Capital City Parent

Alvin and The Chipmunks – The MusicalNov 19, 7pm Thu. Tickets: $25, $35, $45, $65. peoriaciviccenter.com. Peoria Civic Center, 201 SW Jefferson Ave., Peoria, 309-673-8900. Schoolhouse Rock Live! JRNov 20-22, 7pm Fri-Sat, 2pm Sun. Family-friendly revival of Emmy Award-winning 1970s Saturday morning educational cartoon. Featuring songs such as “Just A Bill,” “Interplanet Janet” and “Conjunction […]

Students routinely practice conflict resolution skills at Aunt Fluffy’s Preschool, which operates on the principles of Conscious Discipline. PHOTO BY DAVID HINE Aunt Fluffy’s Preschool in Springfield is not your ordinary early-learning environment. The students refer to each other as their “school family.” Instead of a timeout zone, there is a Safe Place where children […]

PHOTO FROM METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION When our son was a baby, my husband and I tried to instill in him a love of the written word. At first we would just read to him each day. But when he was able to talk and develop ideas of his own, we started telling and then writing […]

PHOTO BY jonathanjonl/Flickr There is no escape from the racial conflicts with which children must cope…avoiding the problem isn’t helpful. Too much parental protection from life’s realities may hamper a child’s later ability to cope with life as it is. –Alvin Poussaint, M.D For 22 years I have worked in the public school system with […]

PHOTO FROM METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION Cordelia Marlow, an eighth-grader at Franklin Middle School, describes her school lunches as poor. “The food quality went down after 2010,” she said, referring to changes in the federally funded National School Lunch program. “The taste and texture are bad. The meat is soggy and tastes kind of weird.” The […]

SIU pediatrician Dr. Greg Bennett conducts a physical at the SIU HealthCare clinic. PHOTOS COURTESY SIU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE School supply list: Pencils? Check. Folders? Check. Back to school physical? Vaccines? If your children are entering pre-K, kindergarten, sixth or ninth grade or are new to Illinois or Springfield Public Schools, they need a medical […]

A Net to Snare the Moonlight and Other Poems for Children is the latest book of Vachel Lindsay’s poetry to be released by the Vachel Lindsay Association. This 17-poem collection, illustrated by Springfield artist Felicia Olin, contains some of Lindsay’s creepier children’s poems. The publisher of record is the Vachel Lindsay Association and the book […]

The writer’s son, Anders, “meets” his grandmother for the first time. Anders was born six years after her death. PHOTO COURTESY ERIKA HOLST My mother’s pet name for me was lillegull, a Norwegian term of endearment that translates to “little golden child.” I was her only child, born when she was 36, and she loved […]

PHOTO BY METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION It’s funny how things have a way of coming full circle in life. During the early 70s, “Sesame Street” was a cornerstone of my childhood. Now, after of 4 ½ years of parenthood, the show still captures my attention and it helps me explain the world we live in. The […]

PHOTO BY RODGER MALLISON/TNS You’ve probably heard about dangers inherent in excessive sugar consumption: empty calories linked to obesity, diabetes and other health problems. That it has displaced beverages such as milk and water. All true. But though they’re less widely known, there are other problems caused by regular and excessive consumption of non-nutritive beverages […]

Selene Lockerbie, left, holds her daughter Evelyn, 3, while she looks through a telescope at the transit of Venus between Earth and the sun. PHOTO BY JAY L. CLENDENIN/TNS When Anne Gregurich of Springfield was 13 years old, she decided to build her own telescope after watching a Nova documentary. “I made it out of […]