Why Ages 2-7 Matter So Much for Brain Development | Edutopia
Yes, we want children to read well and learn the fundamentals of math. But we should not disregard emotional intelligence. The advantages of learning during this first critical period of brain development should extend to interpersonal skills such as kindness, empathy, and teamwork.
Week 2
What neuroscience tells us about teaching early years | Tes
So your advice to EYFS teachers is to slow down, exaggerate and repeat? Yes, don’t feel this pressure to always be doing something new. Lots of people still have this idea of stimulating the young brain - that the more stimulation we give to a child, the faster their brain will develop. Every day has to be different, and they want parents to see that when they’re picking their children up or via the photos they post on the school app. In fact, from a neuroscientist’s perspective, the more we understand about how brains learn, the more we understand that less content repeated more times equals better learning. So rather than feeling a lot of pressure to do something new every day, teachers should appreciate that what children need is to be doing exactly the same thing, preferably with exactly the same language and exactly the same learning resources, at exactly the same time each day.
Playing beyond my level today. Which I guess is good but I keep making mistakes. Which I get is good but it’s not the best feeling.
First day back at school. A week of meetings, getting ready and trying to feel excitement and not worry about the year ahead. Remembering the things that I think in this situation after being outside of it for 6 weeks or so. But also happy to see colleagues again.
1 min as hard as possible. 3 minutes rest. 10 times. Horrible. Disgusting. Difficult. Effective.
I think it’s that I keep telling myself that I actually do use Instagram to keep in touch with a few friends I wouldn’t otherwise and that, sometimes, some of the things I see are informative. I just wish I could only see the useful stuff.
I occasionally play majiang with colleagues. I know the basics of the game and am able to play, but there’s so much more going on that I’m not aware of. My colleagues are able to play and chat while I just do one! Still, gotta be good for the brain.
I underestimated how hilly the run around the compound is. I was planning to do 5km but stopped (gave up) at 3.4km which was 3 loops. It’s already 30 degrees too (86F) in my defense. Plan for next time is to go slower…
📺 Widow’s Bay (Apple TV+) - I don’t normally do scary but this has enough comedy that I’ve stuck through it. L and I are nothing really enjoying it. 📖 Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. I am currently scrolling IG too much… BUT one of the book recommendations was this. Interested to see how it goes. 🎵Psyence Fiction - UNKLE. 1998! Still great.
If your answer is more than an hour a day, you’re in Track 3 and you’ll be focusing on choosing books that are hard enough for your intellectual level as well as improving your ability to sit and focus.
I like this idea, particularly as a means to think about my focus. One of the bonus challenges is to watch a film without a second screen…
We talk about the Sandlot.
We tried recording on the bed. Talked about somethings.
A quick chat to keep the ball rolling.
National treasure. Awards. World Cup. End of the Year.
Trying to keep in the habit…
Summer is coming, a time for children and teachers to finally be happy(?). Elise and Dad talk a little about what’s been happening and begin our film reviews. Dad agrees to a bet if England win…
Maybe today is the day.
Is today the day I break the habit of doing 10000 steps. It’s currently standing at 154 days. 22 weeks. What started as trying to get over 10000 steps more regularly, became a challenge with a friend for 10 days in a row became getting up at 5am almost every day to walk or go to the gym. Which is where I am today.
Except today I’m sick. So, I’ve not been getting up at 5am and getting in the steps is proving more difficult when you spend all day indoors. I hate being sick, not being 100% and so not being able to get up early to work or go to the gym. While also having family and work expectations and not really being sick enough to avoid them.
We will see, L and the kids are going to go out later and maybe I’ll take a stroll then…
Rucked to the gym this morning, partly as a warm up and partly as part of the workout. It’s not far. Maybe 15 minutes. Noticed on the way that there were still people playing majiang and must have been up all night doing it. Still at it at 5:30am. Sometimes, one of the bbq places is still open and has customers too at a similar time. So are they out late or am I up early? Probably both, right?
(Yeah, the dumbbells not being put away bothered me too so I put them all away between sets of pull ups.)
Ultimately, this study makes explicit something many teachers likely already sense. Experienced teachers differ from novices, but not primarily because they know more. They differ mainly in how they look at what is happening in the classroom, and in what they do next.
This Week in Media
Reading
Starter Villain by John Scalzi. I really liked this. It was fun and, in an unprecedented moment, actually made me laugh out loud like my 7 year old does (or does he do it like me and I’ve just forgotten how?!). Anyway, it’s not too serious and moved quickly.
As always, it was more fun going in knowing very little. The thing with the cats for example I didn’t know about.
Music
Sunrise Sessions III by Ólafur Arnalds Listened to this on my morning walk.
Video
“To be happy at home is the end of all human endeavor. The sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal, or two friends talking over a pint of beer, or a person alone reading a book that interests them; and all economics, politics, laws, armies, and institutions, are only valuable in so far as they prolong and multiply such scenes.” C.S. Lewis
Source: Mere Christianity (edited lightly for clarity)
Via 3-2-1: On reducing fear, what matters most, and how life responds to us - James Clear
On Giving Teachers Enough Time
Today’s Unjammed episode is built around a simple-if-implausible idea: what happens when teachers are given enough time to do their work. It’s not just about having enough time to complete all the items off the to-do list, either. (Though that does matter!) More importantly, it’s about what it means for teachers to step into a classroom as their best selves—a win for teachers, yes, but more importantly a win for students.
I feel this one, in my bones. There’s the to do list, but there’s also the deeper worker (spending time thinking, looking after myself, etc etc) and there just ain’t enough time for both.
Day 2 going to the gym in the morning. I think I need to move faster or get up earlier. Got home around 6:40. Which I think doesn’t leave me enough time.
First time having a go at going to the gym at 5am. Getting up and there was fine but need to work on a routine for it I think.
