Erika Christakis, author of ‘The Importance of Being Little: What Preschoolers Really Need From Grownups," has just written a beautiful review in The Washington Post of a new book about parenting: Alison Gopnik, The Gardener and the Carpenter. Well, to be perfectly accurate, the whole point of the book she's reviewing is that "parenting" may be the wrong approach altogether and that people who are raising children should focus less on "parenting" and more simply on "being parents." "To be a parent," as Christakis suggests, "is to be in a loving and nurturing relationship with a young child, not unlike a gardener who tends the soil in which a variety of seedlings are given the ingredients to thrive." If you're raising a child and in any way wondering how to imagine your best possible role, both the book review and the book itself should be of keen interest.

One of the great pleasures of teaching or parenting in 2016 is that the breadth and quality of children's literature has blossomed so beautifully in recent years. Young children love to listen to and follow along with stories, and as they get older their literacy becomes an important foundation of their learning. "Children's books are amazingly flexible teaching tools," explains Byrd Pinkerton in an interview on Boston's own WBUR. "They help millions of kids learn to read and write, of course. But we can also use them to teach kids — and adults — ideas that might otherwise seem overwhelming. Want to teach philosophy? Use Harold and the Purple Crayon. Financial literacy? The Berenstain Bears. Even math is a little easier with help from Pete the Cat."

As the summer draws to a close and we scramble to catch up on our long list of unread books, we can take heart in the fact that some of the world's most profound truths may be revealed in the most accessible of picture books. Take Shrek, for example, a crowd-pleaser for children of all ages. Not only can he be viewed as "an ogre who relishes putrid stews but runs scared from adorable children," he is also a cipher for potentially deeper truths. Pinkerton calls attention to a Professor of Philosophy at Mt. Holyoke College, Tom Wartenberg, in whose class (Philosopy 280: Philosophy for Children) a parallel is drawn between the lessons of Shrek and the complexity of Immanuel Kant. Confession: when I struggled as an undergraduate with Kant's philosophy, I did not realize that some of these mysteries might be revealed through the simplicity and straightforwardness of children's literature. Either way it is inspiring to realize that powerful adults ideas may be formed through direct exposure to compelling, if not silly, literature.

I just came upon a fascinating article in Harper's Magazine by Tom Wolfe. This is a man whose works of fiction have been entertaining readers for nearly fifty years. Among my favorites: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and A Man in Full. In my experience, few contemporary writers are able to weave together such lengthy and enjoyable stories. When I started reading The Origins of Speech, I didn't notice the name of the author, nor did it occur to me that the Tom Wolfe that I knew could possibly have been the author of such an intensely deep probe into language and linguistics. If you've ever heard of Noam Chomsky and wondered about his theory regarding the "deep structure" of language, you will want to luxuriate in the painstaking analysis of Tom Wolfe. For me, this is an enlightening step on the journey of understanding the power and scope of how and what we communicate to each other.

At a time in contemporary culture when everything is becoming more seemingly (and more problematically) polarized, it can never hurt to try to understand someone with an opposing point of view. This is important not just in the world of politics and religion, but also in every aspect of a child's education. Since adults play a key role in this education whether they are classroom teachers or parents or simply citizens of a shared world, it makes sense for them to try as hard as possible to overcome their own biases. In this vein I found fascinating a recent NPR interview with George Saunders, professor and award-winning author. I was familiar with Saunders because my book club had recently read Tenth of December, but I didn't realize that he had gone on a very unusual assignment for The New Yorker Magazine . According to Lynn Neary, host of the NPR interview , "Saunders, a self-professed liberal, hit the campaign trail interviewing Trump fans at rallies in Arizona, Wisconsin and California, eager to understand the people who were willing to cast their votes for a candidate he detests." This is a really interesting piece, and I give Saunders huge credit for putting aside his own biases and trying to understand rather than judge. There is also an equally interesting audio component to the interview.

In the wake of recent gun violence on the streets of America, we are all forming opinions about where we stand on gun safety and so-called common sense gun reform. Although of course I have strong opinions on this subject, the purpose of this blog is not to promote my own point of view but rather to encourage the practice of listening to others' point of view.

As someone who lives in liberal eastern Massachusetts, I am well aware that the opinions in my immediate locale are not necessarily reflective of the whole of America. Hence I was grateful to listen recently to a radio piece entitled "The Great Divide" on NPR's On the Media. Click here to play the podcast. I believe not only that we are all capable of broadening our perspectives by listening to other points of view, but also that we are all subject to our own blind spots and biases. Regardless of where one stands on the question of gun control, this is an important issue for the children of this generation. After all, we would be naive not to realize that school age children are increasingly aware of the national headlines; it would be impossible to shield them from this. The 2nd Amendment image above is intended to be provocative, and I have little doubt that readers of this blog are strongly divided in their reactions to it. Living in an open society and hoping for ideas to be tested in the laboratory of individualism, perhaps the best possible situation is for adults to disagree on most things. However, it is nonetheless troubling to me that our children are growing up in a culture where opinions on this issue--and on so many others--are so intensely divided. Insofar as adults wield a strong and long lasting influence on the formation of children's values, all I can urge is for adults to remain mindful that there may sometimes be legitimacy in another point of view and to strive for compassion rather than judgment.

In the wake of the successful Boston Pride Parade on Saturday afternoon (students, teachers, and families from CHS well represented) and the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on Saturday night, the emotions of America are both volatile and tender. As educators we have no choice but to ask ourselves the large questions: what is our purpose? how much of the future is under our control? by what means might we measure our success? As citizens some of us take comfort in the language of consequences; others, in the language of compassion. I won't pretend that I am accomplished in the language of love, but I do draw inspiration from an opinion piece in today's New York Times by David Brooks. As he writes, "Education is one of those spheres where the heart is inseparable from the head... While some teachers are good at raising their students’ test scores, other teachers are really good at improving their students’ school engagement. Teachers in the first group are amply rewarded these days, but teachers who motivate their students to show up every day and throw themselves into school life may not even realize how good they are, because emotional engagement is not something we measure and stress." To be clear, I am not suggesting that teachers should only focus on emotional development. But as Brooks says, "If students students are going to succeed, they probably need to come from a home where they feel safe and secure, so they aren’t paralyzed by anxiety and fear... Today we have to fortify the heart if we’re going to educate the mind." Click here to read the article in its entirety.

The Importance of Being Our Best Selves

Anyone raising or teaching children will relate to Jennifer Senior's observations about the paradox of trying to raise happy children and the alternative of trying to raise virtuous or productive or reasonably independent children. Please give yourself 18 minutes to watch or listen.

Yesterday at our end-of-year ESJ Assembly (Equity and Social Justice), children across the grades shared some of what they have learned about ESJ issues both in classroom curriculum and in special Community Gatherings. This is a moment when we all feel particular proud of the wisdom and open-mindedness of our students, and particularly encouraged. While some unfairness/equity challenges result from adult culture and sometimes seem deeply intractable, other unfairness/social justice issues result uniquely from the culture of childhood. Children can be mean to each other, to be sure, and at the same time they can fail fully to understand each other's experiences and points of view. As highlighted in the piece below, one of the hallmarks of our third grade curriculum is a unit on gender identity. It is really gratifying to see the magic that results from straightforward and age-relevant curriculum under the direction of highly skilled and highly empathic teachers.

Hi, I'm Rania. In third grade Open Circle, we were talking about gender roles and about how some people say stereotypes, like because you're a boy you have to do sporty things and because you're a girl you have to do pretty things. We read Oliver Button is a Sissy, and Oliver liked dancing, drawing, and going on walks. But, all the boys at his school teased him because he liked dancing and even wrote on the school wall, "Oliver Button is a Sissy." Meanwhile, the girls at his school thought that was fine and stood up for him when boys would tease him. From this book, we know that no matter how people think you should act, you should be your own person and never let others boss you around.

Rania, Grade 3: presented to the whole school.

During an unusual national election cycle and as the head of a private elementary school in a liberal northeastern state, I have been struggling deeply with the delicate space that lies between politics and education. My role does not permit advocacy for any particular candidate or party, and yet as an interested observer of this process I realize that the national conversation on politics has an undeniable effect on children. Among the innumerable articles and essays that have flourished in many fine publications, the attached study from the Southern Poverty Law Center is worthy of serious consideration. Regardless of how any of us might feel about any particular candidate or any specific policies or proposals, there can be no doubt that young children in America are being profoundly impacted by the words and emotions constantly on view in the national media. A complete version of the study is available here as well.