Kids VT, Winter 2021-22
Meet Judy Dow, Indigenous Educator; Give Your Kids a Smartphone Test; Set Up a Backyard Camera; Find Local Postpartum Groups
Cover Story
Vermont Visionaries: Meet Judy Dow, Indigenous Scholar and Educator
A few years ago, educator Judy Dow contemplated retiring. She’d been an educator for more than three decades, working at Essex Elementary School for 15 years and later teaching at the Chittenden Country Correctional Facility. She’d received the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Vermont Educator in 2004. Instead, Dow, a scholar of French Canadian and Indigenous…
Mom Takes Notes, Winter 2021-22
I loved the dark of the fall and early winter as a child. I remember the excitement of playing outside in our yard with the neighbors in the cold, pitch-black evening and the comfort of returning home to the light and warmth. I could not believe my luck that I got to stay up so…
I Made My Son Pass a Test to Earn His Smartphone. Here’s How to Make One for Your Kids.
Thinking about buying your child a smartphone this holiday season? I just got one for my 15-year-old son, Graham, and I can assure you, there are a dizzying array of options. I spent a few hours researching them and reading user reviews online before picking out his iPhone SE. My wife, Ann-Elise, and I both…
Editor’s Note: Sharing Stories
The cover of this Winter/Holiday Issue of Kids VT features local Indigenous educator Judy Dow — the subject of this month’s “Vermont Visionaries” — with her daughter and granddaughter. We chose this multigenerational portrait because many extended families will be reuniting this holiday season after skipping gatherings in 2020 due to COVID-19. The availability of…
Musical Notes: Vermont Youth Orchestra Association Returns to the Stage
After more than a year of virtual performances, Vermont Youth Orchestra flutist Logan Crocker stepped onstage in front of a live audience on October 17 at the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe. The Colchester High School senior was too excited to be nervous, he said: “It was such a nice feeling to be…
Pop Culture: How to Avoid Awkward Hugs This Holiday Season
“Oh, be nice. Go give your aunt a hug.” We’ve likely all heard some version of that instruction — or said it to our kids — when gathering with extended family. Hugs and kisses can be a way of establishing intimacy with loved ones. But sometimes those encounters can be awkward, especially if the child…
Secondhand Style: Meaningful Gifts Aren’t Always New
Through the years, I’ve watched thrifting become mainstream. This practice that some people used to consider gross or unsanitary has become not just acceptable but also celebrated. Reusing salvageable clothes and goods is less wasteful — and more affordable — than buying new. But has secondhand gifting followed the same trajectory? I’m more than happy…
Use Your Words: My Children Taught Me to Love Our Interfaith Holidays
My 4-year-old son’s favorite way to welcome the Sabbath on Friday nights is to tattle on his toddler sister. “She’s not covering her eyes!” he reports nearly every week. It’s a scene that unfolds as we perform the traditional Jewish ritual of lighting the Shabbat candles, using our hands to wave the light toward us…
Good Nature: Tips on Using a Game Camera to Watch Backyard Wildlife
At the beginning of a college course that I co-teach about the art and science of nature observation, I like to have my students watch videos of animals captured on wildlife cameras. The videos I give them were taken at two different beaver ponds over the course of a year — one in northern Minnesota,…
Mealtime: Family Recipes for Tourtière, and Carrots With Cranberries
When I was growing up, meat pie wasn’t on our holiday menu. Our annual Thanksgiving Pie-Palooza has always been about sweet dessert pies. At Christmas, my family’s Swedish traditions take center stage. My husband’s family, on the other hand, is French Canadian; his grandfather grew up outside of Montréal. My husband can’t remember a childhood…
Vermont Moms Talk About Giving Birth and Surviving Postpartum During a Pandemic
Is there anything more hopeful than having a baby? Babies represent the future. They embody our desire to believe in goodness and life. I’ve had four of them myself, and as a birth educator and doula, I help families welcome babies into their lives. It’s joyful work. I’m also a journalist. And when the pandemic…
