Written on
April 25, 2012 by Stephanie in
Academics
Now this is just ridiculous. Apparently some NYC prep schools have told students that they aren’t to discuss which college they got into, so that the kids who didn’t get in don’t feel bad about it. Teachers aren’t to congratulate them in public either, nor are the kids to post it on Facebook. Say what?
It’s frustrating when you don’t get into the college of your choice. I get that. But is it so bad that you couldn’t be happy for your friend who made it? It’s life. Sometimes other people are going to do things you only wish you could do. Sometimes you aren’t good enough. That’s real life, and I would hope high school seniors would know that already.
Telling kids they can’t show their pride in their accomplishments isn’t doing anyone any good. Matter of fact, it’s taking just a little bit from their accomplishments. Learning to share your accomplishments graciously is an important skill, and forbidding kids to celebrate what they’ve done isn’t going to do the job. They may not be discreet about how proud they are to have gotten into the college they wanted, but it’s a big accomplishment. Celebration is reasonable.
What you hope for is that your child will be understanding to those who didn’t get in. It’s okay for them to be sad too. It’s a good idea to talk to your kids about how to talk to friends who didn’t get into the college they wanted. Feeling free to talk about it is much better than feeling as though it’s a forbidden subject, for kids on both sides.
Written on
April 25, 2012 by Stephanie in
Academics
Parents who are stressed and exhausted by helping with homework feel that way because they make their child’s homework their problem rather than their child’s. And it needn’t be that way! Here are three things that you can stop doing right now so that the stress and exhaustion disappears. Stop trying to ‘teach’ your child…
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We live in an era of standardized testing. High school students must take federally mandated tests, state mandated tests, school district tests, the SAT, the ACT, final exams, and possibly AP or IB exams. You might even have to take other kinds of tests as well. These tests usually include a multiple choice section. Students…
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Written on
April 16, 2012 by Stephanie in
General
Many parents feel obligated to sign their kids up for a lot of extracurricular activities. These activities can be fun, but too many can be stressful, especially if parents don’t pay enough attention to whether their child wants to be in that activity. How do you know when your child is taking enough extracurricular activities?…
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Written on
April 2, 2012 by Stephanie in
General
While you don’t want your preschooler to watch a lot of television, most parents turn to it at some point. When you do, it’s good to have educational videos ready for your child. Some of my own favorites are the educational videos from Leapfrog. I don’t like them all equally. Letter Factory is by far…
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You don’t have to rely only on the work your child does in science at school if you want to encourage him or her in science. You may not even have to spend a lot on books. You can use a variety of websites aimed at teaching children science. Of course, doing projects at home…
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Written on
March 12, 2012 by Stephanie in
Sports
When kids play a sport, one of the things they love most is winning. It’s fun. They did well, they know it, and everyone around them is happy about it. But winning isn’t the only thing. It may not even be the most valuable lesson in youth sports. As pointed out in this article in…
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Written on
February 27, 2012 by Stephanie in
General
The internet is one tool few families are willing to do without these days. It’s useful in so many ways, as entertainment, for school projects, for keeping up with family and friends. But for all we love it for, the internet has its problems. How can you be sure your child is safe online? There…
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So your child wants to be a cheerleader. Maybe you’re happy about this, maybe you’re not, maybe you don’t consider cheerleading to be a sport. What really matters, however, is whether or not you consider cheerleading to be the right activity or sport for your child. You may have strong feelings about this. There’s the…
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Geology is a favorite subject of my kids. They love learning about different types of rocks, and have some pretty good collections for their ages. One of the really great parts, however, is how easy it is to introduce kids to geology. 1. Notice the Geology Around You The very first thing you can do…
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