Education

School is here! Can you believe it? Some parents are breathing a huge sigh of relief (because Mom and Dad are maxed out on summer adventures) while others are sad to see it all end. Regardless of where you stand, preparing for school goes beyond buying or DIY'ing a first-day-of-school sign for the photo op. (Although I'm all for that, too!) Here are some tips for a successful start of the school year for your young children: Get back into your routine If your family is like mine, your schedule and routines may have taken a detour during the summer. Gradually start getting back on track so that your child is well rested for school. You can expect a good amount of...

My kids are 6 years apart. As I was searching for a school or my first born, we were overwhelmed with our options. In my opinion, I needed a road map to decipher EBR’s schools – we have public, private, charter, magnet, gifted, and immersion; I am sure I am missing options. I just wanted to scream I JUST WANT A GOOD SCHOOL FOR MY KID various times throughout the process. We ended up sending Micah to South Blvd. Elementary (now Baton Rouge Foreign Language Academic Magnet) for preschool in 2009. We LOVED it. Micah was learning and growing daily. There was diversity, quality teachers and my child was learning a second language. Thankfully, Micah got into Kindergarten there and...

Disclosure: This post is part our series in observance of World Breastfeeding Week and is sponsored by Woman’s Hospital.  Best Foods for Breastfeeding Many breastfeeding moms worry about the foods they eat, thinking they have to eat a perfect diet in order for their baby to get perfect breast milk. This often leads to unnecessary stress as they try to juggle eating the right foods while tending to a newborn. But it’s important to remember that the body is an amazing machine and will always work to make the perfect food for baby. While food and water intake can affect milk production, the need for a healthy diet is more for mom’s benefit. Eating a balanced diet will help give mom the...

Ok, so full disclosure: I'm an English teacher. Like, I have a son named after my favorite literary character ("Atticus") and a daughter named after a Louisiana epic poem ("Evangeline"). So, yeah. To say I love literature is an understatement. Which meant that when I became a mother, one of my greatest priorities was fostering a love for reading in my kids.  Though it hasn't always been easy, my husband and I have made it a point to establish some household guidelines entirely around reading. And I've seen enough episodes of "Intervention" to know that there's a word for our behavior: enablers. We unabashedly enable our kids' addiction to reading. If you're interested in developing reading addicts in your home,...

In response to the recent walkout conducted by teenagers all over the US, people took to social media to express their opinions. This didn't surprise me. What did surprise me were the general themes of what I saw in the responses. The very same people who were voicing frustration just days before, following yet another school shooting, were also complaining about how this specific population chose to act on those frustrations. They saw the peaceful protest in commemoration of the fallen and the effort to generate a national conversation about gun violence as ineffective and an immature attempt to skip class.  I guess that's what they think kids are into these days. Teenagers are often decried as being obsessed with...