Writing
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Boys, Breast Cancer, and the Magic of Boys’ Schools
Read Article: Boys, Breast Cancer, and the Magic of Boys’ SchoolsI write this post for two reasons. I write in honor of the women in my life who have fought breast cancer, as this is Breast Cancer Awareness month. And I write in response to the September 23, 2011 study in Science Magazine titled “The Pseudoscience of Single-Sex Schooling.” I challenge its incendiary and unsubstantiated…
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How Parents Can Disengage from the Homework Wars
Read Article: How Parents Can Disengage from the Homework WarsWelcome to the new school year! In millions of households across the country, there is no greater drama than the nightly struggle to get kids to do their homework. How many parents would love to have a magic wand that could abolish the homework wars forever? There actually is such a wand, figuratively speaking, yet…
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Celebrating Teachers in a National Climate of Teacher Bashing
Read Article: Celebrating Teachers in a National Climate of Teacher BashingIf not for all of the towering displays at Target and Staples, I would refrain from raising the topic of back-to-school, if only to hold onto summer for just a bit longer. But the start of school is less than a month away in many parts of the country, it’s been very hot lately, and…
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A DAY IN THE CLASSROOM: On mother-daughter book clubs
Read Article: A DAY IN THE CLASSROOM: On mother-daughter book clubsYears ago, as the working mother of a young daughter, I sometimes struggled to achieve that elusive work/home “balance” women often speak of wistfully and hold up as the ultimate validation of their success within the frameworks of modern feminism. Read more…
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Raising Wholesome Children in Today’s Culture: 10 Tips for Parents
Read Article: Raising Wholesome Children in Today’s Culture: 10 Tips for ParentsFollowing the publication of my recent Huffington Post article, “It’s Time for the Global Village to Stand Up for Our Children,” I feel much less alone with my anomie. For the past 15 years, I have grown increasingly alarmed by, and vocal about, the ways in which our culture sexualizes young girls. I have parallel…
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A DAY IN THE CLASSROOM: The student-teacher connection
Read Article: A DAY IN THE CLASSROOM: The student-teacher connectionIn New York Times columnist David Brooks’ recent piece in The New Yorker, “Social Animal: How the New Science of Human Nature Can Help Make Sense of a Life,” there is a small subsection I found of particular interest. Read more…
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It’s Time for the Global Village to Stand Up for Our Children
Read Article: It’s Time for the Global Village to Stand Up for Our ChildrenWhen Abercrombie & Fitch recently launched their pushup padded bikini top for girls aged 8 to 12, something inside me finally broke. My anger was volcanic, flowing through friends and family, spewing onto Facebook and across Twitter. For an entire day I searched plaintively for others who could understand my disillusionment. I found a few soul mates,…
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10 Ways to Raise Resilient Kids in Turbulent Times
Read Article: 10 Ways to Raise Resilient Kids in Turbulent TimesIn the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, parents, teachers, journalists and bloggers all over the world are discussing best practices for talking to children about disasters. Among my friends and colleagues, there is palpable angst about the effects of social media exposure on their children, who see and hear daily accounts of the…