WE ARE ALL CONFORMISTS, WHETHER WE ADMIT IT OR NOT. IT’S PART OF OUR HUMAN NATURE. WE COULDN’T FORM AND LIVE IN HUMAN SOCIETIES IF WE WEREN’T CONFORMISTS. TO A CONSIDERABLE DEGREE, CONFORMITY IS A GOOD THING.
by Robin Grille Excerpted from Heart to Heart Parenting A child’s right to receive attention One of the most commonly heard parental laments is about how children try to get attention. So many behaviors that adults don’t like are brushed off as “merely” attention-seeking devices. “Don’t worry about him,” we say, […]
Peter Gray Ph.D.Freedom to Learn Increased automation has not reduced our workload. Why not? What if it did? In 1930, the British economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that, by the end of the century, the average workweek would be about 15 hours. Automation had already begun to replace many jobs […]
Credit: Olesia Bilkei / Shutterstock.com For babies In the first year of a baby’s life, the brain doubles in size, according to a 2007 study. The hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped structure deep in the brain that is used in memory processing, reaches its adult size by 10 months of age. These […]
How we praise children is important in shaping the ways in which children see themselves. from www.shutterstock.com How do you react when you hear expressions like “well done”, “another A grade”, “aren’t you clever” and “great work”? Maybe you use them yourself with your children in the belief that it […]
From Patrick Farenga I’m bringing out a new edition of John Holt’s book Freedom and Beyond, which is full of ideas about how to put philosophical and moral concepts into practice for adults who want to live and learn with children in less authoritarian ways than school and social conventions encourage. […]
But why doesn’t she say to school authorities, stop schooling? Alison Gopnik is a renowned developmental psychologist whose research has revealed much about the amazing learning and reasoning capacities of young children, and she may be the leading interpreter of such research to the general public. She is one of the […]
Credit: Soloviova Liudmyla/Shutterstock.com What makes a good mom or dad? Not even the people in a single family can agree — but within that disagreement, there is valuable information, new research finds. For instance, a little bit of self-criticism by parents (though not too much!) might be good for kids; […]
What type of parent are you? Designed by Wes Mountain, CC BY-NDOur politicians talk a lot about “families”, but what do they really mean when they use this term? What does a modern Australian family look like and how does it compare with ten, 20 or even 30 years ago? […]
Credit: Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com Encouraging kids to get outdoors and be physically active is usually easier in the summertime. The hard part is finding ways for children to get moving and stay active year-round. Making fitness a regular part of a child’s day has its challenges. For one, kids today have […]