Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills

The way that children spend their time has changed. A growing number of psychologists believe that these changes in what children do has also changed kids’ cognitive and emotional development.

It turns out that all that time spent playing make-believe actually helped children develop a critical cognitive skill called executive function. Executive function has a number of different elements, but a central one is the ability to self-regulate. Kids with good self-regulation are able to control their emotions and behavior, resist impulses, and exert self-control and discipline.

Ready To Learn: Defining Kindergarten Readiness Once and For All!

Now: Everything you need to know to Get Your Child Ready for Kindergarten! Kindergarten readiness, a hot topic among politicians, is also a hot topic among parents. With this in mind, let’s look at how kindergarten readiness goes far beyond learning the ABC’s and starts way back in infancy. Here are some general indicators that early childhood educators agree show children are prepared to enter kindergarten…

Our Brains are Wired for Empathy…

“Empathy is the invisible hand….that entends human consciousness”

Waiting for Superman

For a nation that proudly declared it would leave no child behind, America continues to do so at alarming rates. Despite increased spending and politicians’ promises, our buckling public-education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children.

Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood

Another great reason to stay away from big brands, commercial television, (and video games.)

Academic Standards, and "Success"

It is so hard, as a parent, not to be seduced by the thrill of having our child “succeed.” And what exactly defines “success?” In early childhood, we often judge success on how much a child knows. This leads many parents to put their children into “academic” programs that focus on abstract knowledge, rather than […]