Category: Education
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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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That's the way they used to make them
My husband decided that the perfect Labor Day outing for our family would be to a showing of the 1938 Errol Flynn/Olivia deHavilland version of Robin Hood. Our daughter is obsessed at the moment with knights and the middle ages, and our son says we never take him to movies. Perfect! I was, to tell…
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Homeschooling – past and present
I was working on an article about “back to homeschooling” for Growing Up in Santa Cruz (read it!), and in the midst of corresponding with representatives of the wide range of local homeschoolers, I came across yet another incendiary piece on the web about how awful homeschooling is, how it’s damaging children, killing public education,…
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Let's go to Antarctica!
Last night I attended a mysterious congregation in a parking lot after dark. Luckily, I had a flashlight on my keychain, and I knew the people I was meeting were not dangerous. They are scientists who study Antarctica, and a local teacher who is going with them with a mission to teach us more about…