The power of the intrinsic

Philippe Petit is best known for his various high-wire feats. (The Man Who Walked Between the Towers is a nice picture book rendition of one of his most famous walks.)  In this recent TED talk he tells of his journey to unlikely accomplishment, beginning at age six when he set about mastering a series of [...]

Maurice Sendak’s age

Just after I posted yesterday about age-based schooling, I read a short excerpt from a 2009 New Yorker interview with the late Maurice Sendak.  Sendak says of the photograph that accompanies the interview “I am in my bathrobe in the forest with my dog, Herman, who is a German shepherd of unknowable age, because I [...]

Because of when you were born.

Several months ago I mentioned Robert Epstein’s book Teen 2.0.  In his chapter on the emergence of adolescence as a concept, Epstein also walks the reader through the history of compulsory education.  He mentions that when Massachusetts established the first public school system in 1827, which required students between the ages of eight and fourteen [...]

Rules and tools

I was helping an 8 year-old with a math problem the other day.  It looked like this: She pointed to Luke’s pencil and said “Well, it’s not this one because you aren’t supposed to start in the middle of the ruler.” She then proceeded to try to convince herself in various ways that one of [...]

Toughing it out

I’ve been thinking about one of the arguments I often hear for keeping kids in school even when they’re miserable, even when it’s taking a toll on their confidence and vitality.  “They need to learn to deal with hardship,” people often tell me.  “Life isn’t easy, so we shouldn’t make childhood easy.  I’ve had hard [...]

Attendance optional

I had cause to dig out an old post about how I’m often a wet blanket when it comes to cool new ideas for schools.  I decided upon reading through it that I think it bears repeating, so I’m posting an amended version. I don’t get as excited as I used to about great ideas [...]

Norms, strengths, disorders…

I recently heard about Dale Archer’s new book Better than Normal: How What Makes You Different Can Make You Exceptional, in which he cautions against the over-diagnosing of psychiatric disorders.  If we’re not careful, Archer says, we’ll stomp out some of our best potential.  I’m finding that the book is a little slow going at [...]

The malcontents

In general when I hear people use the word malcontent it’s to refer to someone who’s not only displeased with the way things are but seems to look for reasons to be displeased.  The word is often accompanied by some degree of sneer or disapproval.  The dictionary is a little more charitable with its definition; [...]

Brain Rules

John Medina’s Brain Rules is worth a look; the author’s website gives a great summary of the book so you’ll be able to tell whether it’s worth the full read to you.  So far, I find it a great, simplified, but carefully researched look at how the brain works and what it might mean for how we [...]

Refusing to fake it

Yesterday a 10 year-old said this to me about her experience with math: “It’s like I’ve been doing it, but I haven’t been learning it. People keep saying ‘well if you’re doing it you must be learning it,’ but I don’t think I am.” What she meant by doing it was that she was performing [...]