The Best Present Ever

January 02, 2012

Julie A. Riess, Ph.D., is the Senior Advisor on Child Development and Education at Families and Work Institute. She is a developmental psychologist and the director of the Wimpfheimer Nursery School at Vassar College.

Portions of this article were originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal by Gannett Publications on December 25, 2011.

About every six years, I get to write a Christmas Day column. It is a time of much reflection about writing something meaningful in the true spirit of Christmas in a diverse world. I’ve written about hope, wonder, and following your star. I’ve written about villages, community, and gifts of nothing that are really quite something.

I confess that I have been “stuck” in finding just the right words. Thankfully, working in a nursery school is an ongoing source of inspiration for my writing. Sometimes I seek out the children or teachers for an idea. Other times, they simply appear on my doorstep.

A few days ago, a teacher at my school shared with me a project that she had just finished in her class. Her eyes were aglow with an outcome not on the lesson plan. Suddenly, I realized that my column was right in front me of me all this time. I would write about the children.

Using the Seven Skills to Help Make this the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

December 22, 2011

Julie A. Riess, Ph.D., is the Senior Advisor on Child Development and Education at Families and Work Institute. She is a developmental psychologist and the director of the Wimpfheimer Nursery School at Vassar College.

Portions of this article were originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal by Gannett Publications on December 11, 2011.

Oh, yes... it is definitely "that time of year" again! It takes a lot of skill to navigate the holidays in our contemporary culture. There are two overall benefits to thinking about the seven essential skills during the holiday season.   First, each skill can help us manage our personal and/or professional lives, especially during times of stress.  Second, demands of the holiday season are the perfect time to practice each skill, which in turn strengthens each for further growth.  It is positive example of “what goes around, comes around”.

Two of my favorite skills for illustrating this "goes around, comes around" principle during the holidays are Focus and Self Control and Perspective-Taking.

Give the Gift of Curiosity for the Holidays—Lessons From Laura Schulz

December 20, 2011

Have you ever noticed that your toddler spends more time playing with the gift-wrapping than the present that was wrapped inside? Or that your older children lose interest in a new toy if that toy has just one way to play with it, and instead gravitate back to materials, like blocks, crayons, miniature animals or iPads where the possibilities are endless?

It is holiday season and so for blogs I have been writing on the researchers and neuroscientists who have genuinely inspired me in my 11-year journey to create Mind in the Making, I am sharing the story of Laura Schulz of MIT. Her studies help explain what curiosity is and thus how to promote children's curiosity in the gifts we give them.

I am not sure about other parents, but I didn't think too much about curiosity except to assume that my children were naturally curious. They wondered about everything that was new and were bursting with endless questions: "What's that?" And, "Why, why, why." Interestingly, however, the research on children's curiosity reveals that is it far more complex than this.

Laura Schulz has been being curious about curiosity throughout her career and finds not surprisingly, that children -- in fact all of us -- are curious about what's new. But there are other drivers of curiosity. Schulz explains:

We often seem to be curious about things that aren't particularly novel -- they just puzzle us.

Her quest to understand curiosity has led to new insights:

Holiday Greetings and Give the Gift of Life Skills!

December 12, 2011

Dear Friends,

Families and Work Institute wishes you a joyous holiday with your friends and families and a peaceful, healthy and successful 2012 in your work and home lives.

In response to the significant number of requests for signed copies of Ellen Galinsky’s latest groundbreaking book, Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs*, as holiday gifts, we have decided to make this offer available to all of our friends and colleagues.

If you have a special someone on your holiday list to whom you would like to give a signed copy of Mind in the Making, please contact Marline at mgriffith@familiesandwork.org to place an order and to tell us how you want the message in the book to read.

Best wishes,
Families and Work Institute

*Cost of a signed copy of Mind in the Making,including regular shipping and handling, is $20.

Ellen Galinsky has been nominated for a Lifetime achievement 2011 Edublog Award!

December 06, 2011

Ellen has been nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Edublog Awards competition! From now until December 13, you can vote for Ellen and another winner in every category up to one time per day. See Ellen's listing and have your friends and followers vote at Edublog Awards Blog!