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Small Talks, No. 35
isabellehau.substack.com

Small Talks, No. 35

November 5, 2021

Nov 5, 2021
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Dear Small Talker,

Welcome to the thirty-fifth 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!

Happy Diwali - a beautiful spiritual celebration of the victory of light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance.

What I’m celebrating -

  • “High-quality early child care and education: The gift that lasts a lifetime” by the Brookings Institute highlights the long-term benefits from early childhood education. The future of work & society = investing in early learning.

  • A global call to Action: our Climate is our children's future https://covidaction.ecdan.org/climatechange

  • This new research on cognition by Alison Gopnik on why children learn better than adults - by exploring and gathering more information, instead of leaping to conclusions.

  • Humbled and truly honored to be awarded the “Inclusive Leader Award - Early Childhood Education 2021” by GlobalMindED’s Oscars of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, to be introduced by 2020 recipient Portia Kennel, to join a remarkable group of diverse leaders, and to share a few words on the early childhood crisis. If you missed it (or want to rewatch):


What I’m listening to -

  • EdSurge podcast features Elliot Haspel, author of the 2019 book “Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It”, who discusses the crisis in early childhood education, and the potential biggest policy change — and investment — in early childhood in decades currently debated in Congress.


What I’m reading -

  • I enjoyed this children book “How do I learn” by Dr. Kripa Sundar, teaching our littlest learners and families the science of learning: an impactful approach.


What I’m watching -

  • The Hunt Institute organized an “all-star” research panel moderated by Dan Wuori for a discussion on the debate that has been raging over the long-term effects of early childhood education. Two big takeaways:

    1. The evidence is now clear that quality early childhood education has BIG impact on both Kindergarten readiness and adult life.

    2. The fade-out effects in elementary/middle school can be mitigated with high quality teachers+schools (currently only 9% of children have both).


What I’m learning and exploring more deeply -

  • This international survey (across 11 countries) found curiosity and persistence were the strongest predictors of academic success in both math and reading for both children and teenagers.

  • Great oped in the Hill by Shai Fuxman at EDC “Our children are facing a mental health crisis — we can and must address it today”.

  • Dr. Phil Fisher and Dr. Joan Lombardi have been surveying families with children under 5 weekly since the onset of the pandemic. Key findings include:

    • Emotional distress of parents and children are intertwined.

    • Emotional distress of families is linked to hardships, as summarized in this recent piece titled“Helping Families Meet Basic Needs Enables Parents to Promote Children’s Healthy Growth, Development”.

  • Important perspectives by Peter Greene on the importance of play under this provocative title- “Universal pre-K: Can the Feds Build It Without Messing It Up?”

  • Insightful piece on the human brain - upshot is that it is NOT a computer.


Poem 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.

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Have a wonderful week. Please stay safe and care for each other.

Isabelle

Erratum: In last week’s newsletter, Dr. Autumn Green’s name was misspelled. The unfortunate error has been fixed in the online version of Small Talks.

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