By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn Every summer we hear from educators about the “summer slide” in academic learning (e.g. here and here).  The claim is that children lose much of what they gained from school during the summer break, so time is lost catching up in the fall.  Some even […]

By PATRICK FARENGA /  GWS A homeschooling father and a journalist teamed up to write about the current state of homeschooling in America based on published scholarly research. Their effort provides an interesting snapshot about what is going on with politics, educators, researchers, and parents who are interested in homeschooling in […]

Students are more reluctant to seek help from teachers than from friends or parents. from www.shutterstock.com In Australia approximately one student in five is bullied at school every few weeks or more often. Many of these students suffer serious emotional and psychological harm, such as persistent anxiety, depression and suicidal […]

All eight modules were towed across the ice shelf to the new location further from the sea / BAS/M.KRZYSZTOFOWICZ The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has completed the move of its Halley research station. The base is sited on the floating – and moving – Brunt Ice Shelf, and had to be […]

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 […]

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 […]

Pressures on teaching time and resources often means the benefits of outdoor learning are overlooked, a report says Outdoor learning can have a positive impact on children’s development but it needs to be formally adopted, a report suggests. Childhoods were dramatically changing, with fewer opportunities to spend time outdoors, researchers […]

Peter Gray Ph.D.Freedom to Learn It’s been many decades since I’ve been a student in any kind of school.  Yet, just two days ago I had a dream that I was a student.  It was the same dream I’ve had many times.  I’ll tell you about it in my next […]

Credit: Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley |Shutterstock.com The way you view failure may influence how your children view their own abilities, a new study finds. The researchers set out to study what influences children’s view of their intelligence; some kids see their intelligence as fixed, while others think they can become […]

By Peter Gray The monsters under the bed are real. Infants and young children in our culture regularly protest going to bed.  They make all sorts of excuses. They say they are not tired, when in fact they obviously are tired. They say they are hungry, or thirsty, or need to […]