We have a lot going on today. Go ahead and pick among these interesting early learning developments, then click on the links to learn more.
Play may be the primary fuel for brain development a sweeping new book,
“The Evolution of Childhood” by Melvin Konner, suggests. The Atlantic has a dense yet
short review of this 960-page effort with a scope that boggles the mind.
This book is an intellectual tour de force: a comprehensive Darwinian interpretation of human development. Looking at the entire range of human evolutionary history, Melvin Konner tells the compelling and complex story of how cross-cultural and universal characteristics of our growth from infancy to adolescence became rooted in genetically inherited characteristics of the human brain. – Amazon.com product description.
Of course, what I care about is the book’s argument that play matters and matters a lot.
The Atlantic says it well.
The smartest mammals are the most playful, so these traits have apparently evolved together. Play, Konner says, “combining as it does great energy expenditure and risk with apparent pointlessness, is a central paradox of evolutionary biology.” It seems to have multiple functions—exercise, learning, sharpening skills—and the positive emotions it invokes may be an adaptation that encourages us to try new things and learn with more flexibility. In fact, it may be the primary means nature has found to develop our brains. – “Play’s the Thing,” Atlantic, 5/10.
Don’t worry; the Atlantic piece is only 1,200 words.
"We've got to find a way to get it in this budget cycle," said Senator Tom Harkin in an exchange with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who testified at the hearing."We hope we can count on you" to help to find a way to include it, Harkin added. (Duncan essentially agreed.)
Learning about math and early learning on Twitter:
The Erikson Institute is truly embracing social media. Check out its Twitter feed from the Second International Symposium on Early Mathematics Education at #intlmath. It is easy, type #intlmath in the Twitter search engine and you will get 140-character gems such as:
- Kristiina Kumpulainen: Though not highly paid, teaching is highly respected in Finland; above artists, psychologists, nurses and physicians.
- Kristiina Kumpulainen: There are no formal #assessments until age 10 — and then, teachers have a choice of which assessment tool they use.
- Oksana Igrakova: I'm finding that folktales can be used to teach children mathematics in an engaging way.