Any time you mandate that kids must do something, ANYTHING, you’ve automatically created a special category for those kiddos who don’t or won’t – and that’s how labels are born. Before reading was mandatory for kids, there weren’t any reading disabilities. Before we descended into this ”short attention span culture” of ours, we didn’t have...Read More
This video presents a clear case for school reform based on how Albert Einstein might implement changes. It presents 12 school-based interventions using supporting quotations from Albert Einstein’s writings. The 12 ways include: focusing on imagination, opening children to a sense of wonder, promoting individuality over standardization, putting play back in preschool and kindergarten,...Read More
ADHD continues to occur at epidemic levels in our society. Thirty-five years ago, only a handful of children and teens were considered to have what at the time was called ‘’hyperkinesis’’ or ‘’minimal brain dysfunction.’’ Now, the diagnosis takes in almost 10% of all children and teens. Most of these kids (62%) are taking ADHD...Read More
I always remember a radio ad that began: ”People Judge You By the Words You Use” which promoted its own vocabulary development program. However, you don’t need to pay for an elaborate video or audio program or workbooks and texts. Instead, here are eight simple ways that you can use to enlarge your vocabulary. They...Read More
One of the neatest features of Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is that it helps us understand ourselves better. Since the theory is based on nouns (words, numbers, pictures, music, people, nature) rather than on verbs (e.g. judging, perceiving, seeing, hearing, achieving, investigating), it can be related to our personal lives more easily and...Read More
New studies have revealed that screen time (TV, video games, Internet etc.) modifies brain structure and cognitive functioning. In one study where children between the ages of 3 and 5 had their brains scanned, those kids whose screen time exceeded the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines had lower levels of white matter integrity in...Read More
The following is a paper on early childhood and play that I presented as part of my keynote at the 19th Encuentro Internacional de Educacion Inicial y Preescolar (International Meeting of Initial & Preschool Education) in Monterrey, Mexico on October 10, 2019. A Comprehensive Vision of Human Development: Cognitive and Socio-Affective Processes...Read More
I’ve just returned from Monterrey, Mexico where I keynoted the 19th Encuentro Internacional de Educacion Inicial y Preescolar (International Meeting of Initial & Preschool Education). This conference is hosted by the Centro de Desarrollo Infantil or Center for Child Development (CENDI), a network of public educational centers that offers comprehensive services for children in high...Read More
Yesterday I wrote in my blog about a new program being tested that provides young kids with wearable devices that track the number of words they hear or speak in the course of a day. Today I want to write about another form of datafication, this time being used in our schools. The Equal Opportunity...Read More
Follow Me On: