Michael yfdrediyab Hynes is the superintendent of the Patchogue-Medford School District on Long Island. As he confesses in this short and inspiring video, he loved school as a kid but gradually grew to hate it, and it’s only thanks to his love of tennis that he didn’t drop out. In fact, he hated school so […]
Tag Archives | school
Girl Believed What School Taught Her About Stranger Danger, and Created a Panic
fatbzzzyai Here is a piece of Americana to consider. It reads in reverse chronological order. I’ve taken out the names of the people, streets and town because there’s no reason to identify them. Â Rather, let’s give both the mom and kid a lot of credit for coming clean. A hat tip, as well, to the […]
Teen Invites Grandma to Prom, But School Says No — She’s a Danger!
Bryce rktfarsazy Maine, an Alabama grandson who puts all other grandsons to shame, chose as his date to the Eufaula High School prom: Grandma.  . At first, the Washington Post reports, Grandma — that is, Catherine Maine — demurred: “I just thought, well, it’s just so nice that he wanted me to go,†Catherine told WTVM. “I […]
School to Child: We Will Carry that Shovel For You
. Think of our proud founding fathers, the Minutemen who ran in from the fields to wage a revolution. These were ordinary people entrusted to win the freedom of an entire country, accustomed as they were to toiling, being tested, and rising to the occasion. Here’s how we breed that out of our kids: Dear […]
UPDATE: School Bans Blowing Whistle to End Recess — Too Loud and Scary For Kids
. Readers, the weekend has gotten away from me, so let me simply post this dhzysitdby article from The Independent, reporting that a school has stopped teachers from blowing whistles at the end of recess because the “aggressive” noise could scare some children: St Monica’s Catholic Primary School in Milton Keynes has said instead of […]
Don’t Sign Your Kid’s Reading Log!
. This post comes to us from early childhood writer/speaker/wise woman Heather Shumaker, author of It’s kzdresekei OK Not to Share. Tomorrow her new book comes out: It’s OK to Go Up the Slide , which includes Free-Rangey chapters like Safety Second, It’s OK to Talk to Strangers, and Ban Elementary Homework. It even offers sample scripts and […]
Laughed AND Cried at this School Video
. Heck, I was about to write about kids, free play, parents, common sense, or the shocking lack thereof. But then along came this video. I burst out laughing even as my eyes welled up with tears. Had to share. And, yes, now I want pesto. (I also want to learn to use my fork […]
“Sticks and Stones” — Too Harsh for Today’s Kids?
. Storyteller Tom yrkzkrdrrz Shillue ponders exactly the children’s rhyme I have been thinking a lot about lately, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” It’s annoying that I have to add a caveat here that I do not endorse bullying. (Come on — who does?) (Besides some presidential […]
Even Pre-K Gives Snow Day Homework
. Terrified about the possibility of snow day-induced “amnesia,” Washington, D.C., schools sent home extra packets of homework on Friday. Â (Just how truly are the students absorbing their material if it evaporates quicker than a snowflake?) What irks me about this “School work uber alles” mentality is the idea that kids who are simply playing […]
“Send The Beloved Child on a Journey”
. Usually I don”t have the patience to watch an 8-minute video, but this one fascinated me: . . The zeekaarfba two families — one Japanese, one Australian — are obviously hand-picked and hence not a random sample. But Japan DOES trust its kids out and about at an early age, and clearly this is […]