Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Language Immersion…The list of educational approaches can sound like a foreign language and be confusing for families trying to select the right educational environment for their child. 

We are excited to break down these pedagogies for you, starting with our guest today Jennifer, an expert practitioner in the Reggio Emilia-inpired schooling approach. 

More on Jennifer:

Jennifer Carvajal is the Senior Educational Director of Teaching Beyond the Square and is on the Board of Directors. Jennifer has a passion for literacy, emergent curriculum, and open-ended learning experiences. She holds a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education,  has been a preschool teacher, studied in Reggio Italy, presented at multiple Early Childhood conferences and has consulted for Teaching Beyond the Square since 2013, leading professional development workshops and partnering with teachers and directors in the tri-state area as they strive to take a more progressive approach to education. 

Resources:
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On this episode our guest Anne breaks down one of the most essential and frequently referred services for children in schools, and also explains how the techniques and treatments involved can benefit every individual in the classroom. Not only is she an expert OT provider, but she’s also a yoga guru and helps us understand the power of the mind body connection. 

More on Anne Buckley-Reen:

Anne Buckley-Reen is a pediatric occupational therapist and yoga therapist who has been providing therapeutic interventions in schools for 30 years. A researcher and pioneer in the daily use of yoga to help students achieve optimal learning states, Anne developed and piloted the Get Ready to Learn—Yoga Therapy in the Classroom program in New York City schools in 2008. The program has been the focus of research studies in collaboration with New York University, and helped foster a yoga community dedicated to supporting learning challenges for students of all ages.

Resources:
nosillyquestionspodcast.com
https://www.instagram.com/nosillyquestionspodcast/

Cancel culture, collecting receipts, watermarking nudes, comparison quicksand and digital pacifiers. These are the complex realities that teens face everyday in their online life. This episode will, without a doubt, help every parent better understand what their kids are going through and how to help.

More on Dr. Emily Weinstein:

Dr. Emily Weinstein is a Principal Investigator at Project Zero, a research center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. For the last decade, her work has focused on chasing answers to questions like: How do today’s technologies shape teens’ lives and development? What’s hard for them and why? How can adults better support kids who are growing up with unprecedented connectivity? Emily is one of the leaders of the Digital Dilemmas project and the Reimagining Digital Well-being project. Her new book with her longtime research collaborator Carrie James, is Behind Their Screens: What Teens Are Facing (and Adults Are Missing). The book is coming out this August and we are fortunate to get a preview of the valuable insights she has to share on today’s episode.

Resources:
nosillyquestionspodcast.com
https://www.instagram.com/nosillyquestionspodcast/

Our guest today helps us understand that there are many other smarts, beyond the classic book smarts and street smarts. And enormous possibility can exist for kids when we recognize their unique aptitudes, in school and at home. We hope today’s episode expands our perception of what it means to be quote- “good at school.”

More on Dr. Thomas Hoerr:

Dr. Thomas Hoerr led schools for 37 years and is currently a Scholar In Residence at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, teaching in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program. His newest book, The Principal As Chief Empathy Officer: Creating A Culture Where Everyone Grows, shows the role of empathy in relationships in leadership. Hoerr believes that we can all grow our empathy. Hoerr currently writes a monthly leadership blog for ASCD and wrote a monthly column, “The Principal Connection,” from 2004 to 2018. Two of his previous books focused on the importance of SEL to students and staff (Taking Social Emotional Learning Schoolwide and The Formative Five: Fostering Grit, Empathy, and Other Success Skills Every Student Needs). Hoerr has written four other books, more than 170 articles, and has presented at schools and conferences around the world on empathy, leadership, multiple intelligences, faculty collegiality, grit, and the Formative Five.

Resources:
nosillyquestionspodcast.com
https://www.instagram.com/nosillyquestionspodcast/

In this episode, we get Chancellor Klein’s candid take on his time running the whole New York City school system and how he tried to drive reform in schools. His wins, his setbacks, and his reflections. This was a bold conversation with some courageous revelations. We can’t wait for you to listen.

More on Joel Klein:

In addition to being a lawyer, executive, and author, Joel Klein served as Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education for eight years in the early 2000’s under appointment by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. This means Joel oversaw the largest public school system in the United States with more than 1.1 million students in more than 1,600 schools. No small feat. In fact, New York magazine ranked Klein as one of the most influential people in public education. 

Resources:

nosillyquestionspodcast.com

https://www.instagram.com/nosillyquestionspodcast/

This episode explores how much independence we give our kids- physical, mental, emotional- and how frankly, that’s changed over the years, from when our guest Lenore Skenazy was a child walking herself to school at age five.  We think this is an important and thought provoking topic, and we hope you enjoy Lenore’s sensational humor. 

More on Lenore Skenazy:
After her column “Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone” prompted massive media attention (2008), Lenore Skenazy was dubbed “America’s Worst Mom.” In response, she wrote and founded the book and blog “Free-RangeKids,” sparking the movement that says today’s kids are smarter and stronger than our culture gives them credit for. This grew into “Let Grow,” a nonprofit working to make it easy, normal and legal to give kids back some independence. Lenore is also a speaker, blogger, syndicated columnist and reality show host. 

Resources:
letgrow.org
nosillyquestionspodcast.com
https://www.instagram.com/nosillyquestionspodcast/