Driving is among the most dangerous activities parents do with their children. Though most moms and dads know to secure their children in a passenger restraint system, the misuse rate of children’s car seats is high. According to a 2016 study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, 95 percent of infant car seats were used…
Kids VT: Martha and Akol, you’re parents of three kids in three different schools, and you both work. That sounds busy! Martha: Adut and Ngong go to afterschool at the same place, so we can pick them both up at the same time. Deng: And I usually have basketball practice after school. KVT: Deng, your…
While March in Vermont means fluctuating weather, there’s something your family can do to bring consistency, calm and creativity to this fickle month. Try weaving, a process that involves interlacing yarn, fiber, and even leaves and sticks to create a decorative textile. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors wove clothing, baskets, blankets and sails. The…
Fourteen-year-old Rose Lord of Charlotte sings vocals in an acoustic band called Minimal Prep. That fact is a wee bit ironic, considering that her other hobby, which landed her two appearances on “American Ninja Warrior Junior,” requires maximum prep. Rose is a competitive ninja warrior who’s been training since she was 9 at Regal Gymnastics…
On a crisp and snowy day, my family packed our car with our winter gear and headed to the mountain — not to ski, but to ice skate. We had heard there was free ice skating at the base of Spruce Peak, the smaller sister mountain at Stowe Mountain Resort. It was ideal skiing weather,…
Benefits: Strengthens core muscles Stretches side body, legs, shoulders and chest Twisting slightly may improve digestion Steps: Begin in star pose Point right toes to the right and bring left toes in slightly Reach out over right leg with right arm as you inhale Rest right hand on leg or block above or below knee…
When she was 6 years old, Melissa Perley took piano lessons alongside her father. While he didn’t stick with them, Perley persisted. Now a performing cellist and private music teacher to about 20 children and adults, the Berlin resident recently added the title of author to her repertoire. Her first children’s book, The Violin Family,…
Brattleboro actor and author Peter Gould didn’t intend to start a summer camp, but “that’s what happened,” he said. In 1998, Gould proposed a residency in theater arts for high school students at Craftsbury Academy. But when he encountered resistance from teachers about the time commitment during the school year, he decided to start a…
A half dozen teenage gymnasts took turns practicing dismounts off the balance beams on a recent weeknight at the Green Mountain Training Center. The girls’ competitive team trains at least 15 hours per week in the 12,500-square-foot gym, which is nestled amid warehouses and loading docks in a Williston industrial park. As her teammates looked…
Baby and kids’ clothing may be fun to buy, but clothing manufacturing has a tremendous negative impact on the earth, especially “fast fashion” outlets that churn out millions of garments a year. The fashion industry is responsible for 10 percent of carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of water worldwide. (It takes 2,000 gallons…
Sometimes 6-year-old Wyatt Bogie forgets how unusual his bedroom is. And then he’ll have a friend over for a playdate. “And they’ll go in, and they’re like, Whoa!” said Wyatt’s mom, Amanda Gilman-Bogie. That’s similar to the reaction she had when Wyatt was 3, and the Berlin family was at her in-laws’ Ryegate home for…
Fifteen years ago, Vermont filmmaker Bess O’Brien helmed an ambitious project in which teens from across the state worked together to write and perform an original musical. Touching on topics from peer pressure to racial identity, The Voices Project — from Kingdom County Productions, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont as its main underwriter…
Jewish community center Chabad of Burlington and children’s consignment store Boho Baby in Williston will cohost a talk and book signing with New York-based author Joanna Faber, who cowrote the parenting guide How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life With Children ages 2-7, published in 2017. The book is…
Vermont PBS has designed an online workshop, Become a Media Mentor, to help early educators and caregivers find creative and practical ways to use technology with young children. Created by educational consultant Heather Duhamel, the self-paced course includes links to articles about digital literacy and suggestions for online videos and activities that support kids’ learning.…
When I was a junior in high school, living with my father’s cousin Bebbe in Sweden, I awoke one March morning to waffles. Bebbe informed me that it was Waffle Day, and we would celebrate by having waffles all day. He is the sort of person who can deliver a joke completely straight-faced and make…
In my college marine biology class, I was amazed when the professor casually mentioned the forests and wetlands that used to line nearly the entire Atlantic seacoast. When I thought of the coast, I thought of the Jersey Shore, with houses as far as the eye could see. After college, when I visited a beach…
Last winter, my family of four found ourselves wandering the aisles of Michaels in South Burlington on a Saturday afternoon. We had no particular reason for the trip, other than to get out of the house for a couple of hours in the dead of winter. My partner, Stephanie, was browsing the toy section with…
Time for a confession. Before I moved to Vermont 16 years ago, I’d never been to a sugarhouse. Now, my family’s mud season isn’t complete without a pilgrimage to Palmer’s Sugarhouse in Shelburne. In March and April, the family-run sugarhouse — along with many other maple syrup producers around the state — opens its doors…
If you’re a parent with school-aged kids, chances are you’ve heard the term “proficiency-based learning.” It’s a hot topic, and for good reason: Vermont’s Education Quality Standards, adopted by the State Board of Education in 2013 and implemented the following spring, call for all high schools to use proficiency-based graduation requirements by the time the…
