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How can families and teachers give kids the life skills they need to cope in our multi-tasking, multimedia, modern world?

Ellen Galinsky felt compelled to seek an answer to this question more than a decade ago when her own research showed that far too many young people were turned off to learning—the fire in their eyes had dimmed, if not gone out.

Since then, Ellen has been conducting an extensive review of the research on how children learn best. With New Screen Concepts, she has traveled across the country filming researchers “in action” and interviewing them as they conduct groundbreaking experiments on child development.

On April 20, 2010, Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs was published by HarperCollins. In a first, Ellen shares this journey not only in the book but also in a Vook (video book) that takes us into the labs of the scientists as they conduct their studies.

In another first, Ellen has identified skills from child development research and neuroscience that help children thrive both now and in the future—that’s why they are called life skills.

All of the life skills involve the part of our brain (the prefrontal cortex) that weaves together our social, emotional and intellectual capacities in pursuit of our goals. Ellen believes that we will not be able to effectively address the achievement gap in this country unless we help all children gain these life skills.  Among her findings are:

Any child can learn these skills at any age—it is never too late;
Any adult can teach these skills; and
Promoting these skills doesn’t call for expensive toys or equipment or lots of time—they involve doing fun, everyday things in new ways.

Mind in the Making offers a new approach to understanding how our children learn. We invite you to join us on an inspirational journey as we uncover the scientific breakthroughs that to promote the life skills that help our children thrive.

Click here for suggested Tips for Promoting Essential Skills

 Click here for a list of our funders.

Click here for a list of researchers and educators who have been filmed/interviewed for Mind in the Making.

Click here for a summary of the outreach we have done with Mind in the Making

Daily Kid

Mind in the Making is now available as a Vook

Mind in the Making: Experiments in Children's Learning (DVD)

Here is a list of Mind in the Making researchers and educators filmed to date

Community Schools: “Mind in the Making and Community Schools: Crossing Boundaries and Creating Strong Linkages for Children Birth through Eight and their Families,” is a collaborative project with The Children’s Aid Society’s National Center for Community Schools and the Institute for Educational Leadership. (Read more)

Learning Communities: Throughout the country, groups of parents, educators, and other family support and health professionals have joined together to learn more about the research on children’s learning from birth through the early elementary school years, and about how to use this research to promote better outcomes for children. (Read more)

Learning Modules for Educators: Mind in the Making Learning Modules for Educators is an 11-part, facilitated learning process designed to bridge the gap between research and teaching practice. (Read more)

Seven Skills Modules: We have created new Modules from the book, called the Mind in the Making Seven Essential Skills Modules. (Read more)

Experiments in Children's Learning DVD: This two-volume series of 42 videos take viewers on a series of virtual “field trips” to laboratories in the U.S. and abroad. (Read more)
View a crosswalk of the experiments to the seven essential life skills

Download a companion Catalogue to Mind in the Making: Experiments in Children's Learning

Have you seen the Marshmallow Test?

What does eating marshmallows have to do with how your kid does on the SAT?
Watch the video

Ask a MITM team member to speak at your event.

The MITM staff is having conversations about Mind in the Making with audiences across the country. Click here to invite a team member to speak at your event.

The Seven Skills:

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