Are you familiar with JustAsk, Education.com’s Community Q&A forum? JustAsk is a fantastic place to get questions answered by dedicated members, as well as our team of Experts - including child psychologists, pediatricians, school administrators, and bullying specialists. And now, for the very first time, JustAsk can make its way straight to your site!

That’s right: You can help parents, teachers, and teens get their toughest questions answered - from the comfort of your very own website! Easily customizable by title, topic, color, and size, this automatically updated widget keeps your page current with the newest and toughest education and parenting questions.

From your site, viewers can click any question link that catches their eye, and read the full Q&A thread on JustAsk. Not only will you be helping your visitors out with commonly asked parenting questions, we bet your site makes an impression as an up-to-date resource! To create your own personalized widget tool and place it on your website, just follow these simple steps: (more…)

I bet you’d be surprised if you really stopped to think about what an “expert” you are as a parent. Remember the time you “cured” your toddler of her nightly bad dreams, helped your 8-year-old (finally) eat veggies, or got your 4th grader to do his homework without (too much) grumbling? Believe it or not, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of parents out there who are dealing with a parenting riddle that you’ve already solved!

Come share your expert experience by answering a question in the JustAsk forum. We think you’ll love how it feels to help out another mom or dad, but just in case you need a little extra incentive, how’d you like to win a box of handpicked, age-appropriate games and books for your kiddos? Now’s your chance!

All you have to do is share your parenting expertise by answering one or more questions in JustAsk, Education.com’s community question and answer forum! Education.com has tons of prizes to give away, and over the next few weeks, we’ll be hosting several competitions. There’s no need to be a doctor or educational expert—we’re just looking for helpful input from Education.com members. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, big brother or sister, nanny, or grandparent, our community wants to hear from you! (more…)

There are now over 100,000 individuals and companies following Education.com’s profiles on Twitter, the free social networking and micro-blogging platform that helps you “discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world.” On behalf of Education.com, I extend our sincere gratitude to all who are connecting and engaging with our organization in this way! (more…)

One year ago today, Education.com launched JustAsk to help parents get their toughest questions answered by their peers and other experts. Since then, thousands of questions have been asked and answered across a wide range of topics, and there are now tens of thousands of JustAsk visitors benefiting each month from the insights and information being shared absolutely free of charge.

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As the school year winds down, many parents and teachers are discussing plans for the next school year. At Education.com, we have received a large number of questions in our online community, JustAsk, regarding the topic of grade retention. In general, the questions go something like this, “My child’s teacher is recommending that my child be retained another year. What should I do?” Given the large number of parents who are struggling with this questions, I decided to tweet about it on Twitter @ChildPsych. The tweet generated such a healthy debate on the advantages and disadvantages of grade retentions, I thought I might keep the conversation going in the form of a blog post.

To date, the majority of research suggests that grade retention does NOT positively impact children. For example, Dr. Jimerson conducted a meta-analysis (analyzing the cumulative results of previous research on the topic) in 2001, finding that “grade retention does not provide greater benefits to students with academic or adjustment difficulties than does promotion to the next grade.” Experts have theorized that the characteristics that predisposed the child to difficulty in school initially, persist throughout development, effectively “trumping” any short term gains that could be earned with grade retention. Indeed, the evidence is so strong, the National Association of School Psychologists issued a position statement (the top thinkers in the field of school psychology convened together, discussed the topic, and declared a final declaration on the topic) recommending that parents and teachers limit the use of grade retention.

Despite the evidence, I do recognize that grade retention can be beneficial for some students. Some students simply need another year of development to be “ready” in order to access the classroom curriculum. I recommend that parents do their best to  get the latest information available on grade retention, talk with their child’s teacher and school administrators, and use their gut to make the best decision possible. And, when in doubt, JustAsk!