If your pediatrician recommends eating more fruits and vegetables, what they really mean is to eat organic fruits and vegetables. Last fall the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) published a report on pesticides that can be summed up in just one sentence: “Children’s exposures to pesticides should be limited as much as possible.” The report, [...]
A few weeks ago I spent the morning at Jackson Street Elementary School in Northampton, Massachusetts. My daughter is enrolled at Jackson Street in Jen Reed’s Kindergarten class, where I’ve – happily – volunteered in the past. But during this last visit I was with the “big kids” – the fifth graders. My host was [...]
My favorite part of the President’s State of the Union address was his plan for expanding pre-kindergarten to all four-year-olds. The idea has been around for decades, and it did once very nearly become law until it was vetoed by President Nixon. But in the past 40 years, two big parts of the early education picture [...]
It’s Black History Month, and when it comes to that history in cartoons, the news hasn’t always been good. For decades cartoons, mostly by the Disney corporation, featured lots of white characters and lots of black stereotypes. But as the song says, the times they are a-changin’. In recent years Disney has worked overtime to [...]
As a parent of a 21 month old, I have found myself thinking about childcare and school options a lot lately. Earlier this week, as I watched the inauguration of Barack Obama with my son, I thought about how great it would be if early childhood education was something that the administration could focus on [...]
Yesterday a friend posted a link to a Facebook group I’m in about Jaielyn, a high school sophomore in Delaware whose school won’t let her pump or store breast milk at school. I read the article and my head spun. I’ve been here before. I got pregnant at the end of my sophomore year of [...]
I vividly remember once overhearing my then-six-year-old son’s friend asking how he could get six-pack abs. I was shocked that these young boys were so concerned with their appearance and so aware of what the media was pushing as the ideal male body. Of even more concern, a strong desire to look good leads boys [...]
On December 30, 2012, President Obama said he doubted arming school police with guns will prevent future school shootings, but then January 11, 2013′s EdWeek hints that he may yield to local law enforcement officers and communities if it has “bipartisan” support. While President Barack Obama said recently that he would be skeptical that more [...]
With New Year’s fast approaching, the “fiscal cliff” puts billions of dollars of critical investments for children at risk. If policy makers do nothing, millions of children could be pushed into poverty with the expiration of improvements to the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Families with an income of less than [...]
You’ve heard the term “fiscal cliff” and you’ve heard about how lawmakers in Washington can’t agree on spending or taxes. But here’s what you probably haven’t heard: The federal budget negotiations happening right now may result in deep cuts to programs that benefit the next generation of Americans — the young people who are this [...]
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