"The Playful Classroom offers a fresh perspective on the traditional classroom and will equip, encourage, and empower educators of all levels to provide relevant, meaningful, and fun experiences to their students through a playful mindset. The authors believe bringing play into the classroom positively contributes to creativity, trust, relationships, community, and growth. Building on current and seminal works in learning theory and play pedagogy,...

"From the beloved host of PBS Kids' Dinosaur Train, an easy-to-use guide for parents, teachers, and others looking to foster a strong connection between children and nature, complete with engaging activities, troubleshooting advice, and much more American children spend four to seven minutes a day playing outdoors--90 percent less time than their parents did. Yet recent research indicates that experiences in nature are essential for healthy growth....

"A leading cognitive scientist argues that a deep sense of good and evil is bred in the bone. From Sigmund Freud to Lawrence Kohlberg, psychologists have long believed that we begin life as amoral animals. After all, isn't it the parents' role to turn babies into civilized beings who can experience empathy and shame, and override selfish impulses? In Just Babies, Paul Bloom argues that humans are in fact hardwired with a sense of morality. Drawing...

LEARNING. Our children spend their days being passively instructed, and made to sit still and take tests--often against their will. We call this imprisonment schooling, yet wonder why kids become bored and misbehave. Even outside of school children today seldom play and explore without adult supervision, and are afforded few opportunities to control their own lives. The result: anxious, unfocused children who see schooling--and life--as a series of...

"One of the very best scientific predictors for how any child turns out--in terms of happiness, academic success, leadership skills, and meaningful relationships--is whether at least one adult in their life has consistently shown up for them. In an age of scheduling demands and digital distractions, this might sound like a tall order. But as bestselling authors Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson reassuringly explain, showing up doesn't take a lot...

Dr. Caroline Soames-Watkins's star has been on the rise. But when she accuses a superior of sexual misconduct, the Twitterstorm that follows upends her career. With few professional options and an impoverished sister with a disabled child to support, Caro is willing to consider a mysterious proposal from her great-uncle, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Samuel Watkins. Sam Watkins has invested untold sums of money to build a medical facility in the...

Offers information on short-term volunteer opportunities that could make an enriching and fulfilling vacation; includes contact information and descriptions of the experiences.

"Marc Brackett is a professor in Yale University's Child Study Center and founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. In his 25 years as an emotion scientist, he has developed a remarkably effective plan to improve the lives of children and adults -- a blueprint for understanding our emotions and using them wisely so that they help, rather than hinder, our success and well-being. The core of his approach is a legacy from his childhood,...