Category Archive:
Teaching and learning principles

Learning to Question

learning to question

Information is an avalanche. Technology experts tell us that every two days we now create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003. To be able to dig ourselves out of this morass of words and images, in order to find our way and to live our lives, learning […]


Learning to Deal With Change

learning to deal with change

Learning to deal with change has become one of the critical life skills of our times. The amount of new information that we can access through the internet grows in such a geometrical progression that it staggers the mind. In 2010 Eric Schmidt, then CEO of Google, commented that every two days we now create […]


Learning to Make Good Decisions

learning to make good decisions

What should we teach our children? Research shows that 80% of the facts we learn for tests are forgotten in a month. We remember best that information with which we have an emotional connection. It’s a lot easier to remember your birthday than the year of the Battle of Hastings. 1066, in case you’re wondering. […]


In Service to the Child

in service to the child

When you help a child climb the tree, everyone enjoys the fruit.-Nankani Proverb What do we expect when we patronize a restaurant? Tasty food, cheerful wait staff, good cost/price performance, timely delivery and, of course, not to go away hungry. Our decision making process is based on factors of price, timeliness, quality of relationships and […]


Essential Math Skills for Life

essential math skills for life

As a six-year-old, mom would send me off walking for milk, eggs or bread to the mom-and-pop grocery six blocks away. These shopping errands were big math builders for me. For half a mile I had to keep in mind that a loaf of bread and a carton of eggs were 59 cents and the […]


Liberty, Freedom and Responsibility

liberty, freedom responsibility

“Freedom is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why […]


Seek First to Understand, and Then to Be Understood

Seek first to understand

One is none. Two is ten. ~Icelandic proverb about children For a while, this parenting stuff can seem like you’ve got it under control. Then comes the second child. As Uncle Norm told me years ago, “Before I had children I had ten theories about raising children. Now I have ten children and no theories.” […]


Helping Your Child Be Better Organized

helping your child be better organized

“A place for everything, and everything in its place.” What a wonderful dream. When I was six years old, my toys would fit in one drawer of my dresser. Jacks and balls, jump rope, coloring books, crayons, checkers and a deck of cards. A shelf in the closet held all the toys for five children; […]


Increasing Your Child’s Active Working Memory

Increase your child's active working memory

“Is there something wrong with Henry?” Dee inquired about her four-and-a-half-year-old son. “Henry can only accomplish one task at a time. When I ask him to brush his teeth and put on his pajamas, he can do one or the other, but not both.” Dee was describing Henry’s “active working memory.” Henry was having difficulty […]


Finding the Teachable Moment

Finding the teachable moment

Children make us into adults, goes an old saying. “That’s because,” Monica added, “they give us our most embarrassing moments.” “For example, at gymnastics class the other day, Danielle, my three-year old, told the instructor she wasn’t going to get off the mat. She smarted off and told her instructor she was going to somersault […]