At this South Korean school, children and their grandmas learn together
Faced with declining enrollment, an elementary school in rural South Korea is welcoming grandmothers, many of whom were not permitted to attend school when they were girls.
Are you a typical American grandparent?
There’s a new study out about grandparents. Some of its findings surprised me.
Why grandparents outnumber grandchildren
There used to be many more children than elders; now, for the first time in history, the old outnumber the young.
More myths about grandparents that it’s time to trash
Many stereotypes about grandparents are wrong.
We have this woman to thank for Grandparents Day
A housewife from West Virginia fought for years to get a national holiday for grandparents declared. In 1978, she won.
When your grandma is Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Clara Spera recently graduated from law school. Her inspiration was her grandmother, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The best movies about kids and their grandparents
Most movies put grandparents on the sidelines, when they put them anywhere at all. Here are some great ones that give them their due.
How grandparents prevent kids from being ageist
Children who see their grandparents at least once a week and describe these visits as “happy” are much less likely than their peers to buy into negative stereotypes about elders, a new study suggests.
Does modern parenting ruin kids?
Because of how their parents are raising them, kids will grow up to be more entitled, less disciplined, and less independent than their elders, an overwhelming majority of Australian grandparents believes.
What is age segregation and why is it bad?
For the most part, we spend time with people close to us in age. Here’s why we should branch out.
“If your grandparents are still alive, embarrass them and yourself”
Ask your grandparents questions about themselves before it’s too late, urges novelist Michael Chabon.
“Grandmammy was all the world to me”
Though Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, he was “a spirited, joyous, uproarious, and happy boy,” thanks to his grandma, who raised and protected him.
What do your grandkids call you?
I’ve been asking grandparents around the country what they’re called and why. Here are a few of their stories.
Welcome to The Grandparent Effect
Grandparents are healthier, wealthier, and longer-lived than ever before. What does this mean for us all?
Grandparents are healthier than ever
Grandparents are healthier than they were 30 years ago, even though they’re also older, a Canadian study has found.
From his grandparents, Obama learned these simple truths
“America has changed over the years,” President Obama told the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. “But these values that my grandparents taught me, they haven’t gone anywhere.”
“Children should not bear the burden of unfinished grudges”
Grandparents and grandchildren need one another, so parents shouldn’t stand in the way, says grandmother and journalist Connie Schultz.
The very best books about the very best season
For kids, summer means freedom. These books beautifully capture that.
Five myths about grandparents that it’s time to trash
Let’s ditch the stereotypes and start embracing the truth instead.
The best picture books about spring
I spent the final weeks of winter reading all the picture books I could find about spring. Here are my favorites. They’re simple, they’re deep, and they’re as gorgeous as the season.
How Miss Rumphius made the world more beautiful
In this extraordinary picture book, a girl’s grandfather inspires her to live well and do good.
“I think I know my grandfather now”
As a boy, Allen Say barely knew his grandpa. As a man, he came to understand him. That’s why he created Grandfather’s Journey, a picture book for which he won the Caldecott Medal in 1994.
What grandparents got for Christmas in 1914
Here’s some shopping advice that ran in the New-York Herald Tribune on December 1, 1914 under the headline “Gifts for the Grandparent.”
“Over the river, and through the wood”
The story behind the famous poem about a boy who’s bursting with excitement to see his grandparents on Thanksgiving.
“My grandchildren are the best medicine for whatever might ail me”
When Marsha Boyer was diagnosed with cancer, she feared her grandkids would never know her. Here’s what happened next.
It takes a village to pay the bills
More and more older Americans are giving money to their children and grandchildren, and the amount they’re giving is rising.
Margaret Mead learned everything from her grandma
The legendary anthropologist Margaret Mead was homeschooled for most of her childhood by her grandmother, an iconoclast who rejected rote instruction as “stultifying” and emphasized learning by doing instead.
Obama’s birth meant a new life for his grandparents
Stanley and Madelyn Dunham didn’t know many black people until their daughter fell in love with a college classmate from Africa.
Let’s stop pretending grandparents just bake cookies
Isn’t it time we discarded the myths and misconceptions about grandparents and started giving them their due?
Do you dream of living near your grandkids?
There are a lot of good reasons to move closer to your grandkids. Then again, there are some good reasons to stay where you are. I asked some grandparents who made the move what happened next.
To nurture your family, nurture yourself
Parents and grandparents need one another. How can they learn to get along?
Meet the grandmas of the Mississippi Delta
A new book profiles more than 50 black women who suffered brutal discrimination as children but survived to make a better life—and a better world—for their heirs.
“I grew up with the possibility of magic”
Isabel Allende, a novelist with millions of readers around the world, says her grandparents shaped both her character and her career.
Everyone on earth is this man’s cousin
A.J. Jacobs, a journalist and bestselling author, thinks he can build a family tree for all of humanity. Here’s what he told me about his project, his grandparents, and his most famous ancestor.
“Grandmas and grandpas are everything nice”
This poem was written in 1962, but it’s pretty timeless, don’t you think?
Do grandparents know the secret to happiness?
Mo Rocca hopes the grandparents on his TV show can teach him how to live.
How can parents help children and their grandparents connect?
Happiness expert Gretchen Rubin has some ideas.
Could your grandkids get by without you?
A sociologist spent years interviewing grandparents who give a ton of time and money to their grandkids, often because their grown children are struggling.
Lamentations of a long-distance grandmother
“I think there should be legislation that keeps children and their offspring in the same town, but it didn’t work out that way.”
