Competency-Based Education
Smart Parents
We spend a lot of our time creating and sharing resources for educators and parents (who are often one and the same audience). Time and time again, we observe that families are left out of the equation when it comes to determining the primary audience for education reports, papers and articles—even though they are among the hungriest for informed opinions that can help them. Smart Parents is a blog series for parents, by parents who are navigating educational opportunities + making powerful decisions for and with their students. Learn more in Smart Parents: Parenting for Powerful Learning.
Early Learning
20 Ways to Celebrate National Family Literacy Day
Did you know the single greatest indicator of children’s success is the literacy level of their parents? Did you know that parental involvement in their child’s reading has been found to be the most important determinant of language and emergent literacy?
Smart Parents
Getting Creative with Cardboard: The Perfect Mix of Learning and Fun
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over my 19 years as a parent is to keep it simple and to look for easy ways to tie together learning and fun. In this post, I take a look at a recent simple activity I organized that did just that.
Personalized Learning
A Parent’s Call to Action: Leveraging Personalized Learning for Your Child
By: Karla Phillips and Ace Parsi. From the day of diagnosis, parents of students with disabilities begin the long journey of paving paths through a world designed for the mythical “average” person. Here's how personalized learning can help.
Project-Based Learning
What Parents Need to Know About Project-Based Learning
As a parent, you’ve probably heard the buzz about “project-based learning,” but you might not know exactly what it means. Here's everything you need to know.
Early Learning
Smart Review | Cubetto: Teaching Coding Without a Screen
How can parents help introduce and get their young children interested in coding, while still limiting time on a device? Cubetto is a wooden robot designed to teach kids as young as three years old to code without a screen.
EdTech
Smart Review | An Epic! Review From a Teacher and Parent
Whether for classroom or home use (or ideally a combination of both) the Epic! digital library is an excellent place for students, teachers and families to explore and grow a love of reading together.
Smart Parents
You Can Thank Mom for More than the Meal Itself: What the Kids Have to Say
Everyone benefits from family dinner—especially the kids. Even better, kids LIKE it. Here, I look at the benefits of regular family dinners, and share the perspectives of some of the kids I know.
Leadership
How to Reduce Barriers to Family Engagement
In a recent survey, 18,000+ parents and guardians were asked to share more about their barriers to engaging with their child’s school. Here are the most common barriers nationwide, and potential next steps for addressing these challenges.
Smart Parents
Decisions, Decisions: Deciding Which School is Right for Your Child
By: Gabriella Rowe. How do you decide what school is right for your children? I tell parents that these four qualities are the most important indicators of a school that will be successful in addressing the needs of their K-12 students.
Early Learning
Four Ways Adults Can Support Child Literacy
By: Mitch Center. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, uncle, mentor or even an older sibling, you have the opportunity—and responsibility—to help the kids around you fall in love with books. Here's how.