How To Support Your Child On And Off The Field

By Michelle Bourg

Whether it’s Pee Wee Soccer, Little League or “Friday night lights,” youth sports are an American tradition. And that’s a great thing: in addition to providing the physical benefits of exercise, it’s been consistently shown that kids’ involvement in sports boosts self-esteem, improves academic performance, reduces the likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors and teaches important social skills, including teamwork, goal setting and emotional resilience. Nurturing your child’s involvement in sports offers definite benefits, but also demands active parental planning and involvement to maintain a balance with other aspects of growing up. For parents of young athletes, maintaining that balance is almost a sport in itself. Continue reading →

How Technology Is Helping Kids Learn

By Pamela Briggs

The pencil was the latest invention 450 years ago. Now we have devices that know our schedules, robots that learn and self-driving vehicles are coming down the road. It’s become increasingly important to ask ourselves: How do we choose good tech tools, and then use them carefully and wisely to do the job well? Continue reading →

Exploring the Benefits of Stem and Steam Education

By Michelle Bourg

A well-rounded curriculum used to be “The Three Rs,” or “reading, writing and arithmetic.” Today, STEM, and STEAM are becoming the dominant measure of what students need to learn. But what exactly are STEM and STEAM, and how are they different from traditional learning? Do they offer any real benefit to your child? A closer look shows that STEM and STEAM education is an approach that offers students real benefits and will change how they learn and prepare for the future. Continue reading →

How to Make Your Child’s Transition Easier

By Michelle Bourg

As the old saying goes, “Nothing is constant except change.” All change requires some adjustment, from a new baby to a rescheduled dental appointment. This can be difficult for adults, let alone for children, who thrive on routine and have fewer coping skills.

From preschool to college, starting or changing schools is a dramatic—and a potentially traumatic—milestone for a youngster. School is the place where children establish an identity and relationships outside the family circle—changing schools requires them to establish them over again. Plus, we’re human: the unfamiliar is scary.

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How to Help Your Child Get a Head Start

By Michelle Bourg

Attending college has long been a cornerstone of the American dream, and the majority of students hope to do so. But the path to getting there is a winding and long one: educators and college admissions officers recommend that planning for college begin when a child reaches sixth grade. For modern families, the three keys to navigating the path to college successfully are proactivity, organization, and communication.

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How to Help Your Child Handle the Workload

By Michelle Bourg

Back in the day, homework was something kids could do before dinner—a page of math problems and maybe a chapter of reading, done with the radio or TV on and with plenty of time left over for other things. Not any more: it’s a more rigorous academic landscape, and homework is a continuation of a demanding workload. Helping kids manage the demands of homework efficiently for maximum educational benefit is now a priority for the whole family.

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Students Travel the Country and World to Put Lessons Into Action

By Cady Schulman

Sometimes education goes beyond the classroom. Learning doesn’t have to be limited to books and lectures. Teachers can also rely on real-world experiences to engage students and give them a first-hand look at what is going on beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Connecting to the world is a vital part of education, says Jason Underwood, head of school at High Meadows School in Roswell. It sparks curiosity and joy in students, which means they pay more attention when they are in class. “We’ve noticed that our kids really are successful academically and socially as a result of getting outside of the classroom and getting outside of themselves,” Underwood says.

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Enhancing Connections to Other Academic Disciplines

By Michelle Bourg

The last 15 years have seen educators put more emphasis on test performance in basic subjects, particularly reading and math. But the arts are now making a comeback. New studies on the correlation between the arts and academic achievement support a trend to put the arts back into classrooms both here in Atlanta and across the country.

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How Standards Help Students Compete Globally

By Ken Abramczyk and Larry Anderson

Common Core standards help to ensure that students in the United States are proficient in language arts and mathematics. But what exactly is Common Core, and how is it impacting Georgia students’ educational journey? Georgia is one of 42 states that have embraced the initiative, although some aspects in Georgia have changed, and the standards have a new name.

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Without a doubt, academics form the core of any school’s mission, and they’re often the first thing parents analyze when selecting a new school for their child. But at many metro Atlanta schools, studies in such subjects as reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies are just the foundation of a well-rounded curriculum. At these schools, teachers aim to educate the “whole child” by focusing on the development of a student’s mind, body and spirit—teaching him how to interact with the outside world, and instilling the skills and confidence necessary to continue to grow and learn throughout his life.

Here are just a few of the different types of schools and philosophies that aim to educate the whole child, going beyond facts and figures to help students grow into happy, healthy and responsible adults.

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