Edition.” But, now, it appears that the show will go on. The drama started when Corona del Mar High School theater teacher Ron Martin chose “Rent: School Edition,” as the spring musical. The production is a slightly toned-down version of Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award-winning show, which appeared on Broadway for more than a decade. It won rave reviews around the world, but that meant nothing to Corona del Mar High School’s principal, … Continue reading →

Schools Taking a Bite Out of Lunchtime

Ask kids what their favorite part of the school day is and I’ll bet anything that the majority will answer: “LUNCH!” Unfortunately for those students, bad news may be on the horizon. According to reports, several school districts around the country are trimming lunch and recess and devoting the extra minutes to classroom time. The reason: Lunch is bad for kids. Not the nutritional part of it; rather experts say the whole experience of cafeteria dining is chaotic, stressful, unappetizing and akin to feeding time at the zoo. Educators who support reducing lunch periods maintain that with younger kids lunchtime … Continue reading →

When the Student is Smarter than the Teacher

Or in this case, smarter than standardized test designers. Seventeen-year-old Geoffrey Stanford royally schooled some test makers in Kansas recently, and his efforts not only sent him to the head of the class, but he also got a free ride to Hollywood to appear on various talk shows. It all started when the high school junior saw something that didn’t make sense while taking his state writing test earlier this month: The word “emission” — as in “the emission of greenhouse gases” — was spelled “omission.” Remembering a lesson about test-taking that his teacher drilled into him years ago-—”Read every … Continue reading →

Spanking in School

I attended Catholic school back in the 70s, so being hit by a ruler-wielding nun was nothing out of the ordinary. These days I highly doubt many parents would warmly embrace Sister Rose Fatima’s choice of discipline. Just ask parents in Chicago. According to a new investigative report by the CBS affiliate in the Windy City, teachers, coaches and other school administrators have allegedly beaten hundreds of public school students. The report goes on to say that corporal punishment in Chicago public schools is more widespread than most people realize. For the record, beating kids in school is illegal. Still, … Continue reading →

Colorado Making it Easier to Support Kids in School

Have you ever requested time off from work to address your child’s educational needs only to be denied? Apparently it happened one too many times to parents in Colorado, and now state lawmakers have designed a bill to help moms and dads take time off from work to deal with school-related events. The bill recently won preliminary approval in the Colorado House, but it still requires a final House vote before heading to the Senate. Unfortunately, for the bill’s authors it was watered down to apply only to companies with 50 or more workers and restricts what school-related events parents … Continue reading →

Do You Punish Your Kids for Bad Grades?

If you are the Generals from Chesapeake, Virginia, your kid not only gets punished for coming home with a bad report card, but his punishment makes front-page news. It’s hard not to end up in the paper when you have your 15-year-old standing near a busy intersection wearing a chest-to-trunk poster board displaying his bad grades for hours on end. According to reports, Trenton O’Neal’s parents were fed up with their teen’s lack of effort in school and decided to publicly humiliate him. “He hadn’t been trying at all,” the boy’s dad, Rev. Donald General Jr., pastor of Perfecting Saints … Continue reading →

Are You a Teacher’s Worst Nightmare?

In Japan, they’re called “monster parents,” and now teachers there have a new way of dealing with them. You might know a few monster parents yourself. They’re hard not to notice. Typically, they are the moms and dads who are constantly complaining and making unreasonable demands on schools and teachers. Most of them are overbearing, pushy, and some of them go as far as threatening educators. But, instead of fighting back with their fists, teachers in Japan are taking a new training course to learn how to deal with these pushy parents without resorting to physical violence. Japan’s Ministry of … Continue reading →

Top Ten Adoption Myths, Part Two

Continuing yesterday’s blog on the top ten myths I hear about adoption: 6. Myth: Social workers will make surprise visits to my home. Reality: Most of our homestudy took place at the agency office. There was one required—and scheduled—visit to our home. Most of our time was spent talking in the living room. The only other room the social worker asked to see was the room where we planned for the child to sleep. We did not have to have this room prepared. She only wanted to make sure there was “enough space”—and she judged that what I considered to … Continue reading →