I have an image in my mind of tiger cubs play wrestling with each other and I think we should apply that image to schools. When tiger cubs roll and pounce and snarl and mouth each other and wrap their arms around each others’ necks everyone knows that they are playing. They are programmed to […]
Improving student learning is the goal of schools, and Victoria Kornfield does a great job in today’s Bangor Daily News of sharing one clear way we can achieve our goal: make sure students have enough to eat. Other basic needs for children include adequate time playing outside, sleep, and positive relationships with adults. When children’s needs are […]
It makes me angry that programming in the arts, languages, social studies, physical education, technical education, and even recess has been reduced for a decade in American schools in the name of increasing academic achievement and we have little to nothing to show for it. Our students are basically doing no better academically than they were doing […]
I don’t know about you, but I’m fed up with all the hand-wringing about test scores of children in our public schools. We are by and large a state that will not do what is needed to increase academic achievement among all our students, so our test scores should be no surprise. You can’t fly in the face of […]
The natural language of children is motion. This is truest of the very young but remains relevant through the middle school years (and should remain true throughout life if we are to stay healthy). Increasing numbers of schools demand that children remain physically inactive for long periods of time during the day. This goes against […]
For a lot of kids it’s not much fun going to school these days. Many schools have cut recess. Lunch lasts twenty minutes at best. The arts, languages, physical education, and social studies all occupy positions on the back burners. Teachers avoid project-based learning. Taking the fun out of school is a mistake. We lose […]
