Self-Directed, Engaged Learning
It is through learning that we realize our potential. It is through learning that our minds become attuned, ready to meet whatever life brings. As the world changes, so can we, for as long as we live—as long as we learn.
We need to find ways to promote self-directed, engaged learning in our children throughout their lives.
The following articles are about Self-Directed, Engaged Learning:
Vote Early, Vote Often!
November 02, 2012
Julie A. Riess, Ph.D., is a consultant for Child Development and Education at Families and Work Institute. She is a developmental psychologist and the director of the Wimpfheimer Nursery School at Vassar College.
This article was originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal by Gannett Publications on October 26, 2008.
I have a campaign message for parents: Vote early and vote often.
Although this may sound like a suggestion to become parents who are role models in corruption of the political system, it is actually a message about the important role parents play in the political socialization of their children.
read moreOnce Upon A Time ... Tales of Executive Functions at Work
April 22, 2012
Julie A. Riess, Ph.D., is the Senior Advisor on Child Development and Education at Families and Work Institute. She is a developmental psychologist and the director of the Wimpfheimer Nursery School at Vassar College.
This article was originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal by Gannett Publications on April 15, 2012.
In the glorious days before homework ruled our evening household schedule, our elder daughter, Leslie, would come home from nursery school and see to the lives of all 27 children single-handedly. She knew precisely what each child was doing, and helped him or her carry on with many adventures. Occasionally, we would come into her bedroom and see their world for a moment in time, a panorama of drama and action sprawled before us from one end of her rug to under her bed. Through our naïve adult eyes, the whole community seemed frozen in motion. Leslie knew otherwise.
Got the Winter Blues? Time to Plan a New Project!
January 25, 2012
Julie A. Riess, Ph.D., is the Senior Advisor on Child Development and Education at Families and Work Institute. She is a developmental psychologist and the director of the Wimpfheimer Nursery School at Vassar College.
This article was originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal by Gannett Publications on January 22, 2012.
Two years ago, my son started a “365” project. He wanted to improve his skills as a photographer and made a pledge to himself to take at least one picture a day for the calendar year. On New Year’s Eve, 2010, we watched them as a slide show on our TV. We had had many sneak previews, including following along on his Facebook photo album. Yet the whole show, a year in pictures, was poignant in a new way.
There were some obvious things that made us smile, such as family blowing out birthday cake candles or the annual posed picture at our family’s summer vacation spot. Surprisingly, the more salient photos for me were the unexpected moments in daily life. There was the light switch in a darkened room at 11:59 p.m. (determination to keep the project afloat on a day he forgot to take a picture). There was the half full glass of water on a nightstand, from when he was sick in bed. There was a photo of a train window and another of car tail lights, as he traveled to interviews for graduate school.
Research on children’s memories, including interviews with children, often highlight the snapshots of our daily lives more than the center stage events. Memorable moments come in all shapes and sizes, yet the details sometimes tell the story better than the canvas. It isn’t as much about the trip to Disney World as discovering the little chocolate on a hotel pillow. It isn’t as much about a new bicycle as the moment a parent let go and you didn’t fall.
read moreYou’re Never Too Young To Vote…
November 07, 2011
Julie A. Riess, Ph.D., is the Senior Advisor on Child Development and Education at Families and Work Institute. She is a developmental psychologist and the director of the Wimpfheimer Nursery School at Vassar College.
I have a campaign message for parents: Vote early and vote often.
Although this may sound like a suggestion to become parents who are role models in corruption of the political system, it is actually a message about the important role parents play in the political socialization of their children. Following the election controversy of 2000 and the national tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, social scientists, political practitioners and educators wondered how these events would affect the political attitudes and beliefs of young adults. In January 2002, a group of not-for-profit organizations that are national leaders in social initiatives commissioned a survey to explore these questions. The report, “Short-Term Impacts, Long Term Opportunities: The Political and Civic engagement of Young Adults” summarized this national survey of 1,500 young adults ages 15-25. This data clearly point to the importance of parents’ political behaviors in shaping the attitudes and engagement level of their children as young adults. Here are important messages from the report.
read moreWhy I Am Concerned About Learning
April 16, 2010
by Ellen Galinsky
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