Dad Blogs - Useful Parenting Tips for Dads » Education

Dads in the Mix: Unintentional Prejudice?

Joshua Lewis Berg — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:56:25 +0000

Being in a mixed-race relationship and the father of biracial daughters, you would think I have experienced prejudice many times. However, I spent most of my life as a single white male and so am not really that accustomed to prejudice directed at me. Also, because I live in a very progressive part of the country, I still don’t experience it overtly all that often. So, when it does happen, even in subtle unintentional ways, it really shakes me up.

Dads in the Mix

Joshua Lewis Berg — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:45:58 +0000

Shifting the outlook and mindset of people is best accomplished through the education of children. That is why I am so excited to start a conversation about raising children of multiple backgrounds. I will bring to the table my experience from the perspective of a father of biracial children by addressing issues like racial identity, stereotyping, portrayal of race in children’s media, definitions of beauty, health, education and much more.

Who’s better at teaching kids to drive? Mom or dad?

Paul Banas — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:33:37 +0000

Teaching a teenager to drive is as much a rite of passage for the parent as it is for the kid. ... In their very unscientific poll of 1,387 adults, 52 percent said fathers were better at the difficult task, while only 24 percent thought moms were better at the job. ... ] This is clearly not a scientific study, or even anything beyond a controversy starter, but it's funny that people are always trying to figure out which parent is "better" at one thing or another.

Unkindergarten? A new phenomenon?

Paul Banas — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:36:47 +0000

They are part of a community of like-minded parents who are opting to enrich rather than formally educate their not-yet-school-age children (6 is the age that New York City law requires parents to register their children as home-schooled). They discovered one another through the New York City Home Educators Alliance (nychea.org), a home-schooling bulletin board. ...theirs is an ad hoc, day-by-day exploration into what it means to be a stay-at-home parent and child in an accelerated culture like New York.

... If I had the time and flexibilty, this sounds like an ideal way to continue those care-free years of babyhood on through age 6, with benefits for both mom or dad and for the child.

Kids Love Spanish!

Paul Banas — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:14:39 +0000

These look like great introductions for kids to play around learning a language and at least the basic words to help them navigate colors, alphabet, numbers and shapes. Learning a language can be a fun activity for both dads and kids, and an opportunity to show them that you're willing to start at zero and learn something new with them. While a DVD set isn't a substitute for real language immersion, and despite all the hype with rapid learning systems, language acquisition is not easy, this still can be a fun way to prepare for a trip south of the border, or to understand the increasing amount of Spanish being spoken in the United States.

Conference in Chicago on Family Issues in Contention

James di Properzio — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:39:41 +0000

On April 25th and April 26th the Council on Contemporary Families is holding a conference called “Family Issues in Contention.” Here’s some information from the press release: PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS Teen sexuality and “hooking up”: Should we be worried? We’ve all heard the stories: teenage girls performing oral sex on boys they just met at a [...]

Four financial tricks to make your child money-savvy

Paul Banas — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:35:06 +0000

Jonathan Clements, in the Wall Street Journal today, had some useful reminders for moms and dads trying to teach their kids good money skills. We actually practice some of these on our eight-year old. Our friend, Harvey Beck at ActiveAllowance.com writes a lot in his blog about his money experiments on his two boys and finds that a lot of these strategies really work. All dads should try these things just to see if it helps to quell the "I want" and "I need" reaction to all the buying stimuli kids are exposed to.

1. Postpone joy - Clements suggests offering to trade a $5 per week allowance for $7 if the child is willing to wait an extra week for it.

Basic etiquette for little kids 3-5 (and beyond!)

Paul Banas — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:06:47 +0000

Teaching kids not to run around during dinner is not easy, but you'll make it harder if you chase them around to get them to eat.... You can make it easier for the kids by eating dinner in a room without distractions like TV, and make a rule not to allow toys or books while eating the family meal together.

Back to school flashcards

Paul Banas — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 05:46:27 +0000

Second, I have a worry that my daughter will be frustrated by math and will very quickly decide it's not for her.... We plan to get a start on the school year, so when the teacher first says "two times two," she won't be afraid of hazarding a guess.