(Originally published in Bay Windows, October 11, 2007.) “It definitely surprised me,” says director Debra Chasnoff of the decision by the Evesham, New Jersey school district to exclude her documentary That’s a Family from its curriculum, after a handful of parents objected to its inclusion of gay and lesbian families. In the film, elementary school […]
The BOB Books, by Bobby Lynn Maslen, is a series for beginning readers originally published in the 1970’s. Unlike other early primers such as the Dick and Jane books, however, these seem as fresh today as when they first appeared. Part of the reason for this is that the stories are extremely simple. “Mat Sat.
The yearly “Nation’s Report Card,” aka the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), came out today with news that supports both proponents and critics of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. 700,000 students in grades 4 and 8 took NAEP reading and math exams last winter, and the results provide a look at
Another guest post today by Sara Whitman of Suburban Lesbian Housewife. I talk a lot about toddlers and preschool-age children, because that’s where my personal experience is. Sara reminds us, however, that the challenges of parenting change, but don’t ease, as our children grow older. My son Ben came home today and told me he
Events like this restore my faith in humanity. When a ninth-grade student at Central Kings Rural High School in Nova Scotia, Canada wore a pink shirt on his first day of school, he was called a homosexual, harassed, and threatened. Twelfth-graders David Shepherd and Travis Price decided to take action. They used the Internet to
The New York Times reported today on the Evesham, New Jersey School District’s decision to uphold a ban on the film That’s a Family, because of its inclusion of children with same-sex parents. (See my post on the matter.) The Times tries to remain a neutral reporter, offering opinions both for and against showing such
I’m pleased to publish a guest post by Mary W. Foulk, a writer, new mom, and lesbian film critic. whose work has appeared at Lesbian Life, among other places. Today, she reminds all of us techno-geeks and bloggers that it’s important to unplug once in a while. I recently attended InVerge 2007: an interactive convergence
My son is starting preschool this week. I view this time of year as do many LGBT parents, with a sense of wonder that my child has reached his current age, panic that we won’t find new sneakers in his size before the first day, and fear of all that could harm him physically or
For those with kids (or selves) heading back to school this week: How was the first day? My son’s first day of preschool was uneventful, although it was a special day of only an hour and I was able to stay with him. He was also somewhat used to it because he did two weeks
I interviewed children’s musicians Erin Lee and Marci after meeting them on the R Family cruise in July, and posted about their inclusive approach to children’s music as well as their escapades with an illegal Elmo. They’ve kindly agreed to do a regular guest post with thematic recommendations for kid-friendly music, as well as ways
