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Back to School, Back to Sleep
Eighty percent of American students in grades 6 through 12 aren’t getting enough sleep during the school year, according to research by the National Sleep Foundation, reports the LA Times. The paper also discusses the increasing number of schools starting classes later, especially for teens. It’s about time, I say. I have never understood why [...]
National Education Standards: Good or Bad?
Less than two months ago, U.S. governors and state school chiefs released recommendations for national education standards in math and English. The standards were developed by the states, which can choose whether to adopt them, but U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he is “ecstatic” about the initiative. The New York Times reports today that 27 [...]
Gary and Tony Have a Study Guide: What Do You Think?
CNN’s hour-long profile of two gay dads, Gary and Tony Have a Baby, airs Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET. In preparation, CNN has put together a study guide of “Before-Viewing Discussion Questions,” aimed at students in grade 11 and up. They include: “How would you define the traditional American family? Can you think of [...]
Tell Florida County Not to Segregate Books
In the same month that the American Library Association came out with its annual list of the Most Frequently Challenged Books, two Florida moms have stepped up their campaign to have libraries put a “Warning: Mature Content” label on any young adult books that refer to illegal acts or contain “inappropriate” content and to segregate [...]
Which 529 to Choose?
Ready to open a 529 college savings account for your child? My spouse Helen has been looking into options for ours. Truth is, he already has 529′s in two states, but as we’ve both moved and learned more about 529′s, the options we’ve preferred have changed. (For the uninitiated: you are not required to open [...]
Will ENDA Harm Children?
The Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation and is one of the key pieces of LGBT-related legislation pending this year. ENDA applies broadly across the LGBT community, and isn’t specific to those of us with children (as are, say, adoption rights), but some [...]
Scholarships for LGBTQ and Allied Students
Here’s a great resource for those of you with kids nearing college age. HRC has created a database of scholarships for LGBT and allied students. (Even though many straight children of LGBT parents consider themselves straight members of the LGBT community rather than “allies” per se, I assume they are eligible for many of these [...]
Same-sex parents are used to the routine of crossing out “Mother” or “Father” on various forms and writing in whatever applies to our family. What happens, however, when this is asked on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, used by most colleges and universities to determine a student’s contribution towards the cost [...]
Teaching Science to Kindergarteners
Children get turned off to science early, says Scientific American, saying, “Studies have found that children in kindergarten are already forming negative views about science that could cast a shadow across their entire educational careers. . . . Furthermore, even before first grade, fewer girls than boys say they like science.” One solution, from educational [...]
LGBT Parenting Roundup
Let us first take a moment to remember Lawrence King, the eighth grader who was shot and killed two years ago today by another student whom he asked to be his Valentine. Politics and Law The Florida Department of Children and Families agreed to provide state Medicaid insurance, subsidized college tuition, and other benefits to [...]
Preview Review: A Family Is a Family Is a Family
Rosie O’Donnell’s new documentary A Family Is a Family Is a Family, premieres this Sunday, January 31, at 7 p.m. ET on HBO. I’ve seen a screener, and here are my thoughts. Overall, this is a great film, aimed at the elementary school ages, that focuses on children of various backgrounds speaking about their families. [...]
Lesbian Moms Rejected as Leaders of Son’s Cub Scout Troop
Cate and Elizabeth Wirth, a lesbian couple in Vermont, were told by a Vermont district director of the Boy Scouts that they could no longer volunteer for their son’s Cub Scout troop after it became known that they are a couple. According to the Rutland Herald, Richard Stockton, Scout executive for the Green Mountain Council, [...]
High School Performance of Gay-Themed Musical Receives Cheers, Not Jeers
Last week, I wrote about the performance of a Tony Award-winning gay-themed musical by students at Massachusetts’ Concord-Carlisle Regional High School. Anti-LGBT group MassResistance was up in arms about a high school producing a “depraved homosexual musical” and was trying to use director Peter Atlas’ supposed friendship with Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education Kevin Jennings to [...]
Glee Doesn’t Have Anything on These Kids
The drama group at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School in Massachusetts is performing William Finn and James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning musical Falsettos this weekend. That might seem to be of only local interest, except that the play is about a man who leaves his wife for another man, and the impact of that decision on his [...]
Alameda Diversity Curriculum Is Not Health Ed; Parents Can’t Opt Out Their Kids
Many of you followed last spring’s story about the uproar by some conservatives when the Alameda, California school board decided to adopt an LGBT-inclusive safe-schools curriculum. Now comes a new ruling stating that because the diversity curriculum doesn’t constitute health education, parents cannot opt their children out of it. Finally, a glimmer of understanding that [...]
Protect Maine Equality Responds to Fear Ad
Protect Maine Equality has responded to Stand for Marriage Maine’s Prop 8 copycat ad I posted about last week. They now have two new ads out, one that directly addresses the allegations raised by the right-wing ad. In my previous post, I cautioned the Maine equality group against responding in the same way the No [...]
Protect Maine Equality Needs Effective Response to School Fear Mongering
“Stand for Marriage Maine” has just released “Everything to Do With Schools,” the latest TV ad in their campaign to revoke marriage equality. Some of you may recognize the name from an ad used during the Prop 8 campaign. As Jeremy at Good As You has pointed out, not just the name is the same—the [...]
New Books Showcase Stories of LGBTQ Youth
(I’ve been meaning to write about these books for a while, and back-to-school time is giving me the motivation I need.) Ongoing incidents of students (and teachers!) harassing LGBTQ students, students perceived to be LGBTQ, and children of LGBTQ parents are one of the scariest and most frustrating things for me as a parent. I [...]
Back to School Songs from Erin Lee and Marci
Children’s musicians Erin Lee and Marci bring us the next of their regular posts with thematic recommendations for kid-friendly music, plus activities to make the songs an interactive experience for the whole family. Look for Erin Lee and Marci here on the first Monday of each month, or visit their homepage, www.gottaplay.org. I’ve created links [...]
Kindergartens Under Pressure
Last week, I mentioned the demise of PBS Kids’ Reading Rainbow and the perils of teaching the mechanics of reading without the love of it. I also mentioned a New York Times editorial about some of the failings of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Seems like several papers are all over this issue as we [...]
Goodbye, Reading Rainbow
Some sad news this morning from NPR: Reading Rainbow, the 26-year veteran of children’s television programming, airs its final episode today. The show has won more than two-dozen Emmys, and is the third longest-running children’s show in PBS history, after Sesame Street and Mister Rogers. The show is ending because no one will put up [...]
Organizing for Safe Schools in Minnesota
I posted a blurb in my last LGBT Parenting Roundup about the Anoka-Hennepin School District in Minnesota, which agreed to pay a $25,000 settlement to the family of a high school junior after two teachers harassed the boy in the classroom about his perceived sexual orientation. I received the e-mail below from a local mother [...]
COLAGE Speak OUT Camp Coming Up This Fall
[Editor's note: Passing along this press release as-is. —Dana] Do you have/had one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer parents? Do you want to connect with a fabulous and fun community of others who share that experience? Do you want to learn and strengthen your skills for making change in the world? Join [...]
