(Originally appeared with slight variation in Bay Windows, March 6, 2008) Where can children, teens, parents and librarians find new LGBT-themed children’s and young adult books of merit? Starting now, they can turn to the annual Rainbow List published by the American Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library association in the world. It […]
Helen and I blind you with science this week as we demonstrate a bunch of experiments and explorations for kids. Watch us use marshmallows, blue gooey stuff, really long words to describe peanut butter, and gummi bears like you’ve never seen them before (including one variation just for adults). We also point out the very
As if Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern’s anti-gay rant wasn’t bad enough: Kern is one of the authors of House Bill 2211, which requires public schools “to guarantee students the right to express their religious viewpoints in a public forum, in class, in homework and in other ways without being penalized.” The bill was just approved
Logo has launched a public service announcement in response to last month’s hate-crime murder of 15-year-old gay student Lawrence King and other young hate-crime victims. The PSA seems aimed at young people. Many of Logo’s sister brands across MTV Networks will carry it, though Logo is making it available to other networks as well. The
(OK, no more penguin posts for a while after this. I promise.) LGBT documentary series In the Life will be airing a segment about children’s book And Tango Makes Three in its April show. They talk with the authors about the making of the book, and with a second-grade teacher about her positive experience using
Looks like the Loudoun County, Virginia school superintendent’s backpedaling over And Tango Makes Three was in the right direction. According to the Washington Post: On Monday, school officials issued a written statement saying that the book also would return to the shelves at Sugarland [Elementary School] because [Superintendent] Hatrick had discovered “significant procedural errors” in
The first comprehensive report on LGBT families’ experiences in education, Involved, Invisible, Ignored, has found that LGBT parents are more likely to be involved in their children’s K-12 education than the general parent population. At the same time, both LGBT parents and their children often report harassment because of their family structure. The report was
While we’re on the subject of education, a survey by the new research and advocacy group Common Core shows “a significant proportion of teenagers live in ‘stunning ignorance’ of history and literature.” The organization says “The No Child Left Behind Act has increased the amount of time schools devote to basic reading and math skills,
After 15-year-old Lawrence King was shot to death by a fellow student because he was gay, California Assemblyman Mike Eng proposed a new bill to “establish school diversity and sensitivity training to help prevent such tragedies in the future.” According to Gay Wired, “The new bill would require mandatory classes on diversity and tolerance in
If you can keep your kids up till 10:01 p.m. EST tonight (and still maintain their sanity and yours tomorrow), you can share with them the rare occurrence of a total lunar eclipse, the last one until December 2010. Both Sky and Telescope and NASA have details on the event, which should be visible in
