From the category archives:

Children

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 6, 2011

This is a big WOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOO!!! to all you mothers and grandmothers who give the best you’ve got to your children and your family every day. who ask the important questions when you feel a concern for your child. who have the courage to do what’s best for your child, even when it means not doing [...]

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Children Get Smarter with Video Games

May 2, 2011

My thirty-something son Orion has played video games for many years, perhaps as many as 25; and he loves them. He’s often gravitated toward the violent ones, in which he competes against other players to see who goes down first or who makes it to the end first. I’ve never worried about him becoming violent [...]

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Improve Your Art of Observation

April 28, 2011

The most important skill for every educator and parent is to be aware of what’s happening with a child emotionally and how he is perceiving and experiencing the world. This is not an exact science nor will it ever be. Yet it is a vital skill to bring out the best in a child. Because [...]

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Education that Nurtures Our Children

April 25, 2011

Our traditional approach to educating our children with its testing, grades, limiting structure and teacher-directed learning troubles me greatly. I can use words to describe what’s possible. Yet the most effective way is to show you. That’s why, when I came across this inspiring, beautifully-done video of a child-directed learning program in which children’s natural [...]

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Another Perspective on Video Games

March 16, 2011

A friend recently shared the following excerpt from “Everything Bad Is Good For You” by Steven Johnson. It is a spoof on articles decrying video games, based on a fantasy that video games came before reading. “Reading books chronically under stimulates the senses. Unlike the longstanding tradition of game playing – which engages the child [...]

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Does Academic Pressure in Kindergarten Make a Difference?

October 22, 2010

Excellent research-based article in the Harvard Review about the value of academics in Kindergarten. What works is supporting children in play and their natural development. We can trust children. All the academic efforts in the early years do not help children become more capable or to be more advanced academically than children who followed their [...]

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