It’s 7:30 AM. Your child comes to the door ready to go to school, but there’s one shoe on, things are falling out of their backpack because it’s unzipped, and the homework folder is nowhere to be found. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why your child may struggle to stay organized, follow directions, or manage transitions, this episode is for you. Today, we’re talking about executive function, a set of brain skills that effect everything from planning and focus to emotional regulation, with Dr. Liz Angoff.

Dr. Liz is a Licensed Educational Psychologist with a Diplomate in School Neuropsychology. Dr. Liz has been working with students, families, and teachers for over 20 years in public schools, community settings, and private practice. She began her career as a classroom teacher, transitioned to family advocacy, and then went on to earn her degree as a school psychologist with a specialization in neuropsychology.  Dr. Liz’s mission is to empower children and families by helping them understand their amazing, unique brains. 

“My problem with gentle parenting is it’s too much parental talking - when you’re raising a boy you’ve got to learn how to do it  in a sentence or two.”

This is just one insight that today’s guest, Michael Thompson, shares for how we can support our boys’ development, as well as our relationship with them, in and out, of the classroom. 

Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized clinical psychologist, school consultant, and author of ten influential books, including the New York Times bestseller Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. He has worked with more than 700 schools worldwide and frequently appears on national media, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, NPR, and PBS. His expertise in child development, school culture, and parent-school relationships has made him a sought-after speaker for parents and educators alike.

If you’re at all curious about the full scope of parent choice when it comes to schools, this episode is for you. Though Jordana has been in education for a long time, her personal knowledge base on charter schools is limited and this conversation, with two experts - Danielle being one of them - expanded her understanding of the promise of charter schools, specifically Success Academies, the largest and highest performing charter network in New York.

Lisa Sun-

As Chief Learning Officer, Lisa Sun is responsible for driving academic excellence and learning quality, setting a high bar for rigor and developing a unique educational vision and philosophy that drives toward scholar success in college and life. An extraordinary thinker, leader, and educator, she first joined Success Academy in 2010 as an assistant teacher, and later served as a teacher, assistant principal, and then principal. She later moved to SA’s Network office to lead high school curriculum design and develop the organization’s K-12 STEM and Humanities curricula.

The good news is that parents may not have to pay for the whole independent school tuition themselves. In this episode, Alisa provides clarification around the process of financial aid - and how it’s changing - to create opportunities for more families. Through Alisa, we learn that a private school education is more attainable than many understand it to be- and may be worth investigating for your family. 

Alisa Evans, Founder of Mission Enrollment, designated as a Certified B Corporation, has spent over 25 years working with independent schools and higher education institutions on programs and tools designed to give every child an equal opportunity to receive an excellent education. Over 110 Independent and private schools across the US entrust their financial aid processing and support to Mission Enrollment. She is a mom of two kids, ages 8 and 11, who attend an independent school in Redlands, California, and her husband works for the local hospital.

Educational environments should foster exploration, healthy self development, and ripe opportunities to think independently. Instead, as our guest today puts it, we see that our youth experience a ‘poverty of the self,” leading to group think, pressure to conform and a lack of strength and stability from within. On today’s episode, we’ll unpack this idea and discuss how parents can drive against these forces. 

William Deresiewicz (DEREZOWITZ) is an award-winning essayist and critic, a frequent speaker at colleges, high schools, and other venues, and the author of five books including the New York Times bestseller Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. His latest book is The End of Solitude: Selected Essays on Culture and Society. Bill taught English at Yale and Columbia before becoming a full-time writer. He has spoken at over 160 educational and other venues and has appeared on The Colbert Report, Here & Now, The New Yorker Radio Hour, and many other outlets. 

Wouldn't we all like to know how to help our kids fall in love with learning and absolutely love going to school? Well, today, we are joined by cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, who breaks down for us how students learn—and why traditional classroom environments often fail to engage them. We loved this conversation because Daniel has a unique ability to use his scientific research to offer practical advice for parents and educators. 

Daniel Willingham is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1992. Until about 2000, his research focused solely on the brain basis of learning and memory. Today, all of his research concerns the application of cognitive psychology to K-16 education.

He is the author of several books, including the best-selling Why Don't Students Like School?, and most recently, Outsmart Your Brain. His writing on education has appeared in twenty-three languages.

​In 2017 he was appointed by President Obama to serve as a Member of the National Board for Education Sciences.

Many children receive comfort from a cherished blanket, stuffed animal, or lovey. Today, we’re speaking with the team at Slumberkins, who elevate these comfort items to help parents address tricky topics in an intentional way.

Kelly Oriard - Chief Therapeutic Officer- and Callie Christensen - Chief Brand Officer - are the co-founders of Slumberkins, a children’s education and emotional health brand. Kelly is a mother, licensed family therapist and school counselor, and Callie is a mother and educator turned entrepreneur. Slumberkins is changing the way children and families access the content and strategies usually found in a family therapy session, in a fun, easy-to-use way that creates healing and brings meaningful moments of connection that make a lifelong impact on the emotional health of children. 

More and more, adults are consuming information from podcasts- just like you right now! But what about for our kids? Is podcasting closer to TV watching or reading? What are the unique benefits of this platform? Which programs can parents trust?

Today, we sit down with the co-founder of Tinkercast and the star of their hit show “Wow in the World” - who are the very best in this space.  

BIO

Meredith halpern-ranzer is an Emmy-nominated children’s media executive and co-founder / Chief Executive Tinkerer at Tinkercast. As CEO, Meredith leads Tinkercast’s mission to nurture curiosity in kids and grown ups across platforms to help us all find the WOW in our world. She has been a thought-leader in children’s media for over 25 years and is a founding member of the Children’s Media Association.  

Mindy Thomas is Tinkercast’s Chief Creative Tinkerer and and co-creator of Wow in the World, Two Whats and a Wow, Flip & Mozi’s Guide to How to be an Earthling, and Who When WOW! Mindy has been living out her childhood radio dreams for almost two decades by creating radio and audio programs for kids.

Parents who have never heard of any pedagogical philosophy will often have heard of Montessori. With that popularity comes misunderstandings and myths. Is it progressive? Is it structured? Is it rigorous? Is it permissive? 

Today, we hope to add clarity to the conversation through our conversation with Montessori expert Jesse McCarthy. 

For 20 years, Jesse McCarthy has worked with thousands of children, parents, teachers and administrators — as a principal for infants to 8th graders, an executive with a nationwide group of private schools, an elementary & junior-high teacher, and a parent-and-teacher mentor.

Jesse has spoken on early education and child development at schools around the globe and now headsMontessoriEducation.com and hostsThe Montessori Education Podcast.

As parents, we are bombarded with headlines on all different topics and from sources all over the political spectrum. It can be hard to have your finger on the pulse- especially as it relates to your child's education. Today, we are joined by journalist Frannie Block to fill us in on the top news-making stories as they relate to our kid’s schooling and learning. Better yet, she joins us from the Free Press, a media company built on its impartiality and fearlessness.  

Frannie Block is an investigative reporter for The Free Press who focuses on topics ranging from K-12 and higher education to politics and international affairs. She started her career as a breaking-news journalist for the Des Moines Register.

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