4 mins read

Why Your Kid Needs A Summer Job

When I was in college, I spent two long, hot summers wrangling teenagers at a 350-acre organic farm in Pennsylvania. The camp focused not on swim tests or tie-dye, but instead the goal was developing kids’ leadership and communication skills. Like most sleepaway camps, this camp drew children largely from cities, kids whose families could afford…

6 mins read

Explaining Bruce Jenner and Transgender To Kids

Before last Friday night, only 8% of Americans knew someone who was transgender – whose gender identity does not match the sex he or she was born with. Today, an additional 16.8 million people who watched Diane Sawyer’s groundbreaking ABC interview with Olympian Bruce Jenner know someone who is transgender: Jenner himself. Jenner spent nearly two…

1 min read

Is Childhood Obesity Related to Poor Math Skills?

Every day, we hear about the side effects of childhood obesity. Increased risk for diabetes and heart disease, low self-esteem, and depression all make that list, and apparently, so should difficulty with math. According to a Child Development study that surveyed more than 6,250 individuals, children with persistent obesity (aka, starting in kindergarten) scored lower on math tests in grades one through five, than children without weight issues.