Small Talks, No. 34
October 29, 2021
Dear Small Talker,
Welcome to the thirty-fourth edition of Small Talks. Every Friday, I highlight 6 areas of weekly joys and reflections in early childhood and the whole family. Small Talks leverages my experience at the intersection of education, philanthropy and impact investing. Enjoy!
What I’m celebrating -
Final stretch (?) of negotiations in Congress on what could be a historical investment in early care and education in America. Parental leave will require continued advocacy.
“Is the pandemic rewiring children’s brain?” by Jackie Mader highlights the evidence piling up that suggests the pandemic has undermined children’s emotional well-being.
“Parenting at the end of the world” in Romper magazine; nothing less than thought-provoking and future-looking.
This inspiring story about fathers…
What I’m listening to -
This excellent interview of Dr. Bruce Perry by Jenna Abdou highlights that our brains evolve faster when we’re in relationships.
What I’m reading -
As Nick Kristoff left the New York Times last week to engage into the Gubernatorial elections in Oregon, I decided to read his most recent book “Tightrope” written with his wife Sheryl WuDunn.
It was published in early 2020, and recounts stories of Yamhill in rural Oregon (and a few other places). The book is a a grueling report of economic downfall, destruction of unions, the war on drugs, insufficient health coverage, unaffordable housing, and others.
“About one-fourth of the kids who rode with Nick on the [school] bus are dead from drugs, suicide, alcohol, obesity, reckless accidents and other pathologies.”
“Tightrope” concludes that policies should prioritize early childhood programs, high school graduation, universal health coverage, access to contraceptives, housing, jobs and government-issued savings bonds and monthly allowances for all children.
What I’m watching -
Two excellent webinars:
Co-generational learning with the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, highlighting older and younger changemakers innovating together through programs like “ExperiencedCorps” and “Encore fellows”.
Autonomic emotional connection with David Willis.
What I’m learning and exploring more deeply -
New research by Julia Leonard and Allyson Mackey shows that children persist less when parents take over. Right in time for Halloween, they analyzed… daily toothbrushing behaviors.
Children brushed their teeth longer when parents used more praise (“great job”) and less instruction (“keep going”).
Most kids brushed longer when they were in a good mood.
Some kids brushed longer if they got more sleep, or if their parents were less stressed, but the effects were variable.
Parents held inaccurate beliefs about the factors that shape their own kids’ behaviors.
Interesting report “Finding Your Place 2021: Social Emotional Learning Takes Center Stage in K-12” by Tyton Partners surveying 2,000 K-12 schools on socio-emotional learning. A few takeaways:
SEL adoption and spending has risen 45% in just over 1.5 years
Student mental health & well-being is a priority across schools/ districts.
Elusive shared definition of SEL and best implementation practices.
“Schools and districts are in uncharted territory and will require continued encouragement and guidance to scale and deepen adoption of high quality SEL.” — Andrea Mainelli, Senior Advisor at Tyton Partners.
The latest Common Sense Media report “The Inclusion Imperative: Why Media Representation Matters for Kids’ Ethnic-Racial Development” shows that media influences what kids think, feel, and understand about race as they develop. It also serves as a call to action for content creators to assume greater responsibility in improving diversity and elevating inclusion in the media as people of color continue to be underrepresented on screen.
This beautiful personal story of Autumn Green, as a third generation student parent, on family values, success, grit, and love.
Quote I am pondering -
Feedback is a gift. Which part above is your favorite? What did I miss? What do you want more or less of? Other recommendations? Please kindly let me know. Thank to all all of you who are sending me amazing suggestions.
If you enjoy this newsletter, please help spread the word by sharing with your friends, colleagues, and networks.
Have a wonderful week. Please stay safe and care for each other.
Isabelle
You're offering so much to think about in every newsletter, Isabelle. I especially appreciated the story about Dr. Autumn Green's efforts to help student parents. I returned to college at age 50 to complete a Bachelor's degree. There were many part-time students; I was in a wonderful interdisciplinary studies program for people returning to college after 7 or more years break (my break was much longer than most). There were many parents with children of varying ages, and I had elder-care responsibilities, too, which were unpredictable (I completed one of my term papers from my mother-in-law's hospital room). I also cared part-time for my grandson - his father, too, was a part-time student. The internet has opened so many opportunities, and it's wonderful to hear from Dr. Green as she works to help student parents. I hope her research encompasses all caregiving students. Many nontraditional students have care responsibilities - for older children / teens, for disabled or elder family members.
My university promoted a ride-sharing app, which I used... it could also have a care-sharing app, so students could meet each other and share/exchange caregiving. Kind of like Co-Abode matches single moms wanting to share housing—students wanting to share/exchange caregiving could find a match and take turns caring for each others' family members. There could also be an app for finding/hiring on-campus students who want to babysit/care for a few hours at a time (I saw a lot of notices posted on hallway bulletin boards, people, including professors, searching for babysitters.) . It would be even better if there were on-campus places made available for students to bring their family member(s) to stay for a few hours (with a designated caregiver) - to do homework, to play games, to exercise. There are so many possibilities.