UnchartedParent.com

When Reading Makes Us Sick–And It’s a Good Thing

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:46:16 +0000

A few days ago, I had to say the ‘n’ word. As soon as I realized I would have to do it, I felt a little sick. I stopped. I took a deep breath before the sentence. I tried to think if I’d ever said this word out loud before, and I thought that probably [...]

The Pain of Teaching Your Child It’s Okay to Make Mistakes

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:57:33 +0000

This post is a follow-up to last week’s post–though I didn’t originally intend it to be. Last week, I wrote about my efforts to teach my kids responsibility and how I’d become impatient with them for forgetting things they really ought to remember: bringing their sneakers to school, remembering all the components of a science [...]

Kids & Responsibility – Still Working on It

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:50:42 +0000

I’ve written about this before, and I’m sure I will again. How many years have I got until my kids become adults? This will be quick, though, because as I write this post, I’m waiting for the school bus to pull up so I can have one of those conversations with my children. You know [...]

An Odd Twist to Childhood Myths: When Children Become Complicit in Perpetuating Them

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:33:58 +0000

Neither of my children has ever asked me if the Tooth Fairy is real. Given their ages and personalities, I find this odd. My ten-year-old son, “Jack,” has always had a good grasp of the distinction between fantasy and reality, and has found both realms equally valid as long as he knows where he is [...]

Snow Day

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:35:00 +0000

Woo-hoo! It’s finally here: a snow day! In New Hampshire, we live for snow. Skiing, sledding, snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, building forts, hot chocolate by the fire, yippee, hooray, where’s it been until now? Or not. I dislike pointless, bitter, cold weather without snow or, worse yet, freezing rain as much as the next person. But [...]

How to Force Public Schools to Home-School Your Child (It’s the Law)

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:04:35 +0000

Welcome back from the holidays, everyone. I hope you had a lovely time with family and friends. No time to waste here on small talk, though. Let’s dive right in to the new year. Will you walk with me through a few hypothetical scenarios? Great. Let’s go: Your third-grader is learning multiplication in his local [...]

Happy Holidays!

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:22:12 +0000

As I write this, we’re about halfway through our version of the holiday season: one child’s birthday, Hanukkah, Christmas, wedding anniversary and New Year’s. Yesterday I served cocoa to first-graders, taught fourth-graders how to gamble (i.e., taught them how to play dreidel) and with the help of a friend, prepared enough traditional Hanukkah food-fried-in-oil that [...]

Ten Years

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:05:52 +0000

The baby in the photo above is just a few days old. He’s still exhausted from the difficult birth, and from the colic that plagues him whenever he’s awake. If you look carefully at the middle of his forehead, you’ll see a small streak of blond; that’s the color all of his hair will turn [...]

And Now…Books 10-Year-Old Girls Will Love

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:47:17 +0000

This week, it’s the girls’ turn. Last week, I posted a list of book recommendations that ought to keep the ten-year-old boy in your life reading for a long time. But even though I focused on boys because I initially sought suggestions for my own son, I thought I ought to come up with a [...]

Follow-up on Books for Boys–and Now, How About the Girls?

Tracy Hahn-Burkett — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:17:32 +0000

Wow. I asked for suggestions for good books for a ten-year-old boy, and you delivered. Readers, parents and writers contributed dozens of recommendations that can keep my son (and yours) engaged in stories for a long time. Thank you! You can find many of these recommendations in the comments to the original post from two [...]