Study suggests giving kids too many toys stifles their creativity (Medical Xpress)—A team of researchers at the University of Toledo in the U.S. has found that children are more creative when they have fewer toys to play with at one time. In their paper published in the journal Infant Behavior and Development, the group describes their observational study of toddlers at play, what they learned and offer some suggestions for parents. Parents have long been subject to the opinions of others, some of which include judgments regarding the number of toys they should provide for their children. Some suggest more toys show children they are more loved, while others argue more toys is overkill and a poor substitute for parental attention. In the experiment, parents were asked to bring toddlers to a play area where the little ones were given either four toys or 16 toys to play alone with for 30 minutes. The researchers found that the toddlers playing with four toys engaged in more creative activities than did the toddlers who had 16 toys to choose from.
Jessica Lahey’s ‘The Gift of Failure’: A Fear of Risk-Taking Has Destroyed Kids’ Love of Learning I’ve known the mother sitting in front of me at this parent-teacher conference for years, and we have been through a lot together. I have taught three of her children, and I like to think we’ve even become friends during our time together. She’s a conscientious mother who obviously loves her children with all of her heart. I’ve always been honest with her about their strengths and weaknesses, and I think she trusts me to tell her the truth. But when she hits me with the concern that’s been bothering her for a while, all I can do is nod, and stall for time. “Marianna’s grades are fine; I’m not worried about that, but she just doesn’t seem to love learning anymore.” She’s absolutely right. The truth—for this parent and so many others—is this: Her child has sacrificed her natural curiosity and love of learning at the altar of achievement, and it’s our fault. I look at this mother with concern on her face, her eager pencil poised to write down my words of wisdom.
What not to do when your kid tells a lie At the ripe old age of 3, my older daughter has begun flirting with falsehoods. So far, the few lies she has told have been comically bad and easy to spot. Her dad and I usually laugh at them with an amused, “Oh, yeah?” While reporting a story on adult lying, I had the pleasure of talking with developmental psychologist Victoria Talwar of McGill University, who studies lying in children. My accusatory question had created conditions ripe for this lie to be spawned. Lying, it turns out, is actually a sign of something good happening in the developing brain. That thought sounds simple, but it’s actually quite profound. For the rest of us parents who can’t maintain an elaborate charade like that, Talwar says the key is to create an environment that fosters truth-telling. Another strategy to minimize lies, as simple as it sounds, is to ask your kid to tell you the truth. And remember, if you want your kid to value honesty, you should check yourself.
Study Finds Montessori Schools Level the Playing Field for Disadvantaged Kids Researchers and educators have identified early childhood as one of the most important developmental periods in a person’s life, setting in place patterns that can predict life outcomes. This is not surprising given the fact that the human brain goes through profound changes in the first six years, most of which appear to be permanent. In addition, economic analyses have shown that educational interventions aimed at preschool programs have the highest return on investment. Yet, there is little consensus on what kinds of programs should be widely implemented and have the most positive effects. A new longitudinal study from the University of Virginia has been published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology comparing the Montessori educational method to regular preschool education. The Montessori method was developed by Dr. The newly published study is one of few on the Montessori method that has overcome study limitations like good controls, sample sizes and program quality.
12 "myths" about education in Finland debunked The success of public schooling in Finland has been a huge topic of discussion in the education community over the past year. I’ve read a few good articles about it, including Why Are Finland’s Schools So Successful?, and was impressed with what I learned. So when the image to the left started circulating on social media, I shared it along with a link to 26 Amazing Facts About Education in Finland. The image and the article weren’t in total agreement about the state of Finnish education, and neither were commenters on Facebook. That made me even more curious about what Finnish education is all about. A Finland native named Nina Smith had recently offered to guest blog for me, and I was thrilled when she was receptive to my request for her to respond to the rumors floating around about Finnish education. 1) Teachers in Finland are paid like doctors. Fiction. 2) Professional development is strongly emphasized in Finland and teachers are viewed as respected professionals. Fact. Fact. Fact.
bigthink It’s a well-known fact that the United States is incarcerating more people than any other country in the world - and the prison system has been widely criticized for its inhumane practices, inefficiency, and high recidivism rates. Unsurprisingly, part of the solution lies in education. Studies have shown that inmates who take part in educational programs in prison are 47 percent less likely to reoffend. But some say philosophy, in particular, can benefit prisoners in ways that other subjects can’t. Indeed, studies have shown that academically, children who learn philosophy in schools perform drastically better compared to their peers. Some already did. In an interview for the philosophy news website Daily Nous, Leder shares some of the questions he and his students approach in class, while turning to Epictetus or classic Chinese texts for answers: How to build a good life as a “lifer”? Does it work? "The Death of Socrates" (1787), by Jacques-Louis David. Philosophy vs. therapy
This School in Levelfield Is Changing the Concept of Education Love reading positive news? Help The Better India grow Support our endeavor to become every Indian's source of daily inspiring positive news. Read FAQs. He was all of 33 when his friends, acquaintances, colleagues and the wider circle of people around him thought he’d taken leave of his senses. The year was 2009. An IIT Kharagpur engineer and IIM, Ahmedabad MBA Arghya Banerjee lived in Chennai with his wife and four year old daughter, worked at Irevna – a Standard and Poor’s equity research outsourcing company that later got acquired by Crisil – had built a career and reputation in his chosen field and had some savings to get by. That’s when Banerjee decided to chuck it all up, return to his native town Suri in West Bengal’s Birbhum district and start a school. What he did have was the support of his wife, a young daughter who could benefit in the bargain and a belief that education could be more than what he, she and several hundred million students in India receive. Swati Mukhopadhay’s
Some Schools Are Abolishing Homework In Favor Of Reading, And That's A Good Thing This September, the 20,000 elementary school students of Florida’s Marion County public school district will enter school with the promise that they will not be doing any more homework as part of their daily school life. The policy is introduced by the county’s new superintendent Heidi Maier. She motivated her decision with research that shows that homework does not improve achievement for younger students, but time free from school type activities is important for their development. The policy will exclude some occasional assignments, like science projects or research papers. The no homework policy is a rarity in the U.S., where the demanding emphasis on standardized test scores leads to a constant pressure, on students and teachers, for rigorous preparation starting as early as possible. In addition to doing away with homework, Maier will encourage parents to spend quality time with their kids each evening, reading to them for at least 20 minutes.
The Best Toys for Infant Learning | Janet Lansbury Janet Lansbury: When we’re considering offering young children technology and mobile devices or other kinds of screens when they’re very, very young we have to consider, first of all, the stimulation factor. These are brand-new people to the world that are very, very sensitive and highly aware, and all of this works to their great advantage as learners and absorbers of their environment and life. We develop more in the first three years than the whole rest of our life put together, so they’re able to learn from an empty room, being at a position where they’re ideally free to move their bodies, so they’re able to turn their heads—we say start infants on their backs for that reason—and they could be fascinated by dust particles or the corner of the room or natural light coming in, a number of things, and they are learning something from that, they’re figuring something out. So when we offer technology it’s an onslaught on their senses basically. Not so much a phone but a larger screen.
Knowing the Stages of Neurological Development Can Make You a Better Parent Don’t you wish you could predict your child’s behavior with 100% accuracy? Any realistic parent knows it’s an impossible daydream, but an appealing one nonetheless. Kids will always surprise you. What you can do is come to understand the stages of their neurological development and what it means for their learning and behavior. The first is the sensorimotor stage. Sarah Lytle, PhD. is from the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington, in Seattle. Young children understand the world through interaction with their senses. A child’s first word is uttered around six months of age. From age two to six or seven, a child enters the preoperational stage. It’s at age two that humans become amazed by the idea that others don’t see the world quite like they do. Two year-olds can’t control their emotions very well. To help build empathy, parents can work at developing a child’s “theory of mind.” Here, a child is told that Sally has a basket and Anne a box.
Skill, re-skill and re-skill again. How to keep up with the future of work The jobs market is well into the 21st century. So why isn’t our education system? Today’s jobs are vastly different than they were a generation ago. All of us, from Gen Zers to Boomers, are facing a working world that is more changeable and unpredictable than ever. The days of working for 40 years at one job and retiring with a good pension are gone. Now the average time in a single job is 4.2 years, according to the US. That rapid pace of change in jobs and skills means there’s a growing demand to update skills as well. Skills for the wrong century Here’s the problem in a nutshell: the job opportunities that are available today are 21st-century jobs. In the 19th century, there was a massive movement of the population from rural to urban centres. In the 20th century, work was dominated by factory jobs. Today, in the 21st century, we’re seeing the rise of new work models such as freelancing and remote work. Yet education hasn’t kept pace. Do this exercise every few years. Share