W ith the unprecedented closure of schools in the area in response to COVID-19, parents are faced with the challenge of keeping their children from boredom. The struggle is real. We feel you. We reached out through social media to Dubuque-area parents to find out what they’ve been doing to keep gray matter and creative...

Imaginative play has long been the trademark of childhood. Dolls, tea parties, dress-up, pretend battles and action figures are what many of us associate with good, old-fashioned child’s play. Parents today face intense criticism about the amount of time children are spending on electronic devices when they could be engaging in imaginative play. Technology has...

In the raising of her twin 9-year-olds, an ongoing question persists for Stacy Raap: When does she give them their first cellphone? They already have classmates that have phones. But she is certain that now is not the right time. “We haven’t set out an age when we think they should get a phone,” Raap...

During the past several years, the word YET has been popping up in classrooms across the country. “I don’t know how to add big numbers YET, but I will learn if I keep listening in math” wrote one first-grader. “Writing in cursive isn’t easy for me YET,” stated a third-grader. “But I’ll get better if...

We know that seniors are full of wisdom and have much to offer our society. They are key to our communities and important to the upbringing of our youth. But do you know the benefits and specifics of how seniors impact the youth? Youth who have regular interaction with a senior mentor experience the following...