Small Talks, No. 8

April 30, 2021

Welcome to the 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!

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What I’m celebrating — 

• The American Family Act is a potential game changer in early childhood and family well-being… It includes parental leave, child care and early education investments, child tax credits, free community college, wraparound services (child care, mental health) for retention/completion at colleges and universities. More in this White House brief.

• Great interview with Sal Khan in EdSurge featuring Khan Academy Kids, the early learning platform for 2-7 year olds- free, high quality, featuring lots of books and whimsical characters. I also enjoyed this discussion between Sal Khan and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, discussing innovation, racial disparities, and the importance of early childhood education.

• This incredible thread from art students asked to come up with a post-pandemic New Yorker magazine cover. This hit a chord.

  Tomer Hanuka @tropical_toxic

  I’ve asked my 3rd year illustration students at @sva to come up with a post-pandemic New Yorker magazine cover. Here is what they sent in:

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What I’m listening to — 

• I enjoyed this podcast with Abigail Tucker about biological changes and brain neuro-plasticity in moms. Interesting observation on ‘stress incubator’ for new moms in the US, different baby ‘personalities’ across countries, and rejuvenating effect for grand-mothers. Good write-up.

• I look forward to reading Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey’s new book What Happened To You. In the meantime, I listened to Super Soul on childhood trauma, which emphasizes the importance of the early years, and especially the first 2 months of life. Excerpt below.

• Future Trends’ Forum with Bryan Alexander and Justin Reich, assistant professor of digital media at MIT, and author of the new book Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education. How much has technology changed higher education (and education more broadly)?

• 1in5 podcast by Ascend at The Aspen Institute features Rashika Lee, who raised her son as a single mom, and now a grandmother of 3, who found a postsecondary education that fit her needs — with educational, emotional and community support built into its programming.

• Adam Grant’s new TEDTalk 'what frogs in hot water can teach us about thinking again’ - what we need in leaders is not confidence, but confident humility.

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What I’m reading — 

• The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric is a masterpiece, championing long-term thinking, and the need to think across generations (seven generations and beyond).

  “The moment has come, especially for those living in wealthy nations, to recognize a disturbing truth: that we have colonized the future. We treat the future like a distant colonial outpost devoid of people, where we can freely dump ecological degradation, technological risk, and nuclear waste, and which we can plunder. {…} The great silent majority of future generations is rendered powerless and airbrushed out of our minds.”

  

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What I’m watching — 

• “The Cinderella story of early childhood”: our U.S. military system went through a major transformation (executed in less than 5 years), after major issues were uncovered in the 1990s’. It is now 97% high quality (compared to 10% in civilian sector) with low turnover of staff, thanks to early childhood teachers compensated & trained. Watch this inspiring short PBS feature.

  

• Inspired by GenX, a program pairing older volunteers with young children in early elementary. The results are exceptional: meaningful decrease in reported behavioral issues (60% decrease in office referrals for classes with GenX volunteers), greater attendance, increased level of engagement for children; AND volunteer weight loss, improved health & stamina, etc.

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What I’m learning and exploring more deeply — 

• “A Year in the Life of a Pandemic” by Philip Fisher, Joan Lombardi, and Nat Kendall-Taylor highlights how emotional support is a powerful buffer against the “chain reaction of hardship”. It also decomposes data by racial groups, with Black and Brown children and families more impacted by material hardship.

• “Stark inequality starts early” reports Jackie Mader at the Hechinger Report.

• Interesting piece by David Kirp in The New York Times “A 4-Year-Old Child Is Not a Problem. And Expulsion Is Not a Solution”, featuring the trauma-informed work of Kidango in California and research from Dr. Walter Gilliam.

• Research organization Child Trends highlights how much the pandemic has impacted student parents’ plans. 20% had to change course.

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Quote I am pondering — 

“If you want to be successful, you should have high EQ, a way to get on with people [EQ is shorthand for emotional intelligence]. If you don’t want to lose quickly, you should have good IQ. But if you want to be respected, you should have LQ- the quotient of love. The brain will be replaced by machines, but machines can never replace your heart.”

— Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba

Feedback is a gift. Which part above is your favorite? What did I miss? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please kindly let me know.

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

Isabelle