From “helicoptering” to “snowplowing,” parents are often tempted to simply remove obstacles from children’s way, preventing them from learning how to deal with challenges themselves. Instead, as Ellen Galinsky, Bezos Family Foundation Chief Science Officer and Founder/Executive Director of Mind in the Making, explains, the better approach is to build “Autonomy Support” – helping children gain the independence skills they’ll need to become successful adults. Filmed for Early Learning Nation’s Mobile Studio at the Society for Research in Child Development’s biennial meeting in Baltimore, MD, on March 22, 2019. #SRCD19
The Consequences of Forced Separation
When Traumatized Children Return to Traumatized Parents
Science tells us that an outpouring of stress hormones shapes the way the brain develops. Trauma affects behavior, brain development, even the immune system. It’s devastating for all, but for newborns and youngest children, the impact can be profound.
The Power of First 10 Partnerships
Part I of a two-part interview with David Jacobson
The First 10 initiative of the Education Development Center (EDC) supports a network that will soon include more than 60...
The Washington, D.C.-based Bainum Family Foundation recently announced a five-year, $100 million funding commitment to early childhood. The ambitious plan...
The Power of First 10 Partnerships: 3 Examples
Part II of a two-part interview with David Jacobson
The First 10 initiative of the Education Development Center (EDC) supports a network that will soon include more than 60...
Earlier this month, Early Learning Nation magazine created our first-ever survey to better understand our audiences’ motivation for reading and...
According to NYU University Professor Lawrence Aber, poverty and violence are the two most toxic challenges for child development – areas he has researched from the U.S. to Africa and the Middle East. Regardless of location, children can experience poverty and violence in difference ways and levels. Aber explains the research, tools and tactics required to give children the best opportunities for successful development. Filmed for Early Learning Nation’s Mobile Studio at the Society for Research in Child Development’s biennial meeting in Baltimore, MD, on March 22, 2019. #SRCD19
Make. Learning. Relevant.
Dean Kamen’s Vision for Building Community
Imagine a world where baseball is a subject taught in school. Just one thing is missing from this imaginary curriculum: the students never actually get to play the game.
In September, they open their textbooks and read about the origins and rules of baseball. After winter break they take tests on pitching and hitting records set by the greatest players. By the spring, classes delve into the nuances of base stealing and bunting.
So what if they never swing a bat themselves or catch a line drive, right? It’s not like any of them are going to become professional ballplayers, right?
To Dean Kamen, this scenario is no more absurd than the way math and science have been taught traditionally.
In January of 2020, The Hunt Institute—an education policy non-profit based in Durham, NC—released updates to its State Early Childhood...
Because we can’t take our Early Learning Nation Studio on the road during this time, stay tuned as ELN recaps...
Frederica Perera, founder of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, didn’t write Children’s Health and the Perils of Climate...
What role does play play in early learning? Kasper Ottosson Kanstrup, vice president and global head of Communities through Play at The Lego Foundation, pulls out his bag of toys, er, research and explains the science of how children learn through play.














