Parent Cortical Mass

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

The opt-out movement is gaining critical mass. More than 180,000 students in New York refused to take the state’s exams. In one Seattle high school, 100% of the junior class opted out. Wide-spread civil disobedience exposes education reforms as a house-of-cards. NCLB, accountability, teacher evaluations, and common core are bundled. (It’s almost as bothersome as a cable package deal.) Five articles below, with left, right and center viewpoints, will get you informed. 2 3 4 5 6 We’ve talked about the 30 million word gap. But, it’s more than just the number of words spoken by parents to their babies. Sarah Spark’s article explains the nuance. 1 How do parents protect the privacy of their kids’ school data? Privacy laws were passed when information was kept on paper forms in file cabinets. Who do parents hold responsible if data is not secure? It’s unclear. Know your family rights. Check out this just-published parent guide! 7

Parenting

How to Finish College in 4 Years: What Parents Need to Know - Grown and Flown

A Neglected Factor in Picking a College - Daniel Willingham, Science & Education Blog

Love and Merit - David Brooks, New York Times

The Wolf of Conditional Love - McCord Clayton, The Dad App

Negativity & Kids' Brains: How to Help Kids Stay Positive - Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, Roots of Action

Who Is the 21st Century Man? - Maria Shriver & Josh Levs, HuffPost

Learning

Hearing About Math at the Table Improves Preschoolers’ Skills - Menachem Wecker, Deseret News

1 Key to Vocabulary Gap Is Quality of Conversation, Not Dearth of Words - Sarah D. Sparks, Ed Week

The Linguistic Genius of Babies [video] - Patricia Kuhl, TED

We Think Better on Our Feet, Literally - Neuroscience News

Can Neuroscientists Dispel the Myth of Learning Styles? - Pete Etchells, The Guardian

Education

What Can Technology Do for Tomorrow's Children? - Arne Duncan, Medium

2 More Than 180,000 New York Students Boycotted State Exams - Gonzalez & Blau, NY Daily News

3 Anti-Test 'Opt-Out' Movement Makes A Wave In New York State - Anya Kamenetz, nprEd

4 Teachers' Unions Fight Standardized Testing, and Find Diverse Allies - Taylor & Rich, NYT

5 Feds Play Race Card to Crush Parents' Revolt Against Common Core - David French, National Review

6 Opt Out Movement: A Test of Education Reform - Andy Smarick, Common Core Watch

How Video Games Can Make Our Kids Smarter - Greg Toppo, Flypaper

College for the Masses vs. College Isn't for Everyone - David Leonhardt, NYT

Resources

7 A Parents' Guide to Student Data Privacy - ConnectSafely, Future of Privacy Forum, PTA

Is There Really a Magic 8 Ball App? Signs Point to Yes - coolmomtech

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Galaxies - Katherine Kornei, Discover Magazine

5 Awe Inspiring National Parks for Your USA Road Trip - Charli Moore, WanderLusters

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. Thank you!

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

This week free-range parenting went from a philosophical to a legal debate. A few weeks back police picked up two children (ages 10 and 6) as they walked home from their neighborhood park. Authorities said their parents were responsible for “unsubstantiated child neglect.” Then, police picked up their kids a second time. The parents, “free-rangers,” are outraged. They intend to file a lawsuit, to clarify parents’ rights. 1 This week educators in the Atlanta schools' cheating scandal were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to seven years. Was this just, or is the school accountability system guilty? 2 3 4 For seven years reauthorizing No Child Left Behind has been gridlocked in Congress. This week a rewrite of the law passed the Senate committee unanimously. The new bill, named the Every Child Achieves Act, moves to the Senate floor. It’s a step. 5 Check out the amazing scrolling graphic of Mt. Everest. It conveys the “tallest mountain in the world” like you’ve never seen! 6

Parenting

1 The Murky Law on Free-Range Kids - Amanda Kolson Hurley, CityLab

There's Never Been a Safer Time to Be a Kid in America - C. Ingraham, WashPost

Kids Take More Risks Crossing Streets Than Parents Think - Lisa Rapaport, Reuters

Helicopter Parents Can Be a Good Thing - Julie Hiltz, PDK Sage Journals

5 Ways to Smooth Transition from Senior Year to College - Annie Berning, Grown and Flown

6 College Experiences That Make College Worth It - Brandon Busteed, Gallup

Encouraging Teenagers to Read, by Choosing From Non-YA Shelves - Jessica Lahey, New York Times

Learning

Babies Learn Best When Surprised - Janice Wood, PsychCentral

Letting Go of Executive Control Speeds Learning of Motor Tasks - Geoffrey Mohan, L.A. Times

Self-Affirmations May Calm Jitters, Boost Performance - ScienceDaily

Emotional Intelligence: The Social Skills You Weren't Taught in School - Eric Ravenscraft, Lifehacker

Wait for It: Delayed Feedback Can Enhance Learning - Tori Rodriguez, Scientific American

Education

We Should Be Asking Why and How We Test, Not Just How Often - Linda Darling-Hammond, HuffPost

End the Education Wars - Frederick M. Hess, US News

The Lost Purpose of School Reform - Diane Ravitch, New York Review

2 Accountability on Trail in Atlanta - Robert Pondiscio, US News

3 Teachers Were Offered Bonuses for Test Scores. Of Course They Cheated - Annie Murphy Paul, WP

4 Cheaters Never Prosper - Dana Goldstein, The Marshall Project

5 NCLB Rewrite Heads to Senate Floor - Allie Bidwell, US News

PISA's Potentially Dangerous Problems, And What to Do - Yong Zhao & Alma Harris, Washington Post

Resources

6 How Tall is Mt Everest? [Amazing Scrolling Graphic] - Johnson, Berkowitz, Gamio, Washington Post

The Math Question That Went Viral - Terrance F. Ross, The Atlantic

Fun Way to Learn About Leonardo da Vinci: Read His Resume - Marc Cenedella, Cenedella

7 Wonderful Books that Help Kids Make Sense of Death - Maria Popova, BrainPickings

Get Your Kids to Vote on the Children's Choice Book Awards - CBC

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. Thank you!

Week's Top Articles on Learning & Education, for Parents

Money and math were the captivating topics this week. Mostly we expect parents to teach kids about money. Two articles below tell about new research and new ideas that are changing parent practices. (Spoiler: some math is involved.) 1 2 Do you have a teenager? Then don’t miss the NPR story on the teenage brain. Getting smarter about this could reduce your stress. Big win! 3 There are 9 articles this week in education, covering the Top Education Policies of common core, accountability, achievement gaps, and teacher effectiveness. As always, a range of viewpoints is presented--so you can feel informed, instead of hyped. Speaking of hype, deflate-gate is a huge informal learning moment. When does the expansion and contraction of gases ever come on our radar? Parents, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Let Sal Khan, of Khan Academy explain it all, in a mere 9 minutes. (Spoiler: some math is involved.) 4

Parenting

1 The Smart Way to Teach Children About Money - Charlie Wells, Wall Street Journal

2 Why You Should Tell Your Children How Much You Make - Ron Lieber, New York Times

Helping a Perfectionist Child Worry Less and Do More - Jessica Lahey, New York Times

Money, Not Marital Status, Has Most Impact on How Parents Raise Kids - Amanda Marcotte, Slate

US Student Achievement in Two-Parent vs Single-Parent Families - Education Next

The More Time Dads Spend With Their Kids, the Happier They Are At Work - Susan Adams, Forbes

Kids Feel Most Positive About Moms Who Respect Their Autonomy - Janice Wood, PsychCentral

Learning

3 Why Teens Are Impulsive, Addiction-Prone, and Should Protect Their Brains - NPR

8 Secrets To Grit and Resilience, From a Navy Seal - Eric Barker, Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Researchers Map Out Where Attention Lives in the Brain - Carolyn Gregoire, Huffington Post

Genetic Memory: How We Know Things We Never Learned - Darold Treffert, Scientific American

Toughest Exam Question: What Is the Best Way to Study? - Sue Shellenbarger, WSJ

Education

Globally, Girls Are Doing Better Academically than Boys - Rebecca Klein, HuffPost

Closing the Math Gap for Boys - David L. Kirp, New York Times

Can All Children Become Calculus Whizzes? - Sophie Quinton, The Atlantic

Parents Try Their Hand at Common Core Math - Laurie Udesky, EdSource

Nation’s Per-Pupil K-12 Funding Fell for the Second Consecutive Year - Emma Brown, WashPost

9 Questions: What Does It Mean to Oppose the Common Core? - Michael Petrilli, Flypaper

Common Core Is Taking Away Kids' Recess--And That Makes No Sense - Lee Igel, Forbes

Jockeying Over Testing Mandates Begins - Fawn Johnson, National Journal

Debunking One Myth About US Teachers - Jill Barshay, Hechinger Report

Resources

4 Deflate-Gate: Learn a Bit about Gases & Kinetic Molecular Theory! - Sal Khan, KhanAcademy

“Word Map” Shows Where & How A Word Is Said In Multiple Languages - Larry Ferlazzo's Blog

No-Tech Board Games That Teach Coding Skills to Young Children - Matthew Farber, Mind/Shift

40 Places To See With Your Kids Before They Are All Grown Up - Mandy Burgan, Being a Mom

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. Thank you!