In this week’s edition, a mother reconnects with her daughter, a sixth-grader gets a handwritten note from Obama and a Dutch court gives a 14-year-old permission to sail around the world. Enjoy!
Good Kid: Source: Sixth-graders grabs President Obama’s attention. Source: Cincinnati.com
Parenting Essay: A mother reconnects with her daughter when the iPod is left at home. Source: New York Times
News: Court gives 14-year-old permission to sail around the world. Source: Time For Kids
Book Review: In “Finally,” by Wendy Mass, a tween heroine’s big plans go awry. Source: Washington Post
Oceanography: Researchers catch jumbo squid on camera. Source: National Geographic
Everyone knows the best way to raise children.
There are those who say children should roam freely, while others prefer to hover. Those who aren’t sure have several places to turn for advice. There are tons of parenting books on the market. Daytime talk shows feature experts. A half dozen magazines are devoted to the subject. Reality parenting shows clog the airwaves.
The answer for me, and I suspect for most families, falls somewhere outside of the noise. I try to keep my eye on the end result: raising children who become healthy and productive adults. I can only hope that does not include a $3 million wedding in rural New York, complete with a security detail.
So far, I’ve managed to ignore most of the parenting advice. My mother would find it funny that folks who don’t know you or your children would offer their opinion. My father, who I didn’t think was paying attention when I was a kid, has provided a wealth of information about raising children. Besides, parenting is fluid. What works one day may not work the next, and you have to adjust accordingly. In other words, I like finding my way, making it up as I go.
So, what do you say? How are you approaching this thing called parenting?
I had been waiting for the letter. I had called to see when it might arrive. I considered picking it up. Why was it so important? Its contents would tell us who would be Simone’s kindergarten teacher.
See, I had noticed at the kindergarten breakfast that there was one kindergarten teacher of color. I daydreamed about how nice it would be for Simone’s first public school teacher to be a teacher of color. The student body is composed of children of parents from diverse backgrounds. Still, I would like to expose Simone and Nadia to a diverse set of role models, including those who look like their mother and their father.
So, the letter. It arrived, and da hubs and I knew exactly what was inside. He opened the letter after a pretend drumroll. He started at the beginning. I got impatient, read over his shoulder and scanned the letter for the teacher’s name. Bingo! Simone WILL have a teacher of color in kindergarten. What a wonderful way to begin her public school education.
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