Yogi Bera once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” That has not stopped innumerable people, from all walks of life, from predicting what the future will be for our children when they are grown. A day … Read More
Blog Archives
It’s Full STEAMath Ahead at Hillel
By Joan Freedman, Director of Curriculum Two years ago we invited our families to school for Pi Night, a wildly successful evening devoted to math in all its magic. So why expand to a full-fledged STEAM Event? Because we feel … Read More
Homework: The Battle Continues
Exercise the brain like a muscle or give kids time to work on the family farm? Educators have been debating the effectiveness of homework as a tool for learning for over a century. Support for and against homework has ebbed … Read More
You’ve Got To be Carefully Taught 2.0
I originally wrote this blog in 2015, and feel it is necessary to update and share again within the context of the violence of these last several weeks in Pittsburgh, Tallahassee, Thousand Oaks, and this week in Israel. It is … Read More
The Challenge for Parents: Letting Our Children Be Children
Childhood should be a time of awe and wonder; an opportunity to play, explore, create and to learn in a fashion that promotes healthy living and optimism. Then why do so many children suffer from anxiety and depression, and why … Read More
The Dark Side of the Internet – A True Story
This past fall I received a call from the F.B.I. That was a first. The investigator told me that the agency had recently arrested a pedophile, and confiscated his computer. On it, investigators found pictures; one was of a boy … Read More
Face Time, Not “FaceTime” – By Robin Pappas
Any time a child spends looking at an electronic screen – a smart phone, an iPad, a computer, a television – is considered screen time. How much time does your child spend looking at a screen? Research shows that children … Read More
Why We Tell Our Stories
Do you ever cuddle up with your children and share memories of your childhood – special moments, trips, or family traditions? Do you remember your parents doing the same with you? I clearly remember loving to listen to my parents … Read More
It’s Called Growing Up
This is a story about a man who married his childhood sweetheart, and soon after the marriage began, a series of journeys influenced his world view. Soon after marriage, his mother-in–law became very ill, and four years later, at the … Read More
Hope in These Challenging Times
I am a news junky, and I have to break the habit before serious depression sets in. Corruption, income inequality, sexual harassment, threat of war, uncivil discourse, potential foreign interference in our elections, an assault on free speech. And that … Read More