We all know how magic (or tragic) having the ‘right’ (or wrong) teacher can be for student learning. Professionalism, a sense of purpose and service, and a love for learning and teaching are all ‘must haves’ to ignite student learning. I recently read an interesting blog post that referenced a 1982 survey that contrasts the [...]

In my years as an educator, I have repeatedly experienced examples proving what intuition has always told me: People – children included – will “rise to the occasion” when high expectations set for them, assuming those expectations are reasonable, and support is provided. Even very young students know when someone accepts less than best efforts, [...]

Better Lesson is a social networking site for teachers and other educators – including home educators –  to share curriculum material. In fact, an educator can upload and share a full 180 days worth of lessons. Check it out, and avoid re-inventing the wheel! This site looks great and seems to have great potential. DISCLAIMER: [...]

As we quickly approach the upcoming school year, think about creating a space in your home that is a designated “quiet space” conducive to studying and reading. In these days of pervasive media, it is difficult sometimes to ‘turn it all off’ and focus. Your child should have an area that is dedicated to his/her [...]

This list from an article in the July 2009 ASCD Educational Leadership magazine includes books by age level that are good for teaching social responsibility. If anyone has used any of these or done any specific activities with their kids to encourage social responsibility, I’d love to hear about it! – Heather

Parents, we hope you take a moment to check out our free summer mini e-course, and send us some feedback! We’d love to hear your opinions! Happy Fourth of July everyone! – Heather

PBS has launched PBS Read – a site where kids, parents, caregivers can work together on reading! PBS already has some great reading and writing resources available for kids and adults, and it was great to see that they merged the two audiences with this website. In my mind it encourages families to take a [...]

Parents and teachers have differing thoughts on the definition of a ‘gifted’ student.  Is it a successful student? An early reader? An outlier? A “nerd”? Is every student gifted? Is a gifted student necessarily a divergent thinker or a great writer? Are there commonalities among all ‘gifted’ children? Certainly, we all have gifts, and in [...]

I was just reading a post on The White House blog about a recent visit by President Obama to a successful charter school in Washington, DC. He noted that Capital City Public Charter School is “an example of how all our schools should be.” Yes. Innovation. A focus on problem solving, writing, math, and science. [...]

Scientists have shown what we all intuitively know, as parents, that enrichment such as musical instruction helps kids’ learning in other areas (such as math and reading) as well. This is great news for those of us who can give our children those experiences. But in a time when schools are going ‘back to basics’ [...]