There’s a great new resource for teaching LGBT history in middle and high schools—and it might even teach us parents something. The Anti-Defamation League, Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and StoryCorps have just released Unheard Voices, “an oral history and curriculum project that will help educators to integrate LGBT history, people and issues into their instructional programs.”
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column the first week of September.)
Hurricane Irene raged up the East Coast this past weekend, sending people scrambling to the stores for bottled water and canned tuna. Of course, hurricanes weren’t the only thing I prepared for this week. Back-to-school time is here, so I’ve been buying pencils and erasers alongside the flashlight batteries. And because I am an LGBT parent, I’ve also been thinking about the “emergency supplies” we should have as we navigate the sometimes-stormy weather of our educational system, in case our children encounter anti-LGBT prejudice, bullying, or simply exclusion.
It’s back-to-school time, so let’s do a fun little poll for all of us who have children braving the wilds of education: [polldaddy poll=5451069]
Those of you who have had kids in elementary school will likely know the Magic Schoolbus series. XKCD uses it to make a point about the state of science education: If you’re looking for real science resources for your children, check out Science News for Kids, an online science site for older elementary and middle
A lesbian couple in Albuquerque is filing a discrimination lawsuit against Rio Rancho Public Schools, claiming their daughter was harassed and bullied in fifth grade—including by the teacher—because she has two moms. According to KOB Eyewitness News 4, when the girl wrote an essay about her moms getting married in Iowa, the teacher “said that
If you have not yet seen the New York Times’ excellent Coming Out project, which showcases the voices, words, and pictures of a diverse group of LGBTQ youth, get thee to their site and browse through it. There’s also a good introductory article here. Their stories are touching, sometimes heart-wrenching, but always inspiring. (Stories can
Presented without comment to all the girls who like science. Thanks, XKCD!
I’m hard pressed to find a preschool these days that doesn’t call itself a “childhood learning center” or the like. But in a recent article in Slate, “Why Preschool Shouldn’t Be Like School,” Alison Gopnik discusses two studies that have found “While learning from a teacher may help children get to a specific answer more
School Issues The New York Times reports on parents who are objecting to inclusion of same-sex families, gay people in history, and other LGBT content in school curricula. If you read the above, you should also read the great piece in the Advocate by Stuart Biegel, a member of the education and law faculty at
Maybe it’s the fact that my last name is the same as the famous reindeer, but I couldn’t help writing a little piece over at Change.org on what Rudolph might say as part of the It Gets Better campaign in support of LGBT youth. Hope you’ll go have a read. And who here also thinks
