Yesterday women all over the US did a walk out to support Kavanaugh’s accusers.There are pictures of men and women getting arrested for protesting in the Capitol. As women are chanting on the steps of the Capitol they are telling the press they want Christine Blasey Ford to know that if the Senate won’t keep her safe, the women of this country will. We will not let her down.
JDP did a study of LinkedIn photos to see which profession is making the most mistakes in how they present themselves professionally. Educators were right up at the top. One might say that’s because LinkedIn is not an important way for teachers to get jobs, but then why are they on LinkedIn at all? Read more
I’ve been reading about the correlation between reading fiction and having empathy. The correlation has been established for a long time. And, of course, the correlation between empathy and good health is known as well. Read more
I go back and forth about if I should develop my weaknesses. I am bad with money. Not bad at earning it, but I’m bad at waiting for stuff. I just buy what I want. Imagine a petulant bratty child shopping online some nights and drinking wine to cope with self-induced financial pressure on other nights. Read more
YouTube is what my son does when his fingers hurt too much to do the last hour of practice. Today we watched Benjamin Zander’s TED Talk. Read more
When they were younger my kids would say, “Mom, you’re not wearing a bra.”
I’d say, “I know. Women can choose to wear bras or not wear bras. It’s my choice.”
When the boys got older they’d say, “Mom, you’re not wearing a bra. It’s gross.”
I’d say, “My body is not gross. And I do not need to wear certain clothing in order to not be gross.” Read more
We have spent the week in Princeton because I realized – in the nick of time – that the chemistry tutor we had for the whole year knew nothing about AP tests. The chemistry AP went fine, if you don’t count all my screaming and my slow slip into alcoholism. So I decided to keep the same tutor for AP biology. One more week in Princeton. Read more
My kids are old enough to have opinions on our socioeconomic status, and they don’t care that cello lessons and SAT tutors are accoutrements of the upper middle class. They see we live in a very small two-bedroom apartment. I tell them our apartment is nicer than some peoples’ houses. “We have Limoges china! We have crystal chandeliers!” Read more
The New York Times has a story about Germany’s outdoor preschools. The article cites research I’ve talked about here, like the book Last Child in the Woods. The article also features a Ph.D. dissertation from 2003 by Peter Häfner at Heidelberg University that shows that graduates of German forest kindergartens had a “clear advantage” over the graduates of regular kindergartens, performing better in cognitive and physical ability, as well as in creativity and social development. (I assume he has a book deal by now.) Read more
I am always looking for ways to convince myself to leave my kids alone. It’s a challenge to follow my kids’ lead instead of leading them in education. And I have to remind myself constantly that I do not know better than they do about what would be good for them to do with their lives. Read more