The ancient astrologer/astronomer Ptolemy (83-161 C.E.),whose ideas of the structure of the universe (based upon spheres), dominated western civilization until Copernicus and Kepler in the 16th-17th centuries, associated different planets of the solar system with particular stages of life: Moon: Infancy – 0-4 years old Mercury: Childhood – 4-14 years old Venus: Adolescence – 14-22...Read More
The early twentieth century philosopher and mystic Rudolf Steiner conceived of a theory of human development based upon seven year cycles, and linked those cycles to astrology. The first seven years of life (0-7 years old) were associated with the Moon. During this time, the psychic forces are working to transform the body of the...Read More
One of the most exciting features of the 2012 Olympics in London has been the performance of able people who are disabled. Even before the opening ceremony, Im Dong Hyun from South Korea, won the gold medal in archery and set a world record with an almost perfect score (699 out of 700). Im Dong Hyun is legally...Read More
A recent book by developmental psychologist David Elkind is entitled The Power of Play, and I would recommend it to parents, educators, psychotherapists, and anyone else who has an interest in play and children. David Elkind was a disciple of Jean Piaget, the great French structuralist thinker who changed people’s conceptions of how children think. In this...Read More
Increasingly we’re seeing early childhood education programs veering toward formal academic learning. This is a distressing trend, inasmuch as it makes young children do things (formal reading and math, computer instruction) that they are not developmentally ready for, and that take precious time away from letting children be children. There are no critical periods in...Read More
The word “alignment” has many meanings: there’s wheel alignment, body alignment, road alignment, and many other kinds of alignment. But when the word is used in the field of education, that should be a red flag to educators and parents. Beware! Usually the word is used in reference to the curriculum at different age and grade levels. ...Read More
In high school I always remember feeling fuzzy-headed after my school lunches. Well, now it turns out that school lunches do more than just create transient mental haziness. A study in the December 2010 issue of the American Heart Journal looked at 2000 sixth-graders and concluded that there was a clear relationship between obesity and school lunch programs. Of...Read More
Reuters reports that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pouring money into the development of biometric devices that will be worn as bracelets by students to monitor their “attentiveness” and “engagement.” The biometric bracelets will send a small current across the skin and measure subtle changes in electrical charges as the nervous system responds...Read More
This excerpt from my book The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain (published in hardcover as Neurodiversity), appeared in Ode Magazine. People with conditions like ADHD, dyslexia and mood disorders are routinely labeled “disabled”. But differences among brains are as enriching—and essential—as differences among plants and animals. Welcome to the...Read More
Follow Me On: