a School Story Sending your first child off to Kindergarten is emotional. Your baby has grown up and is headed for "real school." The children line up with their backpacks and lunchboxes and look adorable. It is hard to believe the day has arrived so quickly. When I sent my…

Can you give it to someone, or do they simply “have it”? — As much as I love writing on Medium, writing is not my day job (thank God because 47￠ is not enough to last me the year). In real life, I am a certified teacher, but I’m self-employed. I tutor homeschooled students in language arts, mainly writing. I know — shocker. …

We All Have Things That We Just Can’t Take I don’t know what it is. Household chores are certainly not my favorite thing in the world, but I do them regularly because I want a clean home. I started living on my own three years ago when I moved into…

Stop focusing on rote remedial skills & give learning-challenged kids a chance to shine! At first, I wanted to say no. I’m an elementary school tutor, and she was a high school student! I don’t feel qualified to teach High School English. I could proofread a paper, sure, but I…

A comedy of neurodiversity. — My adult son stays with me a few days a week. His summer job is close to my place. He’s a great kid, but sometimes his thinking seems a little sideways, like he thought of the last thing first and the first thing last. …

Many teachers and parents mean something completely different when we say "have a better relationship" with students. We DON'T mean being a friend. We mean that we do the hard work of conscious discipline. You cannot make someone else do something! Once a child is too big to be physically…

Wow! I hadn't heard about or thought about Tony Attwood in a long time! I read his "Complete Guide to Asperger's" about 15 years ago when my son was first diagnosed with autism. I believe his therapist recommended it. At this point, I realize that I'm autistic and so are…

I think my childhood was a lot like yours. My parents are wonderful, kind, and friendly people. However, they seem to be allergic to praise, hugs, and I love yous. Whenever we (my two sisters and I) did anything that was supposed to have a result, they told us what…

So interesting that you wrote about this show. I'm not sure when it came out, but I remember watching it as an adult for some reason (possibly reruns in the middle of the night when my kids were babies). I am a Christian, and I was constantly spotting HUGE problems…