This morning as I stood at the sink, preparing our special meal to celebrate the start of Chinese New Year, my mind wandered back to my childhood and the traditions I grew up with. As we usher in a new year, I often wonder if I’m doing a good job of imparting these traditions to…
Education
How to Get Travel Scholarships to Explore the World for Less
I’ll never forget the day my newly minted middle schooler announced she and a friend hatched a plan during lunch in the school cafeteria to travel the world together. “When we’re in college, we’re going meet and travel together,” Emily confidently told me as she rattled off a list of countries that were on their…
3 Ways to Ensure Mid-Year School Success for All Ages
The start of a new year for many kids means coming back from winter break and being confronted with the end of the second quarter. Rather than starting the new year with a fresh clean slate, your child is being hit with homework assignments, project deadlines, and end of the quarter quizzes and tests. With…
Dear Future Coders: 4 Pieces of Advice for Tween & Teen Technologists
Thank you to Capital One for sponsoring this post As a former classroom teacher, I can distinguish between social chatter and productive chatter. Social chatter was typical in my first-grade classroom as kids were transitioning between parts of the day or weren’t engaged in classroom tasks and had the power to create a ripple effect of off-task…
Build Academic Confidence with On-Demand Help from Varsity Tutors
Even though I’m constantly checking in with my kids to know how their day went, what they’re learning in school, and to keep tabs on always evolving friendships, their brief responses might not be an indicator of how they’re really feeling, especially when it comes to their grades. Like many tweens and teens, they’re are…
4 Unplugged Ways to Celebrate STEM Day Through Play
With a daughter who is in her first year of a magnet high school engineering program, I’m often asked about the things I did to encourage her love of STEM. The honest answer is that I did anything and everything! I didn’t go overboard and I didn’t make myself feel guilty about what I wasn’t…
How Kids Can Play Their Way Through Interland to Learn Digital Citizenship
This post is sponsored by Be Internet Awesome When I was a technology magnet coordinator, one of my beginning of the year tasks was to acquaint kids with our school system’s User Responsibilities for Computer Systems, Electronic Information, and Network Security during their first visit to the computer lab. This nine page PDF was filled…
3 Nintendo Switch Games That Inspire Offline Learning
I’m a mom of a tween and teen who is always conscious about the amount of screen time my kids are having but rather than place strict limits on all screens, I recognize the difference between passive and productive screen time. Productive screen time includes using digital devices for learning whereas passive screen time merely…
Teachers & Parents: Nintendo Labo Classroom Program Brings Nintendo Labo to Your School for FREE!
What if your child’s curiosity, creativity, and imagination could be sparked by hands-on learning using a video game platform in the classroom? Today Nintendo announced Nintendo Labo Classroom Program, a partnership with Institute of Play that brings Nintendo Labo kits into elementary classrooms to teach basic principles of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM)….
3 Simple, Positive Actions to Teach Tweens to Combat Bullying
This post is sponsored by Be Internet Awesome “Hi, how was your game?” I shouted to my tween son as I walked in the door from my daughter’s soccer game. For years, Saturdays in our house have been for soccer while Sundays are reserved for baseball which means I rarely miss a game. I love…
