Back To School Issue 2014
The Case for “Unschooling”; Mac & Cheese to Ease School Jitters; How Teachers Prep for the First Day
How should I file my family photos to keep them safe for the future?
Q: I have so many photographs of my children — thousands! — and I don’t know what to do with them. They are all over the place: on Facebook, Instagram, my phone, Shutterfly, my computer, the cloud. I want to keep them safe for the future, but it feels completely overwhelming. Help! A: You are not…
Adventure Racing
Former adventure racer Billy Mattison and his wife, Helene, used to stage mini-obstacle courses for their kids’ birthday parties at their Colorado home. Now the couple runs a nationwide series of Kids Adventure Games, giving athletes ages 6 to 14 the chance to tackle zip lines, rope bridges and mud crawls. The games came to…
Harriet Bishop (1818-1883)
“Drawing on History” is a monthly feature about a notable Vermont person, place or event from days of yore. Want to suggest a future topic? Email us at ideas@kidsvt.com. This article was originally published in Seven Days’ monthly parenting magazine, Kids VT.
Comfort and Joy
In the last weeks of August, it’s tempting to close the windows halfway at bedtime, to start thinking about picking apples instead of berries and to dream about making soup. Despite these autumn yearnings, I try to stretch summer out as long as I can. But it’s impossible to avoid the event that essentially ends…
Born to Move
Going back to school is a big transition for all kids. But 14-year-old Sarina Martinez de Osaba of Burlington is in for some major changes. She’s moving across the country with her mom, Sara, to study dance at the San Francisco Ballet School. Sarina has been performing since she was a preschooler, first in an…
Lessons Learned
Garret Keizer has watched the evolution of education firsthand. He began teaching at Lake Region Union High School in Orleans in the 1980s, left in the ’90s to become a freelance writer, then returned in 2010 to teach for a year at the same Northeast Kingdom school where he’d started his career. A contributing editor…
The Art of… Glass Fusing
Glass-blowing studios are a common fixture in Vermont, but there’s another way artists work with the material: glass fusing. Kids can try their hands at the craft during Burlington’s 22nd annual South End Art Hop this month. The Davis Studio, an Art Hop stop, offers classes in glass fusing. In August, four young artists gathered…
Homeschooling Alcove
The Wood-Lewis family of Burlington is best known for its front porch — parents Michael and Valerie founded Front Porch Forum, an online community-building service, from their 100-year-old home in Burlington’s Five Sisters Neighborhood. But when it comes to homeschooling their kids, an alcove off of the kitchen is what Valerie, calls “home base.” The…
School-Themed Reads
For the September issue, Kids VT asked local educators and librarians to recommend their favorite books that take place in schools. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, Ages 4-8 Little mouse Chrysanthemum thinks her long, flowery name is absolutely perfect — until she starts school. Classmates tease her because of it. But her music teacher, Mrs. Twinkle,…
Book-Review Winners (September 2014)
Congratulations to these enthusiastic young critics who shared their reading recommendations with us in August. Each wins a $25 gift certificate from Crow Bookshop in Burlington. We loved reading about all the entrants’ favorite books of the summer and have included some excerpts below. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli “I enjoyed the plot of this book,…
Who was your favorite teacher when you were in school?
Miro Weinberger, Burlington Mayor of Burlington, daughters Li Lin, 8, and Ada, 10 months Growing up in Woodstock, Vt., I had an eighth grade English teacher — her name was Mrs. Alsop. She was engaging and charismatic and fun. We all paid pretty close attention to her. I was a competitive student, so I cared…
A Burlington Pediatrician Fights to End Child Abuse
Dr. Joseph Hagan’s first patient of the morning has been running a fever for days. Wren eyes him warily as her mother, Amanda, reports the 6-month-old has been fussy ever since she received a round of vaccines a week earlier. Hagan sits down at the girl’s eye level, clucks his tongue and scoots his chair…
Six Teachers Prepare for the Big Day
If you have young kids, or you know people who do, you’ve probably taken or seen countless pictures documenting the first day of school. They’re everywhere on social media at the end of August and beginning of September. Missing from most parents’ Facebook feeds, however, are photos of the educators who await these eager young…
A Cabot Family Makes the Case for “Unschooling”
Fin and Rye Hewitt are boys on a mission. On a cool afternoon in late summer, the two boys tear across the 40 rolling, green acres in Cabot that they call home — on bicycle, by foot, at a run and occasionally on a thoughtful walk. There are pack baskets to shoulder, trapping manuals to…
How do you get kids to take their medicine?
Mary Poppins was right: A spoonful of sugar can help the medicine go down. But Dr. Lewis First, head of pediatrics at Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care, has other tricks up his sleeve. He shares some dos and don’ts of dosing this month, as kids head back to school — and into…
At Field School, Fire and Knives are Part of the Curriculum
Whenever I get a phone call from one of my children’s teachers in the middle of the school day, I can’t help but think, Something must be wrong. Usually, something is. I got just such a call last December. My son, Graham, was at Crow’s Path Field School, his outdoor education program. Crow’s Path invites…
Yearning for Learning
I always loved school. I was the eager pupil who shook with excitement while raising my hand with the answer. I couldn’t wait for summer to end so I could find out who I’d have for a teacher and who’d be in my class. My most formative educational experience, however, was an untraditional one. In…
Pass or Fail?
Vermont is often cited as one of the best places in the country to raise children, but under a new federal policy, nearly every school in the state is now considered “low performing.” Secretary of Education Rebecca Holcombe thinks that’s hogwash — and she said as much last month in a letter to Vermont parents…
