Why is it that we expect children to sit quietly in their seats while they’re being taught in school?  We even use the word “seatwork” to describe this behavior.  I want to know who made this decision.  I can imagine some grizzled old scholar somewhere in Europe during the late eighteenth century thinking:  “You know, I really like...Read More

My Note:  During my recent trip to the Philippines, I did a number of media interviews (television, print, and online).  Here is an article that came out of one such interview.  It appeared at www.InterAkyson.com, the online news portal of TV 5 in Quezon City, Philippines: Educator warns: Be wary of schools preparing kids for ‘next level,’ focus...Read More

During my recent visit to the Philippines, I had the pleasure of visiting two exemplary schools that meet my definition of “best schools” as described in my book The Best Schools:  How Human Development Research Should Inform Educational Practice.  They were the Explorations Preschool and its sister school, the Keys Grade School, both in Mandaluyong, part...Read More

Cesarean section births are on the rise.  In 2007, 32% of all births in the United States were C-sections compared to 23% in 2000 (in other developed countries the rates range between 10-15%).  While some C-sections are medically necessary due to birth complications (e.g. a breach birth etc.), there has been an increase in the...Read More

A mother’s relationship to her infant during the first few months of life is an archetypal one. That means that baby sees the mother not as a personal mother, but as the “great mother” — the all sustaining mother earth.  The infant’s connection to the mother is very much a primal one, for he depends...Read More