The report recommends that pediatricians take a more active role in explaining to parents the value of childhood play.

Kids need to play. It seems like an obvious statement, as central to childhood as eating peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches and chasing fireflies. For generations, parents have known that a play-filled childhood is essential for healthy physical and mental development. They didn’t need to read the latest research findings on play. They didn’t need experts to tell them it’s important. They just knew it. Kids are designed by nature to play, and parents have generally let them. Continue reading →

When given the opportunity to make choices about which school their child attends, parents are quite competent.

As back-to-school time approaches, parents are bracing for school-related trauma. The threat of bullying, violence, school shootings, and mental health maladies looms large as a new school year emerges. A 2018 PDK poll found that one-third of parents are concerned about their child’s safety at school, a sharp jump in recent years. And it’s not just peer harassment that worries parents. The Miami-Herald reported last month that an experienced teacher who was named “teacher of the year” this year in Florida, was caught on video calling a kindergartener a “loser.”

Some parents are fed up. They want options other than a mandatory, assigned district school. Continue reading →

Here’s what I discovered

I spent the past week at a camp teaching teens about the legislative process. Among other things, the teens learned about American history, government, and worldview, while also role-playing as senators, representatives, and media. The week ended with a final debate on the house floor of the Minnesota Capitol. Here are five interesting things I noticed throughout the week.
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Facebook and Google generation are too willing to surrender privacy says leading scientist

Young people too willingly surrender their privacy to Google and Facebook, a leading scientist warned yesterday.

Noel Sharkey, a professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at Sheffield University, said that older people were more cautious with their personal data.

Addressing the Cheltenham Science Festival, he said: ‘I’m 65, I don’t want to be targeted. I am very uncomfortable with it. It seems to me our privacy is gradually being violated and eroded without us noticing.

‘I am part of the generation which all read 1984 – I think we are less happy about giving up our privacy.
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Take a full day to simply observe your child or your student. Above all do not judge as you observe.

Notice the way she rises from a chair. Listen closely to her laughter. Does he step lightly or do his feet pound heavily? Continue reading →

Students Caden Ward, Amya Washington, Joshua Gage, Cheyenne Waller and McKenzie Frye engage in a computer activity.

“Some kids are art smart, or music smart, or book smart, and we don’t get to explore enough of that during a traditional school day,” says Kerry Blackwelder, a veteran Read to Achieve third-grade HillRAP instructor. “I get excited for the kids who are coming to camp because this environment helps build their confidence so much and they blossom! They discover how smart they are and what they can accomplish.” Continue reading →

Students who like to text and email friends during lectures should take note

Students do better long-term without devices distracting them, a study found.

French lawmakers this week passed a law to ban the use of smartphones in schools, toughening a previous law that prohibited the use of smartphones in during class. Starting in September, the new law applies to students between the ages of 3 and 15 years of age.

Schools with students who are 15 years and older will have an option to adopt the ban. “Our main role is to protect children and adolescents,” French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told French TV, citing previous studies on young people becoming addicted to technology. Continue reading →

“You can cut the arts all you want, sooner or later these kids won’t have anything to read or write about.” ~ Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland’s Opus)

Most schools are letting out for the summer, and it’s the time that many decide to make budget cuts for the upcoming year. Hopefully music does not get cut in your area, as learning music teaches so much more than just notes on a page!!

I cry a little every time I hear about a school cutting arts.

Even though technology allows us to do more in less time, it does not always foster learning.

That’s why some college professors are saying “no more laptops or tablets” and going old-school, forcing note taking on paper only. But, students who grew up more familiar with keyboards than cursive are struggling to adjust to this device-free stance.

University of Kansas associate professor of journalism Carol Holstead is one of many across the country who initially noticed how distracted students became while taking notes on their laptops. Continue reading →

Perfectly Preserved Lessons Provide Rare Look Into Past

Classrooms at Emerson High School in Oklahoma City were getting a routine face lift when renovators accidentally uncovered an incredible glimpse into the history of American education.

Construction workers were removing chalkboards– taking them down to replace them with new Smart Boards– when they stumbled upon some older chalkboards underneath. Continue reading →

Photo: Clemens v. Vogelsang / CC BY 2.0

I am writing this because I found a legal way to force the public schools in the USA to have to reform whether they want to or not. I have discussed this at length with people who understand law, politics, education, and more. There is a consensus among them that this may very well be a good way to make something good happen. Here it is in it’s most basic form.

First, ALL public schools in the USA are under what is known as “En Loco Parentis“, which means, “in place of parents”. They are responsible for all children attending the schools of that district. Also, in the bylaws or governing documents, it can be found some statement to the effect, if not in exact words, “It is our pupose to provide a safe learning environment for all children in our care”, or something to similar effect. That places the school and it’s officials and personnel in legal liability for those children if something happens to them. Continue reading →

Research shows a correlation between greater academic demands and a reduction in drinking, smoking and drug use.

A math camp at Murry Bergtraum High School in New York. Studies have shown that increased high school math graduation requirements have been linked to higher future earnings.CreditAlex Wroblewski/The New York Times

Like all parents of teenagers, I worry that my children will engage in risky behavior, including drinking, smoking and drug use. The more time they spend doing healthier extracurricular activities — soccer, piano, cleaning their rooms (ha!) — the better.

But it turns out that what they do in school can also affect their choices outside the classroom. Continue reading →

(Katy David/TED-Ed)

Dr. Brené Brown has become famous for her speaking and writing about vulnerability, worthiness, shame and the other important emotions running underneath daily life all the time. One theme she returns to over and over is the importance of cultivating empathy, a very different reaction than sympathy. Continue reading →

There are some posts which remain timeless. ~ Ed.

It’s one of the biggest debates going on among early childhood development experts: Is it more important for kindergartners to focus on academics and learn their ABC’s and numbers? Or spend more time on social and emotional issues, like how to play nice and pay attention?

Recent research by a UC Irvine education professor shows that math skills among kindergartners turn out to be a key predictor for future academic success. Continue reading →

This explains why Socialism won’t work, and always fails.

Is this man a genius? Kudos To This Insightful Prof.

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on this plan”. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A…” Continue reading →

It is rare that I step outside of the known within this blog to share with you what I share today. It began with my decades long love of art, and my discovery of ‘the Petite Picasso,‘ Alexandra Nechita in 2006. Although I have never been a fan of her type of art – I became a fan of hers. Her story is amazing, but her desire to share much of her work for philanthropic purposes is equally amazing. Some days ago, I discovered one of her early works from 1995 (she was 10 years of age at the time).

…and then, while doing some research about the artwork itself, I discovered a scant piece of writing on a blog from 2011 – and I felt compelled to share this marvelous post with you. It says all that needs to be said. Given what teachers all over America, and specifically those in my home state of Arizona (for the past 42 years), I wanted to share with all – Alexandra Nechita’s art entitled, Tribute to the Teachers. Let the battles begin, fought well and end in Victory for the teachers and students alike. ~ Ed.
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Do you remember sentence-diagramming in school? I do. It was the onerous process of breaking apart individual sentences into their component parts and identifying those parts, like the subject, the verb, the modifiers, and so on.

By the time sentence-diagramming was introduced in elementary school, I had learned how to play the game of school. I had learned that obedience, memorization, and regurgitation of exactly what the teacher wants is the key to school success. I played it well. Looking back, and witnessing how my own unschooled children learn how to write, I realize how arbitrary and artificial learning in school was. Continue reading →