"Young, Gifted and Neglected"
Chester E. Finn Jr., New York Times, September 18, 2012

"It’s time to end the bias against gifted and talented education and quit assuming that every school must be all things to all students, a simplistic formula that ends up neglecting all sorts of girls and boys, many of them poor and minority, who would benefit more from specialized public schools. America should have a thousand or more high schools for able students, not 165, and elementary and middle schools that spot and prepare their future pupils."

7 Cool Projects From Young Geniuses
Jo McClelland, Tecca / Mashable, June 21, 2012

"The amazing thing about kids is their ability to imagine possibilities. Too many times, kids are told that they can’t, not to make a mess or that they’re too young. But sometimes those messes in the garages or even their parent’s workplace might turn into something extraordinary. We found seven kids, from 9 to 19, who have already produced great things." 

Why Bother With Recess?
Cynthia A. Elder, Michael C. Obel-Omia; Ed Week, online May 8, 2012 / print May 9, 2012

"Ironically, in an effort to prepare our students for these future challenges, schools have made decisions that may weaken our children's social, emotional, intellectual, and physical health, while crippling their ability to think creatively, gain self-confidence, and work collaboratively.

"As of 2009, 30 percent of the nation's elementary schools had done away with recess altogether. Of those that maintained recess, 40 percent had cut it back significantly. If current trends continue, recess may soon be a thing of the past for our students."

For Kids, Self-Control Factors Into Future Success
Nancy Shute, NPR.org, February 14, 2011

"Teaching Control

"Economists and public health officials want to know whether teaching self-control could improve a population's physical and financial health and reduce crime. Three factors appear to be key to a person's success in life: intelligence, family's socioeconomic status and self-control. Moffitt's study found that self-control predicted adult success, even after accounting for the participants' differences in social status and IQ.

"Maggie Starbard/NPRCathie Morton, a teacher at the Clara Barton Center for Children, leads the kids in a clapping exercise to signal that it is time to shift gears and start cleaning up.


"IQ and social status are hard to change. But Moffitt says there is evidence that self-control can be learned.

""Identical twins are not identical on self-control," she says. "That tells us that it is something they have learned, not something they have inherited."

"Teaching self-control has become a big focus for early childhood education. At the Clara Barton Center for Children in Cabin John, Md., it starts with expecting a 4-year-old to hang up her coat without being asked.

"Director Linda Owen says the children are expected to be responsible for a series of actions when they arrive at school each morning, without help from Mom and Dad. The children sign in, put away their lunches, hang up their own clothes, wash their hands before they can play, and then choose activities in the classroom.

""All those things help with self-management," Owen says."