Look who’s going on a journey
Look who isn’t.
For months before his first trip
All eyes and ears, Dana gathered data,
Taking statistics
Like a data vacuum cleaner.
Six weeks ago he tested his new apparatus for the first time.
Now, all systems GO, he’s on his journey.
Let the games begin.
Does this tweak your heart to ponder something?
This spring Susan Porter’s sixth grade class found two bags of treasure in Lake Merritt, a140-acre tidal lagoon in downtown Oakland, California. What surprised the reporters (though not me and Susan) was that the kids were not at all selfish about it. They were happy simply to have made a difference. (Later they were happy to have made it on TV). These students are examples of what kids look like when they are treated as if they are inherently altruistic rather than inherently selfish. Continue reading
Last school year, I saw a young mother and father in the Decatur Public Library leaning forward over a small table overparenting their three-year-old daughter as she tried to put together the puzzle of an alligator with 26 green pieces A to Z. Continue reading
What does Allan and Elise’s experience tell us about the essential elements of an educational moment?
Shucking Corn with Elise
By Allan Stern
Most advice to parents on teaching children social responsibility makes the mistake of assuming that being socially responsible is an unnatural act. It is a big mistake and easily fixed. Continue reading
Helen was playing in the sandbox in the park, when a brawl between a brother and sister broke out near her. Helen looked up from her work to see them arguing over a shovel, knocking each other to the ground. Continue reading
“I just want him to be happy” is the most natural thing for a parent to say; it can also be the most dangerous. Life has unhappiness built in. If it’s not one thing it will be another. We want to spare our children. We want to protect them from pain and rescue them from suffering. This is completely understandable, but it is not particularly constructive. In fact, it is self-defeating. The pursuit of happiness makes happiness increasingly elusive. Continue reading
The publisher of the second edition of “Genius”, Globe/Pequot Press, has selected a photo for the cover after a great deal of searching. It is particularly fun for me that they selected this candid taken by a new photographer friend of mine, Julie Carter, who lives in Decatur. Here’s what Julie says about the photo she took of her granddaughter at home a year or so ago.
“When Rick talked to me about creating a photo to illustrate the message he was wanting to convey in his book, I immediately thought of the photograph you are considering. The little girl in the photo is my granddaughter, Natalie, who was four-years-old when the photo was taken.
“Natalie was “teaching” my husband how to read a book after telling him that he was reading it to her in a rather “silly” way Continue reading
Responding by email to my article last week on children’s natural inclination toward empathy Allan, grandfather of Elise, wrote:
Having just spent five days with a 3 ½-year-old, I can reaffirm everything you say in this.
While her mom was working nearby, Elise and I had a wonderful pretend game where she was the proprietor of an ice cream shop and I was the customer. She stood on the other side of a table and served me. Unfortunately she only stocked chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, so just to stretch her imagination a bit (after enjoying a chocolate cone), I started asking for flavors she didn’t have.
Learning Mathematics in Real Life
How to behave in public is something the students at St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Oakland, California, practice daily on their two-block walk to the park for lunch, recess and physical education. Continue reading