*According to this Slate article, new research evidences that when teachers show children how a toy works the children are less likely to discover different things about the toy then when they explore the toy on their own. Apparently kids will often just mimmic the teacher's directions even when more novel uses exist. According to the article, "[d]irect instruction really can limit young children's learning. Teaching is a very effective way to get children to learn something specific—this tube squeaks, say, or a squish then a press then a pull causes the music to play. But it also makes children less likely to discover unexpected information and to draw unexpected conclusions." Makes sense to me.
*According to this Newsweek article for the first time ever U.S. "creativity" is declining, with the fastest decline occurring in children aged kindergarten through 6th grade. This is not a good thing, especially since other countries (including China) are making creativity a focus of their educational systems.
*This Huffington Post article summarizes new research which "found that Bright Girls, when given something to learn that was particularly foreign or complex, were quick to give up; the higher the girls' IQ, the more likely they were to throw in the towel. In fact, the straight-A girls showed the most helpless responses. Bright boys, on the other hand, saw the difficult material as a challenge, and found it energizing. They were more likely to redouble their efforts rather than give up." Why is this? According to the author, "Most likely, it has to do with the kinds of feedback we get from parents and teachers as young children. Girls, who develop self-control earlier and are better able to follow instructions, are often praised for their 'goodness.' When we do well in school, we are told that we are 'so smart,' 'so clever,' or 'such a good student.' This kind of praise implies that traits like smartness, cleverness and goodness are qualities you either have or you don't. Boys, on the other hand, are a handful. Just trying to get boys to sit still and pay attention is a real challenge for any parent or teacher. As a result, boys are given a lot more feedback that emphasizes effort (e.g., 'If you would just pay attention you could learn this,' 'If you would just try a little harder you could get it right.') The net result: When learning something new is truly difficult, girls take it as sign that they aren't 'good' and 'smart,' and boys take it as a sign to pay attention and try harder."
*For two more great articles on how best to educate kids (and the importance of "play"), click here and scroll down to the bottom of the post.
*And since my Nurture Shock post received quite a few hits, I thought I'd forward along this Snoburbia post on how race is addressed in the "snoburbs", which I found very interesting (and true).
, and F can't stop looking through the projects. So, a few weeks ago, we tried potato stamp printing. F really wanted to make a pattern, just like in the book. But after each of her attempts smeared, she became somewhat frustrated with the stamps and started finger and hand-painting instead, which lead to a whole new project (more on that tomorrow). On the upside, I really liked the whole stamping process and could see making my own crafts this way (Christine Schmidt's 
has inspired me). I also think that as the kids age we'll come back to this technique again and again, especially for making patterns. Here's the scoop:
into a shallow dish and then blotted it down with a paper towel to try and make it more even. Felt would have worked much better, but I didn't have any. Or we could have used 
to even it out (again, I didn't have one as this project was somewhat spontaneous). 
). 
) and now after T wakes up he stands by the door saying "bubba! bubba! bubba!" Have a great Monday! I hope you had a chance to see the supermoon on Saturday, seriously breathtaking, check out some photos 
, 
, 
, and 
) and the Decemberists' new album (
)
and I figured I'd check it out. I really liked the book for many reasons, foremost among them the fact that the author isn't merely telling you his or her own views and experiences, instead it summarizes expert data and studies (on many different subjects) often with surprising results. I found it a fascinating read about how the brain works and how people learn, so even if you don't have kids, it's worth checking out. 
by Gusti); and finally (3) kids undertake a craft project based on the artwork discussed (for Smith, the kids made sculptures out of wood and metal). As part of the program all the kids receive a "Secret Agent" guidebook, which includes several great discussion questions for talking to your children (or even curious, fun adults) about other works of modern art in the building. F (5 years old) seemed enchanted by the whole thing, she constantly had her hand up and loved the whole discussion. P's attention waivered more, but she still enjoyed the class (when we arrived home, she couldn't wait to tell her dad how she "made art in a museum."). A good day, raincoats and all. 
and later tried this set - 
, we like both but we prefer the forest cards). The boxes (which costs about $10) include 36 cards, each of which contains a beautiful drawing and no words. When the girls play they usually pick five or so cards and create a story (F's stories often have a plot, whereas P's stories tend to meander somewhat). When the time comes for my turn I ask the girls to randomly pick cards for me and I make up the story while they surprise me with new cards. I love this game, as it forces me to be both creative and spontaneous (spontaneity is not one of my strong suits). Though he can't tell stories yet, T just loves to sort and look at the cards. So we can all "play" together. I love hearing all the different tales the girls create, especially when they're trying to work out how they feel about something (lots of death stories since my dad died). If you don't want to buy a set, you could probably make your own using magazines or old books and pictures (or, for the artistic mom, draw/paint a set yourself). 
as my favorite children's book as all time. This book has it all - well-written, short, funny, plus the story's protagonist, Mary, is an independent girl who doesn't care what people think. I purchased our own copy as soon as we returned home.
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