Issue link: http://hvparent.uberflip.com/i/1064453
6 Hudson Valley Parent n January 2019 W orking at Hudson Valley Parent often makes me feel nostalgic. Maybe it's because of how frequently I found my own mother leafing through the pages of a Hudson Valley Parent magazine as a child, but with each new topic that we cover, I always find myself thinking about how something like that would have transpired when I was growing up. This month, former homeschool mom Stephanie Sandler shared the six questions that homeschool families are sick of answering. She talked about everything from socialization to college and to the odd looks her kids used to get out in public in the middle of a "school day." When I was growing up in Orange County, my neighbors were a homeschool family. As a naive kid, I would find myself jealous when they were outside playing while I was inside stuck at the dining room table doing my homework. I would ask my mom why I had to get up at six in the morning while they got to play. Little did I know that their hours of what seemed like play was often hands-on, interactive learning. It wasn't until I started working at Hudson Valley Parent that I learned the inner workings of different types of education styles, homeschool being one of them. This month, I learned even more! Also this month, we share the top five learning apps that teachers and moms are raving about. When I was a child, tablets and educational apps were not available. Learning and practicing new skills meant breaking out pens, paper and index cards. Boy, how things have changed! Now, my nephews show me new letters they know how to write, new shapes they can draw and even read me stories with the help of their tablets and their favorite apps. They think they are playing video games when they are actually practicing the skills they learned in school. When I was in elementary school, evenings consisted of gathering around the dining room table to do my homework. My mother would help me figure out difficult math problems that I couldn't do on my own. These days, according to some of our readers, this quality time is often frustrating because of Common Core. To help parents alleviate some of this frustration, we rounded up great resources they can turn to when homework is just too hard. While working at HV Parent often makes me look back on the past, it also makes me look forward to the future. Especially during this season, when the calendars flip to a fresh, new year, I find myself fondly looking towards the year ahead of me and this magazine. 2019 is shaping up to be a wonderful, busy year. With bigger events, more readers and a celebration of 25 years as the number one resource for local parents, the entire Hudson Valley Parent staff is looking forward to this new year with excitement! Remembering the past, planning for the future CASSIDY BRIGHTON Editor's Journal Publisher TERRIE GOLDSTEIN tgoldstein@excitingread.com Editor CASSIDY BRIGHTON cbrighton@excitingread.com Dir. of Consumer Development PAMELA PERRY pperry@excitingread.com Dir. of Business Development KATHLEEN MERZ kmerz@excitingread.com Executive Assistant LESLIE CORTES lcortes@excitingread.com Media Advisor MATTHEW SILVERMAN msilverman@excitingread.com Cover Photography MICHAEL BLOOM MichaelBloomPhoto.com Layout & Design ENGLE PRINTING also publishers of MY TripPlanner.com family MY TripPlanner.com family Hudson Valley Parent is published monthly by: The Professional Image Marketing & Public Relations Inc. 174 South Street • Newburgh, NY 12550 Phone: 845-562-3606 • Fax: 845-562-3681 hvparent.com This publication is copyrighted by the publisher. Reproduction without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Hudson Valley Parent welcomes submissions, although we cannot accept responsibility for work submitted nor guarantee publication.