Small Talks, No. 48

February 25, 2022

Feb 25, 2022

Dear Small Talker,

Welcome to the forty eighth 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 -

A system approach to support healthy infant brain development by Lisa Scott and Natalie Brito: Family, community, workplace, health, sociocultural, and public policies (including family leave) impact parenting and their ability to support infant brain and behavioral development.
Toddlers at the White House…making the best case for early childhood investments (with lots of play).

Vivvi raises $15m to expand its offering for employers to provide child care to employees. At a time when child care is deeply supply-constrained, they are working with hospital employers in providing flexible hour options to employee families and their children across work shifts.
Babies teaching kindness, *brought to a classroom near you* by Roots of Empathy- “If we are educating children who can read well and compute well, but can’t relate well…we will have a failed society.”

What I’m listening to -

Fascinating talk by Barbara Fredrickson on love, a new lens on the science of thriving and positivity.

What I’m reading -

I pre-ordered and read excerpts of this thought-provoking book “Abolish the Family - A Manifesto for Care and Liberation” by Sophie Lewis (to be published in October 2022). She asks - what if we could do better than the family?
- On a related topic, this essay Parenting in Utopia by Kim Brooks is mind expanding (and refers to this upcoming book).

What I’m watching -

Rita Pierson's TED Talk "Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them. Is this job tough? You betcha. But it is not impossible. We're educators. We're born to make a difference."

What I’m learning and exploring more deeply -

A remarkable framing of four possible futures by Katie King, Director of strategic foresights at KnowledgeWorks, published for Capita “Finding Home: Changing Families, a Changing Planet, and Impacts on Young Children” - across climate change impact and family tie configurations.
How the pandemic is affecting babies brain.
This new report card on mental health and the ability of schools to respond is deeply concerning. While the pandemic is to blame for some, education also needs deep rethinking on its purpose & a race to college that starts ever younger. We need to recenter on connections & well-being.
A new meta-analysis of 167 studies confirms that supporting people's autonomy (e.g., offering chances to make decisions) fosters empathy/altruism/compassion, while environments that are controlling contribute to antisocial behavior.
Excellent feature on fathers aspiring to better their college education, and the challenges they face.
- “Fathers are the forgotten parents” — Jesus Benitez (featured with his son Mason).

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 of you who are sending me amazing suggestions.

Small Talks