Paige Schilt at Bilerico today reflects on what she calls “my latest obsession: insinuating gay marriage into the kindergarten curriculum.” It’s a wonderful tale about her son’s first foray into a classroom, and a great example of something I’ve been saying for some time (most recently at 365gay.com), that curriculum or no, children will learn […]
(Originally published in Bay Windows, October 16, 2008.) When Peg Tyre wrote an article titled “The Trouble with Boys” for Newsweek in 2006, outlining what she saw as a national trend of boys struggling at school, it caused a firestorm of controversy. Some feminists accused her of ignoring the age-old and still ongoing struggles of
I have a new piece up at 365gay.com, “Teaching Children about Gays and Lesbians.” I talk about Prop 8 and how those who want to ban discussion of same-sex couples in school curricula are ignoring the fact that the only real way to eliminate this topic from the classroom is to expel the children who
I blogged Monday about a San Francisco first-grade class who surprised their lesbian teacher by showing up at her wedding. A parent suggested the field trip and school administrators agreed it was a “teachable moment.” While I admired the thought behind the trip, I was very concerned about the far-right running with the story. Well,
Shifting from political discussion to something more fun: let’s have a giveaway. While at BlogHer Boston Saturday, I picked up some books from Hooked on Phonics, one of the conference sponsors. The Hooked on Phonics company has been around for over 20 years now. They’ve expanded their range beyond phonics, and now offer learning aids
Here’s a good one for discussion: A group of first-graders in San Francisco took a field trip to City Hall last Friday to attend the wedding of their lesbian teacher. They threw rose petals and blew bubbles. Mayor Gavin Newsom officiated. The field trip was a parent’s idea, a surprise for the children’s dedicated teacher.
It’s lesbian home improvement this week! Helen and I show you how we reorganized our garage with a few simple pieces of hardware to make things more convenient for ourselves and safe for our son. We also update viewers on our son’s transition to kindergarten and recommend two classic books with positive messages for kids
(Originally published in Bay Windows, September 11, 2008.) It’s back-to-school time, when we LGBT parents face the dual challenges of getting our children in an academic frame of mind and readying all of us to face a new batch of questions about our families. My own son is about to start kindergarten, and I’m trying
Last year at back-to-school time I published a list of school-related resources from various LGBT organizations. I’ve revised and reposted it below. It focuses on key, accessible resources for parents and educators, and is not meant to be absolutely comprehensive. If you have any further suggestions, though, please leave a comment. [Update: Please see the
I wrote last fall of the DVD release of It’s Elementary, a documentary by Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff that shows how various teachers have addressed LGBT awareness in the classroom. The DVD also includes a companion piece, It’s STILL Elementary, which looks at why the film was made, people’s response, and the situation today.
