Avant Parenting Archives
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Avant! Welcome to my parenting blog archives
As you can see by the dates below, this blog is no longer being updated. However, there’s lots of good stuff here, much of it as true now as when it was written. Please feel free to browse, or follow these links: One last piece of parenting advice: Enjoy today even if it’s a rough…
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No time to wait for Superman
I went today to a special showing of Waiting for Superman, the first of the two films about the sorry state of American education that are coming out this fall. It was sponsored by the Santa Cruz Education Foundation and had a panel discussion afterward by John Laird, Ellen Moir of the New Teacher Center,…
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Preschool fundraiser tomorrow!
A few days ago, I wrote about the plight of our state-run preschools, which have had their funding cut. If you want to help, this fundraiser sounds great! Please join us for an amazing evening of ecstatic music and chant with National Kirtan singers – GIRISH, SEAN JOHNSON & THE WILD LOTUS BAND, LARISA STOW…
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Beloved picture books
According to the New York Times, parents are starting to push their kids away from picture books at unusually early ages. “Picture books are for babies,” seems to be the message: The economic downturn is certainly a major factor, but many in the industry see an additional reason for the slump. Parents have begun pressing…
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State subsidized preschools need support
When my daughter was three, I was in big trouble. I’d found what I thought was the perfect school for my son, a parent participation charter school. But I had to take one morning out of my schedule to spend in my son’s classroom, and I didn’t know if I could do it. My daughter…
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The saddest week
I realize that events happen randomly, but it seems that sometimes there’s a spate of some type of event that really brings it into focus. Last week, it was the suicides of gay teens. If you’ve missed the news, you can find it through Google. It’s heartbreaking and also somehow unsurprising. The details are often…