By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn This is Part I of a series on the functions and malfunctions of shame. This seems like a ripe time in history to think about the emotion of shame. We are living in a period of renewed reckoning with the shame of the racist […]
Shutterstock Is time travel possible for humans? Jasmine, age 8, Canberra, ACT. Hi Jasmine. I wish! In books and movies, our favourite characters can use “time-turners” and treehouses to travel through time. Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy for people in real life. Let’s look at why. First, there are two types of […]
Shutterstock How would they bring the International Space Station back down to earth? Grace, age 7, Watson, ACT. Hi Grace! The good news is we can bring the International Space Station back to Earth. The bad news is it will be a broken mess of melted metal. To understand why, […]
Let them have some iPad time. iStock Nermeen Dashoush, Ph.D., is a mother of two and a clinical assistant professor of Early Childhood Education at Boston University. She was a classroom teacher for over 10 years in New York City. This story originally featured on Working Mother. I have given a […]
bokan/Shutterstock As schools resume for most Australian students, a new group of parents have emerged. These parents have decided to give home education a longer term try, finding their children have improved academically and benefited from the calmer home learning environment. This change may mean some families move to a more child-led […]
A Harvard law professor wants to ban or greatly restrict homeschooling. Ouch. By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn An article published in the May-June 2020 issue of Harvard Magazine sent shockwaves through the homeschooling community. At the top of the article, entitled “The Risks of Homeschooling,” is a drawing of a forlorn girl […]
Shutterstock Most Australian children are stuck at home due to the outbreak of COVID-19. They need to find ways to socialise, do their school work, exercise and entertain themselves. It’s not surprising parents may be hearing “I’m bored” a lot more than before. People hate being bored. So much so […]
How are your kids managing at home? By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn We are in the midst of a terrible pandemic. Certainly, there is cause for all of us to be anxious, but I want to focus here on the effect on children. It is a well-established fact […]
Coral reefs are constantly under threat from environmental stress. Credit: David Suggett The existence of coral reefs, in all their abundant biodiversity and beauty, relies largely on a complex symbiosis between reef-building corals and microalgae. This finely tuned, fragile, partnership is constantly under threat from environmental stress—most notably the twin […]
“As you can see, individual differences in writing can be seen as early as kindergarten,” says Cynthia Puranik, associate professor in the College of Education & Human Development. On her computer, she pulls up writing samples from two kindergarteners who were asked to print words that they know. One child […]