As a long time early childhood educator I think it must be an interesting time to be a child. We live in a period of great uncertainty and face a future that will almost certainly be unlike anything that has gone before or that any of us can imagine. The pace of social change .... read more
As the new year turns, parents of four and five-year-old preschoolers are looking back and looking forward and thinking: can it be that there is only half a year of preschool left? And then we're onto...kindergarten?!And each one of us is also thinking: is my child ready for t.... read more
We've been talking about inspiration this week. The inspiration to be a reader, to go on adventures, to be curious. What about creativity?Do children need inspiration to be creative?Some might say that what we really need to worry about is inadvertently quashing the creativi.... read more
"Look at our fresh, organic compost we made it!!" That's what my seven-year-old said to a neighbor last year as we were preparing our garden. Why does a young kid like him give a hoot about a pile of dirt? Because he's grown up learning about the importance of taking care o.... read more
Curiosity is the bedrock of genius. We would be willing to wager that nearly all revolutionary inventions, writings, and thoughts started with someone thinking, "I wonder ..." or asking "Why?" Right now, your curious mind might be wondering how you can inspire curiosity i.... read more
What is the biggest adventure you've ever gone on with your child?A few years ago, prodded by some cousins, I took my then six-year-old daughter on a hike up Cadillac Mountain in Maine to see the sunrise. The peak of Cadillac is the first place from which you can see the da.... read more
For those of us who love to read, raising our children to become readers may seem like a self-evident process. Read to them nightly, give them plenty of books... what else needs to be done?Alas, it's not always as easy as that. These days, there are so many more high-tech dis.... read more
Being the parent of a small child is nothing if not perplexing and ever challenging. Just when you think you've got the routine down, that little one decides to grow and change and test you—so you need some new tricks, fast! Where do you turn? How do you figure it out?Keep.... read more
One of the frustrations of parenting is this: there are certain things we'd really really really like our kids to do, or to be into, or to work hard at, or at least to try. And yet, we know from experience that if we badger them about it, or even suggest it in a gentle way, t.... read more
Call us conflicted. We tend to cast a jaundiced eye at the "new year, new you" promises we hear this time of year. And, yet, we place real faith in any opportunity for reflection that offers a bit of perspective, a perch from which we can look at ourselves, see what we like, w.... read more
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