Show #107- Dr. Stuart Brown- National Institute for Play

Dr. Stuart Brown is a physician and psychiatrist who has been studying the importance of play for many years, and is the founder of The National Institute for Play. He’s written a wonderful new book, entitled “Play: How it Shapes The Brain, opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul” which should be on every parent and teacher’s book shelf.
Over the course of his clinical career, he interviewed thousands of people to capture their play profiles. His cataloging of their profiles demonstrated the active presence of play in the accomplishments of the very successful and also identified negative consequences that inevitably accumulate in a play-deprived life.

The National Institute for Play includes a catalog of information and research on play in humans and animals; play profiles, and more. You can find out more by going to the website by clicking here. Dr. Brown and his work has been featured in articles in the New York Times (The 3 R’s, a Fourth is Crucial too- Recess) and numerous other publications. Dr. Brown founded the Institute back in 1989, and was surprised that much of the play-related research he reviewed was fragmented and lacked quantitative confirmation of factors readily observed clinically. A science and evidence-based way of understanding and suggesting how to improve play hygeine was and still is lacking. He turned to animal play research to gain insights into human play.

With the support of the National Geographic Society and Jane Goodall, he observed animal play in the wild. He became acquainted with the premier animal play experts in the world, and began to see play as a long evolved behavior important for the well being and survival of animals. He subsequently came to understand that humans are uniquely designed by nature to enjoy and participate in play throughout life.

Many of our kids, even in affluent homes, are often deprived of the free play and free time they need to develop skills in critical thinking they will need later in life. Play is fun, but it’s also a very serious subject for good emotional and social development in kids, and I think it’s one of the things we can often forget about when we try to help improve our kids who struggle in school. We may think extra work is the answer, but extra play might help even more.

In the first part of our interview, we talk about how play is important for kid’s development; in the second part, we discuss how Grandparents and play; how important hands on learning is for kids, and how this seemingly “wasteful” activity may be where most of their most important learning comes from. I know you’ll really enjoy Dr. Stuart Brown- his new book helped me think about play and how we incorporate it in our lives in a whole new way.

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Dr. Susan Johnson, Commonwealth Academy Show #102

Before the holidays, I had the opportunity to spend the day at Commonwealth Academy, a college preparatory school for children with ADHD and learning disabilities, located in Alexandria, VA. Commonwealth Academy serves children from 6th grade through high school,and is a school that feels very much like a community the moment you walk through the doors.

I got to sit down with Dr. Susan Johnson, the Director of the school, and we talked about everything from how they select their students, to how their curriculum and teaching methods differ from traditional schools. Dr. Johnson has been an educator and has worked with children in special education for over 30 years, and she sat on one of the initial panels that put together the IEP process for the State of New Jersey back in the 1970’s. Her experience and perspective on children who struggle in traditional school settings is amazing, and it was an absolute privilege to be able to speak with her, the staff and the students at Commonwealth.

I’ve split our interview into two parts; the first discusses how important it is to take a child-centered approach to education, and how that’s the first step to helping struggling learners to begin to think of themselves as academic achievers. We also talk about how the environment of a school matters, and how it is integral to creating a community rather than just an institution of learning.

We’ve given away our first handful of books, but we have some more available! Additionally, while you may have missed out on the Marcus Buckingham books here, my friend Carrie Runnals from the Words to Mouth podcast, has a few copies she would love to give away to our listeners! Just click the link and go to Carrie’s website and you might win! The Words to Mouth podcast is a great place where readers can find out more about the authors and their work through insightful interviews, done by Carrie, another one of the fantastic ladies from the Divacast!

Click here to listen to Show #102, Dr. Susan Johnson, Commonwealth Academy

Conversation with Jonathan Mooney

Jonathan Mooney is the author of two great books, Learning Outside the Lines, and a new book, The Short Bus. Both books tell of Jon’s journey from being a child who couldn’t read at age 12, to graduating from one of the top colleges in the Country, Brown University. Jonathan is CEO of Project Eye to Eye, a non-profit foundation that helps find mentors for students struggling with LD in elementary and middle school school. Jon speaks extensively across the Country, both to help people realize kids can be both smart and learning disabled, and in the hopes that we can remake education to concentrate less on labels and more on what kids can accomplish.

From Jon’s Website:

When his teachers decided Jon needed special ed because he couldn’t follow directions, sit still, or read well, he feared he’d lost his chance to be a regular kid. Suddenly he was “not normal.” Suddenly he was a short-bus rider destined to travel a harder road, a distinction that screamed out his “difference” to a hostile world. Along with other kids facing similar challenges, he was denigrated daily. He almost lost hope. Yet ultimately, Jon shocked the skeptics, graduating from Brown University (with honors). But he could never shake the voice that insisted he would always be “less than.”

Jon’s first book, Learning Outside the Lines, also contains great strategies geared towards college students, to help them succeed in school- strategies you may be able to adapt to help your younger child figure out the game of school.

Today’s show features Part one of my conversation with Jonathan Mooney, and a bit about a wonderful educational conference I recently attended, Educon 2.0. Jon and I talk about Project Eye to Eye, what it was like growing up with LD, and how we can change education to be more compassionate to people who learn differently.

Click Here to listen to Part One of our Conversation with Jonathan Mooney