August 2009
11 posts
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: What Do...
Starting with a 1999 trip to Australia to witness the birth of my first granddaughter, I’ve been intricately involved in every phase of my granddaughters’ lives. Even in the early years when they lived in New Mexico and I lived in Arizona, I spent one or two weeks with Waniso and Sekai every month—either at my house or theirs. My involvement only intensified when, in 2004, my son suggested that...
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: Ted Kennedy’s...
The announcement that Ted Kennedy passed away brought back a very fond memory.
I was fortunate enough to watch him and Hillary Clinton present to the Senate a resolution regarding education. I was in Washington D.C. to help my mom fulfill her lifelong dream of visiting the nation’s capital city when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Our visit to the capital building was one of the...
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: Back to...
Given the fact that children spend the majority of their weekday waking hours at school, it is imperative that school is an enjoyable experience for them. Parents can insure that this is the case by paying attention and by getting involved when necessary. There are many factors that affect whether or not a child will enjoy school. But one of the most influential factors seems to be the...
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: Back to...
I had a college professor who began her teaching career in a makeshift, one-room school located in a remote area of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She was at her best when regaling us with what seemed to be far-fetched stories about the indigenous people with whom she worked. One such story involved the installation of a small U.S. postal outlet inside the general store. Before then, there was little...
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: Back to...
I was having dinner with two business associates the other day. Each had a daughter who was starting their first year of teaching, and the men thought that it would be fun for all of us to get together to celebrate. Fifteen minutes after meeting Amanda and Gretchen, I knew that the New York Public School System had snagged two additional amazing teachers. Several glasses of wine later, Gretchen’s...
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: Back to...
Over the years, I have heard more opinions about the right way to begin a school year than I can recall. Among the many approaches to starting a school year in a way that will ward off classroom chaos and keep things under control, there are two approaches that immediately come to mind. First there is the belief that a teacher needs to start off as a strict disciplinarian so that students will...
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: Back to...
While I seldom forget a nightmare, I almost always forget a good dream. But such was not the case with a dream that I had the other night. It caused me to wake up smiling, and even as I write this blog about the dream, I find myself with a smile of my face. In my dream, it was the first day of school and I was a third-grade teacher greeting my new students. The room was beautifully organized and...
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: The Debate About...
It took weeks to pack everything up and move my entire family to New York, and during that time, a lot was lost in the shuffle. One loss was my health insurance. A missed payment and non-response to several crucial notifications gave my insurance company the out they were looking for, and they dropped me like a hot rock. Finding an insurance company willing to insure a 60-year old woman with...
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: The Cultural...
I work with an amazing first-generation Polish woman who moved to America many years ago and settled into a Polish neighborhood in Brooklyn. While she speaks “broken” English, and I speak no Polish, we still manage to carry on some pretty interesting conversations. One recurring subject of our conversations is my friend’s regret that the children in her neighborhood “have blended in so much you...
Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: Beating the...
It’s hot. It’s muggy. And the kids I’m passing on the sidewalk are cranky. So it goes without saying that their parents are cranky too. Heat plus cranky kids plus cranky parents is a recipe for disaster. And no matter where I am outside my apartment, I find myself holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It’s time for a change in the hot summer weather. But since we mortals have no...