Well hello hello! How is your weekend so far? Here in Boston it has (maybe) (finally) stopped snowing, so I’m happy.
In addition to ushering in warmer temperatures in some areas, April also brings a few interesting awareness months:
Child Abuse Prevention Month has a Pinwheels for Prevention campaign going.
The American Association of School Librarians has School Library Month.
Autism Awareness Month is also in April (and here’s some Respectful Insolence about the autism rates).
The US DOD also designates April as Month of the Military Child.
Okay, now on to other things….
If you’re looking for….a great defense of fatherhood and paternity leave:
Read/watch the rant by Chris Hayes (currently on paternity leave) in response to Mike Francesa’s assertion that paternity leave was a “gimmick” and a “scam”.
If you’re looking for….some justification for loving puzzles and encouraging your kid to love them too:
The role of puzzles in early childhood education.
If you’re looking for….a problem technology NEEDS to solve:
The NYTs wants us to acknowledge how loud and clunky breast pumps are. I hear you NYTs, and I agree.
If you’re looking for….a gold star for all your efforts:
Buzzfeed has created parenting merit badges. I totally have the theater one in the bag.
If you’re looking for….some math encouragement:
Are our kids being underestimated and unchallenged in their math classes?
Featured Image Credit: Ben Andreas Harding
Thank you for including the Month of the Military Child on here. My husband is in the military, and we live in housing. I am frequently taken aback at the huge changes and stressors military kids handle daily.
Can I toss out this link? It’s a list of resources that might be helpful for people who work with military kids they center around some of the biggest stressors in their lives: deployment of a parent, frequent moves, and death of a parent. For military families, a lot of these resources are available on Military One Source, and the military teen interviews were a huge help for when I taught middle school in areas with a high military population.
http://www.nctsn.org/resources/public-awareness/month-military-child
That’s a great link, thanks Deek! I may do a few more links for this next weekend, if you have any more. Also, I appreciate your husband’s (and your!) service.