What is education for? Is it to fill the employee pipeline, or to assure a prepared citizenry for democracy, or to inspire a deeper understanding of ourselves and our world? Articles this week consider the question. A Common Core controversy roils over the fiction/non-fiction ratio in reading materials. What exactly is on the high school reading list? Top researcher on failure, Sian Beilock, reveals her science-backed secret about what to do when you screw-up. Do you perpetrate neuroscience untruthiness? Resolve to stop. Discover the influential power of listening--could be a parenting superpower. Even if you object to pink engineering toys for girls, Goldie Blox is irresistible.
Parenting
How Much Homework Does It Take to Educate a Nation? - Joyce Lau, International Herald Tribune
Pencils Down? French Plan Would End Homework - Eleanor Beardsley, NPR
Is Homework Too Hard for Today's Parents? - Sue Shellenbarger, Wall Street Journal
Do Rich and Poor Parenting Styles Matter? - Jay Mathews, Washington Post
What I Learned from 100 Parents Surveyed About Screen Time - Moms With Apps
Live in a City? 5 Invaluable Tips on Finding the Best School - Kristin Kloberdanz, TakePart
Learning
32 Neuroscience Statements, True or False? - SharpBrains
When You Screw Up, Affirm Your Self-Worth - Sian Beilock, Ph.D, Psychology Today
How to Use Listening to Influence People - Tony Rodriguez, Scientific American
What Neuroscience Really Teaches Us and What It Doesn't - Gary Marcus, The New Yorker
How to Use Technology to Make You Smarter - Annie Murphy Paul, Time
Could Boredom Be Curable - Maria Konnikova, Boston Globe
Education
Common Core Sparks War Over Words - Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post
List: What Common Core Authors Suggest High Schoolers Should Read - Valerie Strauss, WP
Downward Mobility Haunts US Education - Sean Coughlan, BBC News
Business Leaders and NY Educators Tackling Skills Gap - Associated Press, WSJ
Education Isn't Entirely About Economic Utility - Jay P. Green, Education Next
Saying No to College - Alex Williams, New York Times
Discovery Learning is the New Higher Learning - Don Tapscott, Huff Post
Resources
Goldie Blox, Engineering Toys for Girls (Age 5-9) - Goldie Blox
GeekMom Holiday Gift Guide - GeekMom, Wired
Playrific iPad Mini Giveaway - SheKnows
Top 10 Non-Fiction Picture Books - Alyson Beecher, Nerdy Book Club
The 2012 Winners of the Most Prestigious Children's Book Awards - Parent Cortical Mass

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