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Saving Kids from Hot Cars

One of the things that I really dread about summer are all the reports of babies and toddlers who die or are critically injured when a parent or caregiver inadvertently leaves them behind in a hot car. Often, it is hours before a child is discovered, and with internal temperatures reach 120 degrees, these babies are found too late to be saved. Why does it happen? Overwhelmed or distracted drivers simply forget. Sometimes a change in routine is enough to do it. The parent that doesn’t usually drop the child off at daycare has to do it one time and … Continue reading →

A Dangerous Trend in Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales

Nursery Rhymes and fairy tales help teach children about the world. That’s the view of many experts including June Factor who has spent many years researching childhood and school playground rhymes and writing children’s books. However the trend at present appears to be to try and sanitize nursery rhymes, for example in England the BBC has come under fire for a rewrite of the Humpty Dumpty Nursery rhyme. Now instead of saying ‘all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again,’ the revised rhyme says they,’made Humpty happy again.’ The idea behind this sanitizing of … Continue reading →

Are Your Children Safe with Their Grandparents?

This past summer, my husband and I had to make the hard decision between ourselves that we would not leave our children alone in the care of their grandparents. I won’t go into details, but it became obvious to us that our children’s safety might be compromised, were they in the sole care of their grandparents. This wasn’t an easy decision to make, of course. Feeling would be hurt, and the matter had to be handled delicately. But, we feel that it was the best decision for our family and for the safety of our children. Depending on your situation, … Continue reading →

Intervening with Grade School Problems

It may be clear to us as parents when we should step in and advocate for our child when they are younger, but as they get older it can be more challenging. Not only does it become tough for us to tell when we should intervene, but we also have the added pressure of often having a child who does NOT want us to get involved—it can be embarrassing and cause more problems for him with his peer group than it solves. It can feel like a minefield as a parent to know when to step in and intervene and … Continue reading →

Macaroni and Cheese – Life Skills Style

In the aftermath of Kyle’s bullying incident, things have gone much better for him at school. His schedule was re-arranged so that he would not attend class with the two boys who harassed him. He started taking a life skills/cooking class—which I was hesitant about at first, because it was specifically for cognitively-impaired kids. The curriculum consists of activities like learning to use public transportation and purchasing items at a grocery store. Perhaps I just hoped if I pushed him along, despite his autism, Kyle would be able to stay very close to the mainstream, only needing a bit of … Continue reading →

Male Principals

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Two of my past articles have discussed the various duties of school principals and the advantages of having a female in elementary school administration. While there are several pros to having a woman principal, there are also advantages to having a man in school leadership. In my past experiences, I have realized that parents, teachers, and students seem to refrain from pushing and pressuring a man as much as they do a woman. When I taught with a male teacher, parents tended to give me more of their complaints and concerns. Even if the two of us carried out similar … Continue reading →

Violence and Slang Terms

It seems hard to blog about something as insignificant as celebrity gossip in the wake of what happened yesterday at Virginia Tech. Thirty-three innocent people are dead just for doing what most think of as the American dream – receiving a higher education in hopes of improving themselves. Whether we like it or not, violence seems to be a part of our American culture. Have you ever used the term “going postal” to describe a coworker, friend, or even yourself? Normally people use it to describe someone who is filled with rage and anger – someone who seems just at … Continue reading →

The Immeasurable Importance of Your Child’s Teacher

Parents, if your special needs child is struggling in school–if he or she is miserable, and if things have been rough academically, let me make a suggestion. Take a careful look at your child’s teacher. I believe your child’s teacher can literally mean the difference between a successful year or a failed one. I’ve often heard other parents of special needs kids talk about the ups and downs they faced in the public (or private) school system over the years, and there always seemed to be a correlation with whether the child “clicked” with his teacher. I’m not writing this … Continue reading →

Ten Ways to Help Your Child with OCD (or Anxiety) Succeed in School

The child with obsessive-compulsive disorder or generalized anxiety can have a difficult time in school. Obsessive thoughts and an intense need to perform rituals can cause a lot of difficulty with learning. Often parents are extremely frustrated just getting their son or daughter to school in the first place, when the child changes her mind ten times about the clothes she wants to wear, or washes his hands eight times before meeting his carpool. Then, at school, the teacher must deal with difficult behaviors while still trying to manage the classroom. These children need a lot of love, patience, and … Continue reading →

What is Transition Planning?

I can still remember quite clearly the way I felt as a fourteen-year-old when I first walked the grounds of my new high school. It was overwhelming. The school seemed twice as large as my previous one, and I couldn’t quite make sense of the map of the campus. I was excited, nervous, and intimidated. I knew this was an important transition I needed to make, yet I was uncertain about my ability to succeed in this new, big place. Next year, my son Kyle will be starting high school. This means that soon he will be making an important … Continue reading →