In my most recent Paved With Verbs blog post, I tackled a question a lot of high school students wonder about community service:
"How do volunteer work and service-related clubs look on applications? Do they, too, strike admissions officers as a sign of a complacent student whose main goal is to look good? What kind of specialized service opportunities TRULY give kids an edge in college and beyond?"
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The REAL Reason Most Schools Don't (and maybe shouldn't) Have a Gifted Track Until 3rd Grade.6/21/2016
When I was in kindergarten, they tried to send me away to a school for dumb kids. But by the time I got to third grade, they were trying to bump me up a year and recommending me to Talented and Gifted summer programs. A psychologist from a nearby university determined, after a battery of cognitive tests, that I was a very abstract thinker.
Which is why I was intrigued when a certain Quora user asked, "At what age do gifted children know they're different?"
John Oliver did a wonderful segment recently about how horribly the media reports science. Today, I saw a piece in the New York Magazine that illustrated this. In Kids Don't Trust Ugliness, author Cari Romm begins by saying, "Being little doesn't exempt you from being a shallow little jerk."
Let me stop you right there.
Regina Harrell, 9, was removed from her home after her "negligent" mother let her play in a park unsupervised.
Last Sunday, the New York Times published a gut-wrenching article, The Families That Can't Afford Summer. The piece raised some important issues about the affordability of childcare and summer camps for low-income families, and the total major burden summer vacation imposes on them.
We all want our kids to have happy, magical childhoods (I hope).
And, due to changes in our society -- technology addiction, over-scheduled childhoods, and decreased participation in community activities, to name a few -- many adults feel like they don't have many friends in their neighborhood. In fact, one in four of us say we have "no close friends to talk to." There's a simple way to address both of these issues.
Summer is here, and you know what that means: sunshine! Daydream! Vacation!
But, unfortunately, many people worry about gaining weight over the holiday. The good news is, vacation weight gain is not inevitable. In fact, using these three tips, you might keep the weight off more easily than ever -- without resorting to carrots and other boring "diet foods."
Are you really expressing yourself -- or are you just dressing a certain way? Are you really showing the world your true self -- or are you just putting on a performance for an audience?
Thanks to Helicopter Parents and The Self-Esteem Movement, Schools Have Banned Musical Chairs.5/12/2016
Psychologists have been studying play behavior in children for a hundred years. The importance of play -- including rough-and-tumble play -- is undeniable.
Yet misguided educators have decided that musical chairs isn't appropriate for kids, anymore, and you won't believe why.
In 2016, there are more parenting books on the market than ever -- some of which are super awesome (see also: Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs and How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success).
And yet! Half of what we think we know about kids... is a total major marketing gimmick. And, alarmingly, it turns out that our inability to recognize these gimmicks can have harmful effects on our children in the long run.
Read any good books lately? I have: Peggy Ornstein's New York Times bestselling Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture.
After finishing a chapter about Mattel and the American Girl Dolls, I was particularly struck by one of Ornstein's observations: |
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Eva is a content specialist with a passion for play, travel... and a little bit of girl power. Read more >
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