How Children Learn

The classic, How Children Learn, is making a resurgence among parents and educators alike lately. In John Holt's book, his thesis is that children want to learn, are natural learners, and will learn more if adults recognize that and let them explore their worlds. Many times, parents and others act like bosses instead of co-learners. That means letting them play and playing with them, but resisting the urge to quiz them on their knowledge or to patronize them.

Most of How Children Learn is culled from his diaries, his successes and failures, and later notes from parents and other educators: "She is not afraid of making mistakes. And she is patient. She can tolerate an extraordinary amount of uncertainty, confusion, ignorance, and suspense. She does not have to have instant meaning in any new situation. She is willing and able for meaning to come to her - even if it comes very slowly, which it usually does..."

Click here to read more about the book on Amazon.

Recess Matters, Too!

According to a recent study published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, taking recess out of the school day can have serious consequences in child behavior. (Read the full article at Pediatrics or a shorter overview at Science Daily.) The study of more than 10,000 eight- and nine-year-old students indicated that having just a 15 minutes break from the classroom resulted in better behavior.

The study asserts that, as school districts face additional pressure from No Child Left Behind to add more and more time for reading and math, they may be removing an important tool for helping kids stay focused and on task. Removing recess, a great time to release energy, socialize with peers and generally explore the world is correlated with increased negative behaviors during instructional time. The researchers also found that eliminating recess was a more common practice in schools that serve children who are black, come from lower-income homes and live in urban areas.

Of course, several other issues can be related to a lack of recess: obesity, social skill development, perceived safety in school environments... Whatever your perspective on those issues, with our newest State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Bennett, talking a great deal about student behavior, this may be an important factor to consider.

Support the Federal Youth Coordination Act

The Federal Youth Coordination Act (FYCA) of 2008 (H.R. 7004) seeks to create a White House Office on Children and Youth, which would strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of youth programs.Learn More.

Sign on now! Join us in championing the positive development of youth in Indiana and across the nation. It’s as easy as signing our letter of support.

Sign the letter now.

Youth media brings subjects to life

Youth Radio is an organization in Oakland with the deeply held belief that underserved youth have the creativity, skills, and entrepreneurial spirit to become multimedia industry leaders.

They recently started a Brains & Beakers program, where an engineer or scientist brings in a hands-on, minds-on experiment and hangs out to answer questions about it. The young people in Youth Radio then edit and produce the program online.

Here's a link to the media section of our own community's awesome Y-Press. These two organizations are clear evidence that young people are more than ready to take the initiative, sometimes they simply need the tools to do so.

You Get What You Pay For

The citizens of Indianapolis who live within the Indianapolis Public Schools boundaries will have the opportunity on November 4th to choose to make a long term investment in the educational success of children and young people by voting to approve a bond issue that will allow IPS to improve facilities in which one of the most important activities in our community takes place - the pursuit of knowledge and learning.

Why shouldn't those facilities be comfortable no matter what the temperature is outside; have adequate spaces for learning, eating, and physical activity; be well-lit, inviting, and welcoming? We wouldn't go to a hospital for treatment if it was dingy, sub-standard, cramped, and run-down. Clearly we want the schools in which our most precious resources are being nurtured and prepared to become the next generation of community leaders, scientists, doctors, and captains of industry to be at least equal to the places where games and sports are played, meaning they should be spacious, well-equipped, and filled with the most modern amenities.

IPS students need to feel that the community really means it when we say we value them and their education. We clearly do this when we provide them with facilities that meet basic standards of comfort and health (which is where most of the bond money will be spent) and when we provide them with access to learn and use modern technology. Computer and internet skills are not a luxury but an absolute necessity in the world today. If we want students to be successful as they move into high school, college, and the world of work, we have to provide them with the tools they need.

I am confident that the voters of our community will see the wisdom in investing their hard-earned dollars in something that will yield significant returns in the long run - our young people and their education. After all, you get what you pay for.

-John

Crunching the Numbers for Youth Services

In the last week, two reports chock full of information were released by local number crunchers. And the reports might have data that will help (1) organizations appropriately target and make the case for services and (2) the Indianapolis - central Indiana community as a whole discover how much we need to do to improve the lives of young people.

We'll be highlighting specific areas of interest over the next few weeks, but you can check out both of the reports today:

• The Marion County Health Department's Marion County Community Health Assessment has a special section on children's health, but several other areas of the report including access to care, environmental health and social and mental health clearly impact the health of central Indiana's youth.
• The United Way of Central Indiana's 2008 Community Assessment also has a section focused on children and youth, as well as several sections that highlight additional community factors that impact young people.

Family Meals Make a Big Difference for Girls

A report released by the University of Michigan (read the summary or the abstract) reveals that, while boys do not see the same impact, middle school girls who regularly eat meals with their families are at a significantly reduce risk for negative behaviors. In the study of 800 middle school students, girls who ate meals with their family at least five times a week were half as likely to engage in substance abuse five years later.

The study doesn’t tackle the roots of the disparity or why boys did not demonstrate the same reduced substance abuse. Perhaps society’s heightened emphasis on social interaction for girls bears some role in the difference.

Regardless of this disparity, family meals are an example of how caring relationships with adults support healthy youth development and help young people make positive decisions. Family meals are one way of fostering a connection between youth and caring adults, but there are many more that can achieve similar impacts.