from Early Learning Nation by Mark Swartz Contributor Mark Swartz tuned in to three virtual sessions from the recent Finding Joy Through Playful Learning conference sponsored by the Playful Learning Landscapes Action Network (PLLAN). Keep reading here...

from The Gazette-Virginian by Miranda Baines The managers of the Downtown South Boston Farmers’ Market and the Halifax Market Place both are designing downtown “Thinkscapes” to promote childhood learning through play.  “The whole goal for the Thinkscape is to have a...

from Star News Philly by Tom Beck Later this year, young children in 16 neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia will have the opportunity to engage with brand new playful learning installations designed to create literacy-rich environments, strengthen caregiver-child...

from Brookings by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Helen Shwe Hadani, Elias Blinkoff, and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff The American education system is not preparing all children to thrive. Amidst a national movement to dismantle systemic racism, our schools risk propagating...

from The Philadelphia Tribune by Catalina Jaramillo The lobby of the Nationalities Service Center, on the fourth floor of a building near the Reading Terminal Market in Center City, is a boring place to wait. Some 5,000 people from 130 different countries — complete...

from Brookings by Helen Shwe Hadani & Jennifer S. Vey The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every aspect of daily life, but presents an added burden on children and families. Closures of schools and child care facilities have had dramatic impacts on the lives...

from Live Science by Stephanie Pappas With a rocky year of pandemic-related educational disruptions ahead, many parents are looking for ways to help their kids learn at home. Toys advertised as teaching STEM might seem like one way to fill the gap. But do they really...

from The New York Times by Jessica Grose The first weekend of quarantine, my daughters took sidewalk chalk, made a hopscotch board in our building’s courtyard, and spent over an hour in blustery March weather jumping with glee, their hair whipping in the wind. Over...

from The New York Times by Perri Klass, M.D. As some parts of the country “open up” and families venture beyond their households, parents are faced with hard decisions about what children can do. There are no official guidelines, so I asked smart and experienced...

from ABC News Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University, on what parents can do if their kids fall behind in the school curriculum. Watch video here...