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As the mother of four children, and a full-time working mother, BACK TO SCHOOL is a big event.  Each year, as August approaches and the school year is inevitable, I perform a routine that gets the whole family on track:   Purchase School Supplies. (including the Optional section) Locate and clean moldy lunch boxes. Dig …

Confessions of a 3.0 Parent Summer is here and the grades are in.  The expected, and often dreaded, report card is the hard data I have been waiting for that informs me of my child’s successes and failures.   As my eyes scan down the form for the A’s and B’s, and (God forbid C’s), I …

“A good book should leave you slightly exhausted at the end.  You live several lives while reading it.” William, Styron, Writers at Work, 1958 For the past 10 years my children have been assigned summer reading.  This year Jill Stacy (a graduate from my alma matter Bank Street) wrote a letter to her classroom parents …

I believe that I am an artist. My children were born a blank canvas and it is my job to provide the materials, the language and the space for them to envision and create a colorful and rich life. In my consulting practice, the core philosophy that drives most of my work is the idea …

Call me old fashioned but markers don’t hold a candle to the feel, smell and creativity that is inspired by the simple crayon. Markers are more expensive, the tops are always missing, and they dry out so easily. Besides, how can you be artistically motivated by such a predictable color palette?

The solution to this problem is simple: Focus on character and not grades. My parenting guru Jim Fay, founder of Love and Logic says it best: “Children who grow up in a home where character and responsibility are modeled, valued, and enforced often have little trouble being successful in school and in their adult lives.”

Arriving on time to school is an important part of the educational process; instilling a sense of responsibility, reliability, and commitment to one’s obligations.