Five stories worth the read about kids, reading, edtech, or other things that interested me this week….
1. Me: “How was school today?” Kid: “Fine.” “So, what did you do?”. Kid: “Nuttin.” If you know this conversation, then read this. 25 ways to ask your kids how their day was without asking them “how was your day?”
2. Reading stories with your child is a great way to bring up life skills such as how to be a good friend. Here is a fantastic curated list of eight great stories about friendship. I have great memories of reading each of these with my own boys.
3. What’s the middle school version of putting an “i love you” note in your child’s lunchbox? Love these simple ideas to give confidence building messages to your older kids in fun, sneaky ways.
4. An open letter from Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, about the role of teacher assessments and why we shouldn’t tie them to test scores during the first year of Common Core testing.
5. Being a working mom is hard. Cliche, but true. I found this Michelle Obama interview from the Working Families Summit to be particularly powerful. She honestly and eloquently articulates her own struggles balancing work and family peppered with anecdotes about part-time work (it stinks) and how hard one small break in your rhythm like a sick kid or an unplanned meeting can throw off the whole delicate balance required to survive.
