Parent Cortical Mass

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

Silly dads, you are vindicated. Putting that chicken on your head really does help your kids get smarter! 1 Confused by that growing list of “non-cognitive” learning factors, like character traits, PERMA, grit, and mindsets? This is a good week to get clarity on these education buzzwords. 3 6 Math is in the spotlight this week—common core math and preschool math. 4 5 And if you’re looking for a way to brush up on your high school math, there are many online options. Here’s just one. 9 Forever, a parent’s job has been about protecting their kids. But today’s parents stand on the front line of the internet. It’s essential for you to get knowledgeable about privacy and cybersecurity. For generations parents thought it was tricky talking to kids about sex. Now you have to have a conversation about Tor, too. 2 7 8

Parenting

1 Want to Boost Your Toddler's Development? Put a Toy Chicken on Your Head - Science Daily

2 Trusting Parents to Make Smart Choices on Student Data - Jules Polonetsky, The Hill

3 Which Character Strengths Are Most Predictive of Well-Being? - S. B. Kaufman, Scientific American

New Study Shows Parents Misjudge Children’s Happiness - Janice Wood, PsychCentral

Reviews on Recent Parenting Books: Get Out and Play - Julianne Smith, Library Journal

Millennial Dads vs. Work-Family Policies - Claire Cain Miller, New York Times

Learning

Researchers Find That Frequent Tests Can Boost Learning - Annie Murphy Paul, Scientific American

Memory Problems? Go Climb a Tree. - Kurzweil News

A Good Night's Rest Helps Us Remember Things During the Day - Kathleen Lees, ScienceWorldRpt

Talent Sometimes is Better Than Practice, Brain Reveals - Catherine Griffin, ScienceWorldReport

Education

4 Parents Are Getting Schooled by Common Core Math - Alia Wong, The Atlantic

5 Preschoolers Can Do More Math Than We Might Think - John Higgins, Seattle Times

6 “Grit,” “Mindsets,” and “Stereotype Threat”: a Primer - Mikhail Zinshteyn, The Atlantic

The Myth of the Overstressed American Teen - Robert Pondiscio, US News

What’s the Point of Education if Google Can Tell Us Anything? - Ibrar Bhatt, The Conversation

What Classrooms Can Learn From Informal Learning - Terry Heick, TeachThought

How Conservatives Forced Changes to AP US History to be More "Pro-American" - Libby Nelson, Vox

The Continuing Reality of Segregated Schools - Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times

Resources

7 What Are the Deep Web and the Dark Web? - Common Sense Media

8 Back-to-School Cybersecurity: 7 Things College Students Should Do - Jason Glassberg, HuffPost

9 Brush Up on High School Maths with UNSW Online Course - Tim Dodd, Australian Financial Review

Great Audiobooks for Kids - Common Sense Media

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

You’ve made it to the end of the school year! Were those last weeks crazy-busy with parent-attendance requirements? Read Motoko Rich's article for some inconspicuous commiseration. 1 There’s an intriguing TED Talk on the logical minds of babies. How scientists do this research is fascinating. Watch it to upgrade your baby observation skills. 2 Dr. Judy Willis has written a short primer on the neuroscience of learning. It's pitched to teachers, but during summer, parents are the teachers. 3 Want to know more about the art and science of talking with babies? Maybe you've heard this kind of chatting referred to as "language dancing." This new study calls it a “conversational duet.” 4 Do you say, "I'm not a math person"? TED.com put together this playlist just for you! 5

Parenting

1 Mom and Dad Have Their Own Set of Finals - Motoko Rich, New York Times

The Benefits of Slow Parenting - Jaci Conry, Boston Globe

Lifelong Damages of Harsh Parenting - Morgan E. Peck, Scientific American/Salon

Let's Agree to Stop Judging Each Other's Parenting Styles - Julie Scagell, The Mid

What's Your Teen Doing This Summer? In Defense of Nothing. - Julie Lythcott-Haims, NYT

Are Scary Scenes on TV Really Damaging Your Child? - Kathleen Lees, Science World Report

Learning

2 The Surprisingly Logical Minds of Babies - Laura Schulz, TED Talk

3 How the Memory Works In Learning - Judy Willis, TeachThought

4 Talk 'With' Not Just 'At' Your Child - Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff, Philly.com

How Early Academic Training Retards Intellectual Development - Peter Gray, Psychology Today

What Poverty Does to the Young Brain - Madeline Ostrander, The New Yorker

Education

Bill Gates, College Dropout: Don't Be Like Me - David Leonhardt, The Upshot, NYT

College Board Jumps Into SAT Coaching as Test Changes Loom - Eleanor Chute, Pittsburg Post-Gazette

Why Minecraft Rewrites the Playbook for Learning - Mimi Ito, BoingBoing

Can Text Messages and Interventions Nudge Students Through School? - Justin Reich, Mind/Shift

An App That Predicts GPA - Anya Kamenetz, nprEd

Why Technology Alone Won't Fix Schools - Kentaro Toyama, The Atlantic

The Common Core Can't Speed Up Child Development - Joseph Ganem, The Baltimore Sun

Resources

Official SAT Practice - Khan Academy

20 STEM Activities for Kids This Summer - TeachThought

5 6 TED Talks for People Who Hated Math in High School - TED.com

Websites and Apps for Making Videos and Animation - Common Sense Graphite

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!