parents
Personalized Learning
Hours in Front of a Screen… Wasting Time or Getting Motivated?
What is a parent to do when it appears a child is wasting time on a screen, yet passionate? Here are four tips, and the story of realization from Marie that answers the question, "is hours of screen time, wasting time? Or moments of motivation?
Personalized Learning
Baby on Board: You are Never Too Young for a Maker Faire
Bring it on Maker Month - no matter what the age. Shared experiences are prime for learning. Even when it seems like more work than it is worth, do it anyway. You never know what your kids will remember!
Leadership
Not Your Cupcake Sale: Parental Involvement that Drives Learning
By: Arina Bokas. What type of involvement really affects learning? Here's a look at the state of parent involvement spawned from recent story of Dee Heinz – a Texas mom who came up with a humorous flyer asking families to donate money in lieu of time-consuming fundraisers.
Personalized Learning
What I Learned From My Daughter’s First “C”
So, what did I learn from my daughter’s first “C" I learned there’s a fair amount of “unlearning” that still has to happen before we will all feel comfortable in completely competency-based learning environments. As more and more schools shift from letter grades to levels of mastery, we would all do well to continue challenging the assumptions we all have about how we define and describe when learning is or isn’t happening.
Personalized Learning
What Do Students Need to Learn Math? Competence, Curiosity and Commitment
By: Nancy Weinstein. What do students need to learn math? Well, it turns out the 3 C's are really important: Competence, Curiosity and Commitment and commitment, writes Weinstein, may be the most important of all. We might not all be math people but we all need math, argues Weinstein, and sometimes commitment is what it takes to learn.
Personalized Learning
Creating Demand for Change: Smart Parents
Bob Rothman writes that "a new book from Getting Smart offers suggestions for how parents can deepen learning for all students." Smart Parents: Parenting for Powerful Learning is creating an opportunity for parents to create and advocate for student-centered learning.
Personalized Learning
20 Must-Read Children’s Books for Back to School
My daughter loves to read, and many of the Getting Smart staffers have children that love to read too. Inspired by our kids, here's 20 must read children's books to kick start the "back to school" season.
Smart Parents
Smart Parents: Parenting for Powerful Learning
Getting Smart is releasing its newest book, Smart Parents: Parenting for Powerful Learning, featuring 60+ inspiring parent stories and and advice for parents on navigating educational options in the digital era.
Personalized Learning
8 Ways To Encourage Soft Skills (Core Dispositions) in our Children
Parents and teachers alike agree personal growth and development matters, but these qualities still seem intangible, subjective, and hard to see and measure. The very term ‘soft skills’ sounds pretty fluffy and doesn’t command the sense of importance it deserves. So how might we, as parents, highlight and nurture these core dispositions in our children?
Personalized Learning
10 Tips for Parents + Teachers To Activate Powerful Learning This Year
It’s Back to School Time, so how can parents and educators work together to activate powerful learning? Here are 10 tips to get the collaboration off to the right start this school year.