Good news: there are so many great streaming services now! Bad news: there are so many great streaming services now. In the abundance of programming now available 24/7 on a wide variety of platforms, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed! We’ve sifted through three of the newest and most popular streaming services to curate a list of our family favorites for ages 2-12, guaranteed to inspire, amuse, and be 100% painless for all adult watchers. Looking for your littlest littles? Check out the “Small” picks. Moving on to school-aged children? Look for the “Medium” section. Older elementary and middle school families should head straight to “Large.” Please pass the popcorn! (Note: all age recommendations are from the experts over at Common Sense Media.)

Luckily, for that first question, we have the researchers at Common Sense Media, who have provided thoughtful, unbiased scientific research on children and media usage since 2003. And it turns out that not all screen time is created equal; for instance, zoning out to a YouTube gamer video is different than following along with an instructional video; reading an e-book, completing schoolwork, or doing something creative like coding or making a movie all have different effects on the brain as well

If you’re in the forest and a bear comes over and attacks you, can you ask it why it wants to do that? ‘Cause I get mad too, so maybe the bear just needs a snack. (Kristin) Can I just hurry up and be a grown-up now? I’m ready to touch knives. (Jaya) Whether it’s the lack of background knowledge or the lack of filter, we find ourselves stifling laughs at the ridiculous, hilarious, and occasionally downright bizarre questions and comments that come tumbling out of our little ones’ mouths. Toddl

Let’s all take a deep breath and say it: remote learning is HARD! So many parents and caregivers have found themselves in the position of being teachers (or at least assistant teachers) this year. We all know teachers are true heroes in the best of times, and this year -- whether figuring out how to make curriculum virtual or learning how to teach in-person and remotely at the same time -- that’s never been more true. And teachers who are also parents? Someone give them an award already! (Or a

Raise your hand if you’re tired of coming up with lunch ideas for your family! Since the pandemic started, lunchtime has been different for many families. Some are serving up at home instead of offices or school cafeterias providing lunch, some are packing lunches for new and different childcare setups, and many folks are having to make their grocery bills stretch a little farther than usual. What’s stayed the same is the need for a constant flow of delicious, nutritious, kid-approved ideas. (A

We all know reading is an important life skill. Whether in school, at home, or just moving through the world, text is everywhere! But did you know that reading, especially fiction, actually makes people more empathetic and more socially intelligent? That’s right! Scientific research points to reading as having a strong effect on kids’ ability to understand other people’s perspectives, and this makes sense – after all, when you read a story, you’re imagining that you’re in another world, “hearin

“Before you think about retaliating, ask yourself: is this person normally out to get me?” Sun Tzu on the art of war? General Patton on the rules of engagement? No, just me advising some pre-recess fourth graders on the weeks after winter break. We forget that this time of year is usually hard for kids for many reasons. From the school perspective, winter break is the second longest break of the year, after summer break. Then they return for a breakneck few weeks before many schools go on brea

Video script by Melissa Holman-Kursky; animation by Giselle Chow

Press release by Melissa Holman-Kursky

The latest edition of The Gaven Street Gazette is now available online. Read about our new Strategic Plan: 2017-2022, Fulfilling Our Humanitarian Promise, and some of the initiatives we’ve focused on this first year, as well as milestone anniversaries, retirements, and alumni news.

“There’s a Shakespeare quote I keep coming back to,” says Ruth Cardillo, Upper School Art Teacher. “‘One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.’ Artists have shown the natural world throughout time to help people connect to it, and that’s what we tried to do here, with the theme of the calendar.” Last year, after the Sonoma fires in the North Bay, Cardillo led students in creating a painterly ode to the Sonoma region, with some beautiful results. “It gave us a chance to talk about the exper

How can we utilize the resources in San Francisco to create more cross-country opportunities for students? That’s what Tiffany Fong (The San Francisco School), Ashling Bryant (Katherine Delmar Burke School), and several other middle school athletics directors wondered as they wrapped up their 2017 season. There are limited numbers of officially permitted cross-country courses (approximately 1.5 miles total) for middle schoolers in San Francisco, and at that time, they were all located in Golden

Late the other night, after putting our respective children to bed, two friends and I hopped on video chat and debriefed on everything from I’m Sorry (please, someone, help me convince them to watch it!) to — just like everyone else — how we were weathering the storm that is the coronavirus. Times are, to say the least, uncertain. It seems like everyone knows someone affected or ill, if they themselves are not. Schools will open, or they won’t, and either way the decision will negatively affect

Not too long before the world imploded and school closed down, I was having lunch with a group of third graders. They were comparing lunches and debating trades with the seriousness of the New York Stock Exchange, considering the value of a common yet delicious Oreo versus a smaller but rarer piece of mochi. As trades ended and cleanup began, one student, R, sat with a glum look on his face, barely cracking a smile even as his friends tried to include him in the conversation. “You look bummed.