The pressure to over-program kids often seems endless – so much so that a simple, old-fashioned idea has fallen to the side: Children should play. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff & Kathy Hirsh-Pasek – researchers and co-authors of “Becoming Brilliant, What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children” – explain their “Learning Landscapes” program, where they help local municipalities turn public spaces like bus stops into child-friendly play zones.
When University of Maryland Associate Professor Geetha Ramani and her colleagues visit early learning classrooms, they’re known as the “game people.” Ramani’s research shows not only the importance of teaching math skills, but also the effectiveness of what might seem like an obvious tactic: Make it fun.
“I’m a reader!” These are magic words for Alvin Irby, a former teacher and the founder and executive director of...
Getting a child outdoors to embrace literacy, art and the great outdoors is simple: All you need is a cordless...
Our Child Care Facilities Are in Crisis But There Are Solutions
Business, Nonprofits, Chambers of Commerce Build Coalitions
In the morning, as children dash into their preschools and home-based care sites, hanging coats and finding favorite toys or...
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
“Have a belief in yourself that is bigger than anyone’s disbelief,” said August Wilson, playwright of the great “Pittsburgh Cycle.”...
Throughout the U.S., the care network for our nation’s youngest children is less a tightly woven safety net and more...
As childcare centers, preschools and other early education settings strive to stretch every penny, they often face daunting challenges in...
Language evolves. What was once a just-right phrase that fit a situation like a glove can, in time, become constraining...
The New Year, with its metaphor of clear vision, calls out to all of us to think about the future; to envision a better world for children, youth, and families. While we can’t predict what the decade will bring, we can use what we have learned over the years—and our common sense—to set some goals and move forward. Here is what I see and hope for in a new year, in a new decade.
Most of us have heard of the “summer slide” in which children lose some of the lessons they’ve learned during...
