school

Photo: RapidEye (Getty Images) My daughter recently started kindergarten, and for the first couple of weeks of school, I was an eager mom, waiting to pick her up at the end of the day and hear all about her new adventures. I’d step through the classroom door, stretch my arms open and say, “Hi, lady!”…

For parents of kids with birthdays close to the cut-off date for kindergarten registration, the debate can start almost as soon as they’re born: Should we red-shirt him? Will she be ready for kindergarten that soon? Red-shirting, which was originally coined as a term for college athletes who were kept from competing for a year…

Photo: Rebecca Nelson (Getty Images) For many families, homework time is a struggle. And in an era of digital distraction, it is only getting tougher. Here are some hacks to help your kids concentrate. Zero judgement if you use them on yourself, too. Set Up “Work Hour” for the Whole Family During finals week in…

Because getting a college education isn’t expensive enough, the fees for taking the SAT and ACT tests as part of the admissions process can be a hardship for many high school students and their families. Vox breaks down the costs: Currently, it costs $47.50 to take the SAT ($64.50 with the Essay portion), and $22…

Caydden, 14, and Keston Zimmerman, 11, sit outside a homeless shelter in Boise, Idaho, with their grandmother Pam Cantrell. They've been searching for housing for three months. Amanda Preacher/Boise State Public Radio hide caption toggle caption Amanda Preacher/Boise State Public Radio Caydden, 14, and Keston Zimmerman, 11, sit outside a homeless shelter in Boise, Idaho,…

Photo: Shutterstock Kids have been grazing their way through summer, and maybe “lunch” was a series of snacks spread out across the afternoon. But now that it’s time for school, we have to make lunch more defined—pack it into little sectioned containers and stow it in an insulated bag covered with unicorns. As my oldest…

Sometimes a psychiatric crisis can be triggered by something small. For Alexia Phillips, 21, it was a heated argument with a close family member in February 2017. She remembers the fight blew up before she left the house to go to classes at Queens College in Flushing, New York. By midday, Phillips, then a sophomore,…

During the course of the school year, my son’s school has needed volunteers for more activities and events than I could possibly recall. They need volunteers to run the PTA. To man the food tables at the annual “Donuts with Dad” and “Muffins with Mom” events. To supervise a slew of second-graders at the science…

Photo: Sara Hassoun / EyeEm (Getty Images) For kids with anxiety, the hardest part about homework is often just starting it. Before even picking up a pencil, they construct in their heads a story about how the assignment is too difficult, too time-consuming, too much to handle. And so they shut down. Pep talks and…

Photo: Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images When my son was in preschool, I saw an idea floating around my parenting circles: Choose a sentimental book and, starting in kindergarten, have his teacher write him a note on a page in the book. Do this every year through high school. On graduation day,…