Parent Cortical Mass

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

This week we discuss "resilience" and other "non-cognitive" skills associated with success. Resilience is not freaking out when your hopes and plans are going down the drain. There's "grit" for persistence and a "growth mindset" for confidence in your ability to learn. How can parents help their kids build these skills? Can schools help? 1 3 4 5 6 The school year is coming to an end. How do parents (and students) say thank you to teachers? For first-rate guidance read Jessica Lahey’s article. 2 It’s summertime! When kids aren’t in school, parents inevitably get their questions--really important questions like, “What do I do if I see a bear?” or “Why do I hear the ocean in a seashell?” Don’t just make up stuff! Be ready. Parent like a champ! 7 8

Parenting

1 Strength-Based Parenting Improves Kids' Resilience and Stress Levels - EurekAlert

How Millennials Think About Paid Leave - Naomi Shavin, New Republic

When Family-Friendly Policies Backfire - Claire Cain Miller, New York Times

Practical Tips for Parents of Exceptional Readers - Regan McMahon, Common Sense Media

5 Things I Want for My Children in Elementary School - Allison Slater Tate, Huffington Post

2 A Heartfelt Thank You, and 9 Other Great Teacher Gift Ideas - Jessica Lahey, New York Times

Learning

3 The Path to Resilience - Bari Walsh, Harvard Education

4 Is Your Child Resilient? - Connie Matthiessen, Great Schools

5 The Weird Potency of Self-Esteem - Greenberg, Solom, Pyszczynski, Science of Us

Why Spaced Repetition is Important to Learning and How to Do it - Tri, Examined Existence

Reduce Prejudices While You Sleep - Xiaoqing Hu, Discover Magazine

Poor Sleep Lowers Next Day Cognition in Kids - Rick Nauert, PhD, PsychCentral

Education

6 Nonacademic Skills Are Key To Success. But What Should We Call Them? - Anya Kamenetz, nprEd

Which Candidates Want to Axe the Department of Education? - Frank Bruni, New York Times

1 in 5 U.S. Schoolchildren Are Living Below Federal Poverty Line - Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post

Can Racism Be Stopped in the Third Grade? - Lisa Miller, Science of US

Stop the Testing Circus - Andrew J. Rotherham, U.S. News

States Should Ditch 'Cut Scores' on New Tests - Randi Weingarten, Education Week

Board Shortens Common Core Test Known as PARCC - Emma Brown, Washington Post

Resources

7 What to Do If You See a Bear - Emma Rathbone, The New Yorker

8 Why Do Shells Sound Like the Ocean? - Matt Soniak, Mental Floss

How Do Greenhouse Gases Actually Work? (video) - Bec Crew, ScienceAlert

How Big is Minecraft? Really, Really, Really Big - Sarah Fallon, Wired

11 Must-See Lessons from TED Ed - Global Digital Citizen Foundation

Spring 2015 Learning Apps for Kids - Melissa Taylor, Imagination Soup

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 & Education, for Parents

Would kids be better off with more free play or more structured learning time? Articles this week discuss how informal learning develops kids’ executive function. Plus Annie Murphy Paul talks about “embodied cognition” and the need to involve the body in learning. These stories make sense at the height of summer. Yet, at the same time, we see essays that make the case for summer school, to stop "brain drain." Reading conflicting information means your knowledge will be more broadly informed. ● There's commentary on the pros and cons of praise, and on sending texts to parents to fix the word gap. You'll be so current! ● This week the teachers union took two big actions. Randi Weingarten, the AFT President, announced the union would no longer support the common core. Then, she called for the resignation of the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. Education politics heated up this July!

Parenting

We Stink at Playing With Our Kids - Jens Peter de Pedro, Joan Ganz Cooney Center

Let 'Em Eat Dirt - Timothy Egan, New York Times

Should You Send Your Kids to Summer Camp? - Room for Debate, New York Times

We Tell Kids to 'Go to Sleep!' We Need to Teach Them Why - Annie Murphy Paul, NYT

Could Text Messages to Parents Help Close the 'Word Gap'? - Barbara Ray, EdCentral

The Emotional Whiplash of Parenting a Teenager - Lisa Damour, New York Times

Soccer Concussions are More Frequent Than You Think - Eric Chemi, BusinessWeek

Learning

Too Many Structured Activities May Hinder Kids' Executive Functioning - Ellen Wexler, Ed Week

Why So Many Kids Can't Sit Still in School Today - Angela Hanscom, Washington Post

We've Been Telling Kids to Sit Still and Pay Attention. That's All Wrong. - Annie Murphy Paul, Slate

In Praise of Praise: Pros and Cons of Giving Kids Praise - Carlin Flora, Aeon

Repetition Doesn't Work: Better Ways to Train the Memory - Gregory Ferenstein, Daily Beast

The Trouble with Brain Science - Gary Marcus, New York Times

Education

Teachers Union Takes on Common Core - Stephanie Simon, Politico

Another Teachers Union Ding for Arne Duncan - Allie Grasgreen, Politico

Beyond the Bubble Test: Why We Need Performance Assessments - Linda Darling-Hammond, EdWeek

Wrong Answer (Story of Atlanta's School Cheating Scandal) - Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker

How to Read Education Data Without Jumping to Conclusions - J. & T. Lahey, The Atlantic

A Draft Bill of Research Rights for Educators - Daniel Willingham, Real Clear Politics

A Teacher's Case Against Summer Vacation - Cristina Duncan Evans, Education Week

Will Computers Ever Replace Teachers? - Justin Reich, The New Yorker

The 'Bright' vs. 'Gifted' Comparison: A Distraction - Scott Peters, Creativity Post

Resources

How to Remember All Your Passwords and Keep Them Safe - Rafael Laguna, Quartz

3 Maps that Explain America - Max Fisher, Vox

Visual Guide to the Major & Notable Sects, Schools, & Movements within Islam - Information is Beautiful

100 Amazing How-to Sites to Teach Yourself Anything - EWAO

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

Education Policy is getting curiouser and curiouser! A California judge's ruling on the case Vergara v California shook things up. Every media outlet covered the story. It’s not just big in the education realm. The ruling impacts politics as well. Election level politics, even. While media coverage was noisy, politicians were strangely silent. (Now that’s impact.) Below find articles explaining different viewpoints on this significant ruling, including commentary from our Top Influencers, Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, Randi Weingarten, and Diane Ravitch. ● A government study released this week compares teen behavior trends over the last 20 years. It provides stats on teen drinking, fighting, texting, sex, and media use. There’s some good news. ● Annie Murphy Paul reviews the book, How Not to Be Wrong. Doesn’t that sound like essential reading for parents? Read it before your teen does!

Parenting

Study: Teens Are Drinking Less, Texting More - Mike Stobbe, Sacramento Bee

Subtweeting: Inside the Harmful New Social Media Trend - Steven Woda, uknowkids

When Texting Goes Wrong: Helping Kids Repair & Resolve Issues - Devorah Heitner, Platform for Good

The Case for Dedicated Dads - Jessica Lahey, The Atlantic

The Daddy Juggle: Work, Life, Family, and Chaos - L. Weber and J. Lublin, Wall Street Journal

Secret Parent: 10 Things We'd Like to Say to Teachers - The Guardian

For Parents and Kids, Sleep is Critical to Keeping Pounds Off - Rick Nauert, PhD, PsychCentral

Sports Should Be Child's Play - David Epstein, New York Times

Learning

The 1 Thing That Will Improve Math Learning - Daniel Willingham, RealClearEducation

12 Minutes of Exercise Improves Attention - Janice Wood, PsychCentral

What's the Best Way for Toddlers to Acquire Verb Meaning? - Northwestern University, PsyPost

Synchronized Brain Waves Enable Rapid Learning - MIT, PsyPost

The Woman Who Forgot the Names of Animals - I. Viskontas & C. Mooney, The Atlantic

Education

Does Tenure Protect Bad Teachers or Good Schools? - Room for Debate, New York Times

Arne Duncan: Drawing the Right Lessons from Vergara - HomeRoom, Dep't of Education

Michelle Rhee: California Tenure Ruling is a Win for Teachers and Kids - Washington Post

Diane Ravitch: Vergara Decision Is Latest Attempt to Blame Teachers - Huffington Post

Randi Weingarten: Moving From 'Test and Punish' to 'Support and Improve' - Huffington Post

Will California's Ruling Against Teacher Tenure Change Schools? - Dana Goldstein, The Atlantic

Putting Teacher Tenure in Context - Adam Ozimek, Forbes

What Does Teacher Tenure Mean for Parents? - Carol Lloyd, GreatSchools

Delay Urged on Actions Tied to Tests by Schools - Motoko Rich, New York Times

The Untold Story of School Finance Reforms in the U.S. - CJ Libassi, EdCentral

Resources

How High Schoolers Use Pot, in 3 Maps - Niraj Chokshi, Washington Post

Summer Reading Favorites for Kindergarteners - Mary Ann Scheuer, GreatKidsBooks

New Chapter Books for Summer Reading, Ages 6-18 - Melissa Taylor, Imagination Soup

12 Games that Teach Kids to Code, AND are Fun - Dan Crawley, VentureBeat

Map: There Have Been 74 Shootings at Schools Since Newtown - Niraj Chokshi, Wash Post

Book Review: How Not to Be Wrong; Why Math Fills So Many of Us with Dread - Annie Murphy Paul, WP

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!