There’s been a lot to take in over the past few weeks. A lot of change. A lot of questions.
Why I’m still working….
Books Plus Gifts for Young Scientists!
Over the years, I’ve been sharing some of my favorite books along with the perfect gifts to go with them. It really is one of my favorite recipes for gifts for children: 1 great book + 1 fun toy = sure-fire winner with loads of use!
On top of that, this list includes links to Amazon, which is another favorite ingredient: not running around to stores. Especially this time of year, the more I can order without ever getting into a car (or a parking lot) the better!
The High Cost of Pervasive Passivity and Why Play Matters
A preschool director once relayed to me an observation she made at her community center. She watched as a mother plucked her child from the waters of the pool at the end of his swimming lesson, quickly dried him and dressed him right on the deck, and then delivered him, minutes later, to his karate class. She wondered at how passive his role in the whole exchange was, as though he was merely a passenger on the high-speed train that was his life.
Why Art Matters for Young Children
I often wonder what other people see in the art being created in an early childhood classroom. What do they make of these splashes of paint and collages covered with glue and seemingly random bits and bobs?
Online Preschool: Panacea for Inequality or Placebo for Guilt?
Data doesn’t make the decision.
Data doesn’t make the decisions for you.
That was one of the big takeaways from my conversation with Emily Oster, researcher, author, and mother. As an economist at Brown University, Emily explores the science of making good decisions based on the data. In her newest book, Cribsheet, she explores how to apply that science to the decisions that face us as parents.
The Paradox of Sitting Still in Preschool
Sometimes, when people picture what learning looks like, they imagine perfectly quiet children in perfectly arranged rows, sitting perfectly still.
Sounds perfect.
But research tells us that’s not always what learning looks like. Especially when it comes to young children.
Advanced Content Coverage at Kindergarten: What Can We Really Learn from this Controversial New Study?
The debate over the roles of play and academics in kindergarten is not new. While my first response to this tired argument is always that it is a false dichotomy, a more specific challenge has recently entered the arena and therefore deserves a more specific response.
Can the Wrong Metrics Kill Learning?
This year didn’t quite start out the way I had hoped. BUT, I did manage to cross off a goal millions of people set at the beginning of the year, and after only a few weeks in.
