“Experience is the chief architect of the brain.”
The Pseudoscience of Single-Sex Schooling
Science Magazine
September 23, 2011
Archive | September, 2011
Happy Ask a Stupid Question Day!
28 SepIt’s Ask a Stupid Question Day! Really. You can Google it, but I should forewarn you that there is a lack of agreement on the actual date for celebration (seems fitting, right?) Some sources claim that it’s September 28th, others September 30th and still more state that it’s the last school day in the month of September. And while believing something to be true just because you were able to read about it on the internet may be considered a “stupid assumption,” we are not celebrating assumptions today. It’s all about the question. Continue reading
Sticky Fingers
26 SepMy child has sticky fingers. And I’m not talking about the kind that one remedies with soap and water. That’s right, I’m raising a thief. Not intentionally of course, but the evidence can’t be denied.
Exhibit A
Time Together
21 SepPreschoolers typically interact with same gender peers 3 times more than with opposite gender peers. Gender segregation begins around age 3 and increases dramatically during preschool. By the time children reach age 6 ½, they are interacting with their same gender peers 11 times more than with opposite gender peers.
Same gender play and friendships continue to increase and peak during elementary school.
So, when children spend significantly disproportionate amounts of time with their same gender peers, how can we get boys and girls to learn successful strategies from each other?
Race You To Lakeshore!
19 SepI wouldn’t say that Lakeshore Learning is my favorite store, but it’s definitely in my top 5 (for those of you who have been following this blog, you know my heart belongs to Target). Since leaving the classroom, I don’t often have an excuse/reason for shopping there, but when I do….woohoo! I’m like a kid in a candy store! I’m not going to get into all the reasons I love Lakeshore because I will surely sound like a dork, but trust me, it’s GLORIOUS! And as good fortune would have it, today was my lucky day!
Does This Mean I’m A Soccer Mom?!
16 SepMolly started soccer this week, so I guess I’m officially a soccer mom. I don’t even know what that means….are people still even saying that? In any case, our house was full of excitement as we anticipated this season’s kick-off. Is that something you say in reference to soccer? Forgive me. I’m new here….
Although this is our rookie season, we have been talking about soccer since Molly started moving her legs. Even at 4 months, she was a kicker! 
Boys & Girls
15 SepHave you ever noticed that when boys and girls are happily playing,
they are often happily playing apart?
I Love Teachers!
9 SepI LOVE teachers! I loved being a teacher, I love working with teachers, and I love the teachers that my own kids have and love. I do hope the feeling is mutual. What parent doesn’t want the teacher to love their own kid? But that is one of the greatest things about a great teacher – you always believe your child is loved.
Last night my two and a half year old had her Back to School class party. Gracie was covered in equal parts paint, popsicle and pasta sauce. Miss Cindy looks from Gracie to my husband and me and says, “She likes to party hard!” 
Sporting her enhanced dress, crazy hair and dark circles under her eyes, Gracie really was a sight to behold. Racing around the room with reckless abandon, this wild child had one fabulous night. I just know it’s going to be a fantastic school year!
Super Sites
Incredible Reads
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture
by Peggy Orenstein
Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps
by Lise Eliot, Ph.D.
