Parent Cortical Mass

Welcome to Parent Cortical Mass!

At the Parent Cortical Mass Blog we cover topics that help parents get smarter and more skilled at facilitating their kids’ learning and education. We use three lists to spotlight our topics: Top 10 Learning Concepts, Top 10 Education Policies, and Top 10 Influencers. 

"Cortical mass" sounds like critical mass, right? The idea of Gaining Cortical Mass is that if enough parents get smarter about learning and education we could boost educational outcomes in America.

Week's Best Articles on Learning and Education, for Parents

After fifteen years, the era of No Child Left Behind is nearly over. Congress will likely pass a new law--the Every Student Succeeds Act. Many NCLB policies have been abandoned. Powers of the Secretary of Education have been specifically limited, likely due to Sec Arne Duncan's political tactics over his seven year tenure. The short summary of this policy defeat: State Gov’t 1; Federal Gov’t 0. 3 4 “In parenting, is ‘failure’ the new black?” asks Richard Rende. Current advice says parents should ‘helicopter’ less and let their kids learn from failure. But, exactly how much should parents back off? Worth the read. 1 Carol Dweck, the social psychologist whose research uncovered the growth mindset, says parents and educators are using her findings about praise incorrectly. There are three pitfalls, she says. Don’t miss this! 2 Looking for a good family game for the holidays? Melissa Taylor at Imagination Soup has found it! 5

Parenting

1 The Problem with This Whole "Failure" Thing - Richard Rende, Ph.D., Psychology Today

Why Affluent Parents Put So Much Pressure on Their Kids - Rebecca J. Rosen, The Atlantic

Kids Addicted to Phones: Why Parents Shouldn't Worry - Jackie Ogburn-Duke, Futurity

Is Tech Hampering Kids' Reading? Authors Say It's Not - Greg Toppo, USA Today

Google Proves That TV Teaches Girls to Not Like Computer Science - Emily DeRuy, National Journal

Silicon Valley Is Growing Up, Giving Parents a Break - Claire Cain Miller, New York Times

Learning

2 Praising Effort Alone is Mistaken, Says Carol Dweck - Jill Barshay, Hechinger Report

Scientists Have Found a Way to Score Your Attention IQ - Monica Rosenberg, Quartz

Why Some Math Anxiety Might Actually Be a Good Thing - Jonathan Wai, Psychology Today

‘Not a Math Person’: How to Remove Obstacles to Learning Math - Katrina Schwartz, Mind/Shift

Education

3 No Child Left Behind to End: Congress to Launch New Era of Ed Policy - R. Berman, The Atlantic

4 Accountability Under ‘Every Student Succeeds,’ the New NCLB - Emma Brown, Washington Post

Does It Pay To Pay Teachers $100,000? - Ryan Schuette, nprEd

Bill Gates to Put Millions Into New Education Focus: Teacher Preparation - Valerie Strauss, Wash Post

Google Deceptively Tracks Students’ Internet Browsing - Electronic Frontier Foundation

US Falls Behind Other Nations in the Global Knowledge Economy - Jill Barshay, Hechinger Report

Massachusetts’s Rejects Common Core Test, Signaling Shift in U.S. - Kate Zernike, New York Times

Sorry, Parents, Common Core Math Makes More Sense Than You Think - James Goodman, Salon

Resources

5 Our New Favorite Family Game — Bounce-Off - Melissa Taylor, Imagination Soup

Women in STEM Field Dolls and Action Figures - Maia Weinstock, Scientific American

4 Inventive Games That Show Us the Future of Learning - Tanner Higgin, Mind/Shift

30 Christmas Gift Ideas for Tech-Savvy Children - Stuart Dredge, The Guardian

Read a few articles each week, and gain parent cortical mass! If you enjoy our weekly article roundup, please email it to a friend, or share on social media. Follow us on Twitter at @ParentCorticalM. Thank you!

Week's Best Articles on Learning and Education, for Parents

Here are nine questions for you this week. Are parents being guilted over children’s screen time? 1 Should you let your kid use Snapchat? 2 How can you tell if an app is really educational? 3 How much help do teachers expect parents to provide their kids on school projects? 4 Could you be confused about what a growth mindset really is? 5 Do you know how the “testing effect” works? 6 Does comparing American and Chinese scores on international tests mislead parents? 7 Are you familiar with the new college ranking systems? 8 What are the conventions for greeting people in Spain? Italy? Germany? Austria?... 9 Ok, maybe there's more than nine questions!

Parenting

1 Why Parents Shouldn't Feel Guilt Over Kids' Screen Time - Alexandra Samuel, The Atlantic

2 Why Your Kids Love Snapchat, and Why You Should Let Them - Rachel Simmons, New York Times

Can We Just Talk About Sexting? - Diane Graber, Huffington Post

The Astonishing Amount of Data Being Collected About Your Kids - Haimson & Kiesecker, WP

3 How to Tell If Your Kid's Education App is Actually Educational - Jenny Anderson, Quartz

4 When a Child’s Project Shows a Parental Hand at Work - Jessica Lahey, New York Times

Learning

5 Growth Mindset: Clearing Up Some Common Confusions - Eduardo Briceno, Mind/Shift

6 To Learn, Retrieve - Shane Parrish, Farnam Street

Googling Might Make People Feel Smarter Than They Actually Are - Jesse Singal, Science of Us

A Child's Lifelong Self-Esteem Emerges Earlier Than We Thought - Carolyn Gregoire, HuffPost

Nine Things You Need to Know About the Brain - Global Digital Citizen Foundation

Education

In This Classroom, Knowledge Is Overrated - Liz Stinson, Wired

How To Get Students To Stop Using Their Cellphones In Class - Anaya Kamenetz, nprEd

How Big Is the Ed-Tech Market in the Era of Common Core? - Angela Chen, The Atlantic

7 Chinese and American Education: Compare and Contrast - James Fallows, The Atlantic

Teaching Social and Emotional Learning in Elementary School - Julie Scelfo, New York Times

Stanford Study: We're Sending Children to School Way Too Early - Jenny Anderson, Quartz

Can Colleges Protect Free Speech While Curbing Voices of Hate? - Anderson & Svriuga, WashPost

8 The New Math of College Rankings - Jillian Berman, Wall Street Journal

In Swan Song, Arne Duncan Extols School Progress Under His Tenure - Kate Zernike, NYT

Resources

9 The Definitive Guide to Saying Hello to (Almost) Everyone - Ed M. Wood, Babbel

Best New Math Apps & Games for Kids, Nov 2015 - Balefire Labs

11 TED Talks to Watch with Kids - TED

Leonid Meteor Shower 2015: How to Watch This Year's Show - Lee Moran, Huffington Post Science

Read a few articles each week, and gain parent cortical mass! If you enjoy our weekly article roundup, please email it to a friend, or share on social media. Follow us on Twitter at @ParentCorticalM. Thank you!