SAT WORDS: NOW WITH MORE COOING
Researchers from the Thirty Million Words project are setting out to educate (brand) new mothers on the importance of parent interactions from day one. Pulling from the famous 1995 Hart and Risley study, which found that children from working-class families hear an average of thirty million more words by the age of four than those of “welfare” families, the team is hoping that early interventions will encourage new parents to read and talk to their newborns at every opportunity. Hear, hear, says Robert Pondiscio, who has argued that it pays to increase one’s word power.
MORE ON READING
A new report by Scholastic found that less than one-third of children interviewed between the ages of six and seventeen read for fun on a daily basis. Being read aloud to, restricted digital time, and free time to read at school were all top factors among those who reported regularly reading for pleasure. Literacy experts say parents should continue to read aloud to their children throughout elementary school to build higher-level vocabulary and develop interdisciplinary background knowledge. But Michael Petrilli would argue that as long as kids are gaining knowledge, a little screen time doesn’t hurt.
BABES IN TECHLAND
Digital learning has carved out a permanent place for itself in the classroom. A new piece in Education Week explores how the tools of online education are being introduced to elementary schools, where children are still in the early stages of development. The benefits offered by educational apps and devices are manifold, but educators and parents alike warn against the negative impacts of too much screen time to children’s fitness, attention spans, and social skills.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOW
Members of Colorado’s State Board of Education voted 4-3 to permit school districts to request waivers from issuing new Common Core-aligned PARCC tests to students. The state’s assistant attorney general has already predicted that the vote likely “wouldn’t have legal effect,” and the state education commissioner has warned that he won’t grant any such waivers.
