Real Talk: How to Homeschool Your Big Kids While Keeping Littles Busy (8 Ideas)

February 28, 2026

230

Can I be honest? The hardest part of homeschooling for me isn’t teaching lessons. It’s managing everyone’s needs and parenting and discipling AND teaching at the same time. I’m currently homeschooling a 2nd grader and a kindergartner with an energetic, adorable 4 year old and a curious 1 year old whose favorite hobby is surprising me by what she can get into next.

I want to raise thriving thinkers and I want to be with my kiddos. I also want our lessons to be enjoyable for the whole family and for my big kids to appreciate the normalcy of having younger siblings around. I think multi-age homeschooling has great benefits. I also practically need to give my older students attention and engagement during some lessons.

Maybe that’s you, too? Or maybe you’re thinking about homeschooling but not sure how you’ll get through a lesson when your toddler is occupying 110% of your focus.

Our homeschool is by no means perfect, but I’ve tested out quite a few strategies for making our lessons a priority and for helping that time stay as “peaceful” as possible. I’m sure I’ll continue to learn as we continue our homeschooling journey, but here are some tactics that have helped me invest in lessons while keeping our littles content.

Note: I don’t think you need to buy anything on this list, and you can certainly use what you already have around your home. To make it easy, I’ve added some Amazon Affiliate links. I’ll gain a small commission from these at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the mission of Thriving Little Thinkers!

1. Consistency is key. PRACTICE!

At the risk of stating the obvious, your kids will do their best when they know what to expect from school time and what is expected of them. It will take repetition for everyone to get into the groove of focused lessons and independent play. We’ve been homeschooling for 4 years now, and it is getting better and more enjoyable over time.

2. Are your expectations realistic?

Be prepared to stop for your littles. It’s realistic that they will have needs and that you are available to meet those needs. Yes, we are training them in patience and independent play, but they are small humans with needs and you are there to provide for those needs. That doesn’t mean we give in to every “want” that occurs, but if I’m entering into lessons with open hands toward my littles, I’m much less likely to pop and more likely to model the peace that I want my family to have.

I am inspired by the beautiful images of family style learning around the kitchen table with candles lit, baked treats at an arm’s reach, and gorgeous learning supplies scattered everywhere.

Everyone once in awhile, our family has these moments and they are beautiful!

But I can’t say that’s an everyday occurrence. With littles, it’s okay that there are needs. It’s okay that there are interruptions. It’s okay that the preschooler is so excited to show you their building or art creation. It’s okay that the baby got fussy and needed to go down for a nap, so you paused or gave the big kids some independent work to do.

I’m still growing in this area.

It’s not going to be perfect. It’s going to stretch your capacity and your patience, but in a good way. And it’s going to get better over time. I often remind my big kids that these little siblings are blessings. They remind me of that, too.

Do you have an image in your mind of what your homeschool could look like? Use that inspiration to motivate you, just don’t hold it so tightly that you lose sight of the imperfect reality right in front of you with all the of the messy growth (for them and for you).

3. Take Learning Outside

“Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.” –Charlotte Mason

Some of our best school days happen on our screened porch, at the picnic table, or on a blanket in the yard. The change of scenery does wonders for everyone’s attention span, and the littles have more space to explore safely while you work with your older students.

Nature is the best occupier of toddler attention. A stick, some rocks, watching bugs… these simple things can buy you 20-30 minutes of focused lesson time with your big kids.

4. Containment + Snacks (I use these daily.)

Sometimes you just need your youngest safely contained for a short lesson. Here are my go-to containment tactics:

Downstairs safety check and baby gates

Before we begin our lessons I walk through our downstairs and close doors, make sure the stairs are blocked off, and that nothing dangerous is within reach. While I try to position our toddler’s toys and snacks in a close area where I can see her, if she wanders off I don’t have to panic.

We have a playroom that opens to our kitchen with baby gates, so I pull those gates and have her play there when needed. This is a work in progress… my preschooler can play contently in the playroom alone. My 1 year old? We are working towards that in very short spurts.

The High Chair Snack Station

When she isn’t pleased with the playroom situation or feeling cranky, I put my 1-year-old in her high chair with finger snacks. Cheerios, small crackers, cut-up fruit—whatever keeps those little hands busy. Yes, there’s cleanup afterward. But 15 minutes of reading instruction without chasing her? Worth it.

The Hiking Backpack Carrier

When my toddler is particularly clingy, has demolished her snacks and I need both hands free to teach, she rides along in a hiking backpack carrier. She can see everything, feels included, and I can move around the table to help my older kids. We have a much older version of this Kelty toddler backpack and we’ve used it for all 4 kids. It’s the best!

5. Special “School Time” Bins

I have a shelf in our office with plastic bins that ONLY come out at school time for our older toddler. Because they are kept special, they are exciting and grab his attention for at least 10 minutes (often way more). Some of these can’t be used by our 1 year old, so our older toddler (2.5-4 years old) brings the bin to the kitchen table or front porch so that they are out of the baby’s reach.

The physical bins were an upfront cost, but we already had many of the toys/supplies around our home and we added some items to our birthday and holiday wish lists. We did not buy all of these fillers at the same time. We don’t have more than 4-5 bins on the shelf at a time. I usually only swap them out of necessity when the contents are missing or dried out or we get a new filler as a gift.

Here’s what is currently in our school bins:

Puffy stickers and blank paper
- Simple but effective. Puffy stickers are easier for toddler fingers to grab and peel than regular stickers. My 4-year-old can spend 15-20 minutes making sticker masterpieces on paper. We often repeat “Stickers only go on paper” and we remove the sticker bin if I find stickers elsewhere.
Sensory bin(s)
- You don’t have to buy anything fancy to make one of these! I’ve made sensory bins with water, ice, rice, beans, corn, or pasta. When I first started homeschooling, I learned everything I know about sensory bins from The Busy Toddler (check out her website for list after list of toddler pre-k activities!) Just like the stickers, if I find the contents of the sensory bin in other places or they have intentionally dumped them, the bin is mine for a few days. We put Dino & Ocean Sensory bin and Outer Space Sensory Bin on our birthday wish lists.
Crayola Color Wonder paper and markers or sets
- These are mess-free and toddlers love them! The markers only work on the special paper, so I don’t worry about wall art.
LEGO®bricks
- For an entire post on my love of LEGO® bricks, check out 5 Ways LEGO® bricks Promote Learning. I keep a bin of bricks on our shelf for my older toddler to use during lessons. It’s not fancy or sorted, it’s just a bin of classic pieces, mini figures, and baseplates to create with. On many days, this keeps him occupied for the longest of the options listed.
- LEGO® bricks may not be low cost, but I would consider them high value. Read here for ways to lower the cost and add some basic sets like these to your Amazon wish lists: LEGO Classic Large Creative Brick Box (includes storage) or LEGO Classic Creative Suitcase (includes storage)
- LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO® Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site.
Water Wow! Books (Melissa & Doug)
- These Melissa & Doug books use water to reveal colors, then dry and can be used again. Completely mess-free and endlessly reusable.

In the past our bins have included scratch art pads, play-Doh kits with dough tools (make your own playdough with this recipe), threading activities (make your own with twine and plastic sewing needles), Wikii stix, or brain flakes (doubles as math manipulatives)

6. Parallel learning

Some people will just call this “family-style” learning. We do some topics together as a family and some lessons with just the school aged kids. However, if your child is old enough to not play destructively with your lesson supplies, invite them in! If there are “precious” supplies I won’t open that opportunity. But if we are playing with counting cubes, brain flakes, geometric shapes, or other items, I let my older toddler join us. We just count and make sure we finish the lesson with the same amount of supplies we started with. Our math manipulatives are lots of fun to play with and have novelty because they only come out during lessons. As long as pieces aren’t lost or destroyed, we play with those and our older toddler can learn right alongside us.

It’s surprising how much your young children will pick up just being in the room. My preschooler has recited bible verses, Latin words, and parts of poems that I didn’t realize he was listening to. I’ve heard him playing Vikings in the backyard or pretending to be a knight after hearing our history lesson.

Not only are your littles soaking up academic content, they are learning the rhythms, expectations, and fun in school time.

7. Be Flexible with Lesson Timing

Typically, by using the strategies I’ve listed above, we are able to knock out our lessons before noon.

But life happens! Kids get sick, or need extra snuggles, or we have trouble making it through without frustration.

On those days, we capitalize on the flexibility of homeschooling by shifting our lessons to:

Baby’s nap time
When dad is home from work
When the littles go to bed
Weekend mornings (making it a fun mini-adventure to the library or coffee shop)

We can still finish our lessons without changing up our day drastically. This flexibility is one of homeschooling’s greatest gifts…and we use it!

8. Know When to Get Help

My goal for Thriving Little Thinkers is to share low-cost, high-impact ideas. It should not cost an arm and a leg to home educate your children or raise them to be thinkers.

With that being said, it is also valuable to know when to invest in help.

It isn’t always feasible for every circumstance, but having an extra set of hands can be incredibly valuable when getting your feet under you in homeschooling.

Mother’s Day Out Programs

When I first discussed the possibility of homeschooling with my husband, I had doubts. I wanted to test out the waters, but my hands were full! We were thankful that we had access to a local Mother’s Day Out program. For two mornings a week my youngest two at the time had a blast, finished by lunch, and I was able to figure out the basics of how my daughter and I could do this whole homeschooling thing.

Grandparent Help

I have friends who involve available grandparents for similar help: one to two mornings or afternoons a week to watch the littles while the parent and older students focus on schoolwork. Do you have a close neighbor or friend who could give you an hour to focus with your older student?

Mother’s Helpers & Babysitting

A Mother’s Helper is often cheaper than the cost of an older sitter and works great *when you are still present*. A mother’s helper is typically a young person (often a tween or young teen) who wants to learn babysitting skills for the future. They help with light childcare or basic house chores while you’re still home.

I know a family whose young daughter (10) works as a mother’s helper. She helps keep the youngest busy during homeschool time, builds caregiving skills for the future, and earns some money (all before independently babysitting). The family pays less than they would for an experienced sitter, and the mom gets helping hands to keep the youngest occupied during focused lessons. This could be a great low-cost way to not only invest in another young lady, but also get extra hands-on help for a short period of time.

We are in a season where we can have a sitter come three times a month. Sometimes I use that time for a focused school activity and other times I use it for personal projects. That hasn’t always been available to us, and we hold it with open hands. For now, we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have occasional help.

Try it today: Pick ONE strategy!

Starting up your homeschool is challenging. It’s also incredibly rewarding. Your younger children are learning by watching, listening, and soaking in the rhythm and habits of school time.

You don’t need to implement everything at once. Start with one or two tactics, build your confidence, and grow from there. See what works for your family and your homeschool.

Cheering you on,

What strategies have worked for your family? I’d love to hear what’s helping you manage homeschool with multiple ages! Leave a comment below.

in Academic, Brain Basics, Critical

Your Brain on ChatGPT: The MIT Study Every Parent Should Know

by Rachael Mumbower

January 16, 2026

1 Comment

1010

Note: I’ve been thinking and writing about AI’s use with your child’s thinking skills since 2023, particularly the implications and role of LLMs in education. I’ve highlighted the sparse research and championed cautious optimism in using it as a learning tool, while emphasizing the need for essential thinking skills. The 2025 MIT study in this post has greatly informed my recommendations for parents.

The purpose of Thriving Little Thinkers is to provide parents with low cost, high impact ideas for raising thinkers. With that goal in mind, I want to shine a light on how AI in education can come at an incredibly high cost: the cost of your child’s cognitive capacity.

The integration of AI into education is far outpacing our research and understanding of its effects. But in June 2025, researchers at MIT released results of a study that sparked viral attention: “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt When Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task.” It’s the most helpful AI research TO DATE and I want to tell you all about it because it uses primary brain data, not just secondary subjective self report measures, to see what is happening in student brains when using AI to write essays.

Academic research investigating AI in education (specifically large language models or LLMs), is a brand new area of study. There is very little research, though it is growing, and much of the research is from self-reported survey answers or secondary analyses (looking for trends in data you already have, such as GPA, test scores, course grades, etc.). The bulk of the research is focused on assessment based outcomes, NOT the cognitive processes that are required to produce those grades and GPAs.

The MIT study is special, because instead of racing to find a positive outcome from using AI in education, it is the first study we have of an objective look at the COST of using LLMs.

The team released the results on their website instead of waiting for the full peer review process because they are very concerned with the current push for AI in K-12 classrooms. By getting their study results out as soon as possible, they aim to help inform educational administrative decisions.

As a parent navigating AI tools with your children, you might be wondering, what does this research actually mean for raising a thriving thinker?

This post shares what parents need to know about this study:

What the Study Measured
What the Study Found (& DIDN’T find)
Why Does This Matter?
Parent Takeaways
Conclusion & References

1. What the Study Measured

Researchers at MIT’s Media Lab wanted to understand what happens in the human brain when people use ChatGPT for writing tasks (compared to no tools at all or using internet searching). They recruited 54 adults (ages 18-39) from universities in the Boston area and divided them into three groups:

LLM Group: Used ChatGPT to help write essays

Search Engine Group: Used Google to research and write essays

Brain-Only Group: Wrote essays with no external tools

Over four months, participants wrote three essays using their assigned tool (or lack thereof). Researchers measured brain activity using EEGs(electroencephalography), a device which tracks electrical activity across different regions of the brain. If your child or someone you know has had a seizure and needed to wear a special cap that monitors their brain’s electrical activity–this is the same type of device. In addition to analyzing the brain activity, the researchers also analyzed the quality, content, and characteristics of the essays themselves and interviewed participants about their experience.

Here’s the big twist…in a fourth session, the groups switched. The ChatGPT users had to write without any tools, and the brain-only group got to use ChatGPT.

The choice of a writing task for this study is significant because writing is one of the best assessments we have for thinking. It allows us to “capture” a complex internal mental process and assess it externally. It requires managing multiple cognitive tasks at the same time (remembering and retrieving information, organizing it, synthesizing it, maintaining focus, considering the audience). How someone handles this cognitive load reveals the quality of their executive functioning (the capacity of their brain to act like the conductor of an orchestra and coordinate all the different regions and roles of the brain toward a specific goal). Writing is also one of the easiest things to outsource to an LLM.

2. What the Study Found

The results revealed measurable differences between the groups at three levels: neural (brain activity), linguistic (writing characteristics), and behavioral (memory and ownership).

Brain Connectivity: The brain-only group SHINED. They had the strongest and most widespread brain connectivity during essay writing. The search engine group showed moderate connectivity. The ChatGPT group displayed the weakest brain connectivity. Brain connectivity essentially measures communication happening between different regions of the brain (more connectivity suggests more cognitive engagement with the task).
- When your brain is in active learning mode (such as reading or writing), you utilize multiple regions and areas of the brain–simultaneously– with incredible processing power. We would expect to see an engaged brain with cross connectivity across regions, hemispheres, and lobes of the brain when someone is in learning mode. We would expect to see the front of the brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex, activated as the “conductor” of all this activity as it guides and directs the different areas to accomplish the chosen goal.
- Unfortunately, that’s not what was observed in the brain activity of the LLM-assisted group.

Memory and Ownership: When asked to recall and quote from their own essays just minutes after writing them, the ChatGPT group struggled and could rarely communicate what they had just submitted. They also reported the lowest sense of ownership over their work. In contrast, the brain-only group felt strong ownership,and could quote easily from their work. The search engine group fell in between.
- Narration has been described as an active process of making information your own. Narrating something you have written or read helps cement ideas, strengthens connections, and organizes new information into your internal knowledge structure. If students using LLMs to write can’t narrate or recall the information, they will not get the full benefits of the writing exercise. It’s also logical that they couldn’t recall the information if they didn’t generate the writing themselves.
- Given the concerns of plagiarism with LLM assisted writing, it is interesting that students using LLMs reported less “ownership” over the essays. Is it possible that less perceived ownership lends to less perceived accountability for the LLM-assisted essays?

Writing Patterns: The essays from the ChatGPT group were statistically similar to each other. They essentially repeated the same words, language, and ideas within topics.This suggests that when people rely on AI suggestions, similar writing is produced rather than developing unique perspectives. When teachers were asked to grade the essays, they easily picked out the LLM assisted essays vs. brain-only essays. When asked what made those essays stand out, the teachers described the LLM assessed essays as “almost perfect” but “soulless.”
- The MIT team conducted in-depth linguistic analyses that you can find here.

The Switch: When the brain-only group got to use ChatGPT in session 4, their brain connectivity actually increased significantly across all frequency bands. This suggests they were actively engaging with the AI tool rather than passively accepting its output. However, when the ChatGPT group had to write without AI assistance, they showed weaker connectivity and struggled more than the brain-only group had during their first session—even though both groups were essay-writing for the first time in that condition.

What This Study Does NOT Say…

It’s important to know the limits of any research study.

The sample was small and specific and did not include children. However, if the brain activity of young adults was impacted by LLM use, and K-12 students are in a “prime time” of brain development, I think it is logical and reasonable to ask “How much MORE so should we be concerned about the cost of LLMs in young students?”
The study only looked at essay writing, not using LLMs for other educational classroom tasks. It also didn’t break the writing tasks into components (idea generation vs. drafting vs. editing, etc.). It’s possible that using LLMs for some components of writing could have different benefits or costs than others.
Short Time Frame: Four months is not long enough to understand long-term impacts. When the brain-only group finally used ChatGPT, they showed increased brain connectivity. However, we don’t know if this benefit will stay with the students. It’s possible that if the brain-only group continues to use LLMs for writing support they will eventually have decreased connectivity, but we don’t have data past the 4th session. We don’t have a recommended “dosage” or cut-off point at which AI use becomes “overreliance” or at which we start to see decreased connectivity.
One AI Tool: The study used ChatGPT specifically. Different LLMs might produce different results.
Not Peer-Reviewed: This study has not yet been peer reviewed or through publication in a scientific journal. The researchers deliberately released this study early because they believe the topic is pressing and time-sensitive, especially as K-12 schools and colleges rapidly integrate AI tools into classrooms. The public scrutiny and commentary gained from an early release doesn’t replace a scrutinous peer review process, but it does point out large flaws more quickly. So far, other than the few limitations listed, I have not read any strong methodological arguments against this study.

3. Why Does This Matter?

Cognitive Debt. The researchers describe the results using the term “cognitive debt”—the idea that you’re “borrowing” on LLM’s efficiency now, but you’ll “pay” for it later. Relying on AI tools can reduce the deep cognitive activation that is necessary for independent thinking. Each time you outsource thinking to LLMs your brain practices less independent thought. Your neural networks for deep processing grow weaker, and your sense of ownership and accountability for the work you produce with LLMs declines. Over time and with repeated LLM use, these small deficits accumulate.

What starts as convenient assistance can become dependent thinking. The person who repeatedly uses LLMs for writing may find that when they need to write something important without it—during an exam, in a meeting, in a high-stakes situation—they struggle more than they would have if they’d worked their “brain-only” muscles.

The Brain Needs to Work: Just like muscles need resistance to grow stronger, our brains need cognitive challenge to build neural pathways, memory, and deep learning. When LLM tools do too much of the cognitive work, our children miss out on essential brain exercise. Struggle and effort are essential features of learning.

Imagine taking a forklift into the gym with you. You’re operating the controls to make the forklift lift the weight. Did the weights get lifted? Yes. Did you benefit from it, though? Was the purpose to grow stronger or to get the weight lifted? Without the necessary friction and mental effort that comes with deeply engaging with information, the product will reflect LLMs “thinking” capacity and not your child’s thinking capacity.

Developing Brains Are at Highest Risk: Dr. Kosmyna noted that younger learners with developing brains are “potentially in bigger danger” because their brains are just beginning to learn how to learn. The habits and patterns they form now will shape their cognitive abilities for life. Young brains (infancy through middle school) experience massive neural proliferation in which they build connections and circuits across the brain. Then during the middle school and high school years they continue to make connections and circuits but the front of their brain, where executive control is based, coordinates all of their faculties to work together. The middle and high school years also include neural pruning–what doesn’t get used gets lost. Those circuits aren’t maintained and your brain doesn’t spend energy on them. This timing in neural development makes the outsourcing of mental work all the more concerning.

Memory Requires Encoding: When participants used ChatGPT, the task was efficient and convenient, but they didn’t integrate (encode) information into their memory networks. For children who are still building foundational knowledge and skills, this presents a major concern. Encoding of the information is necessary for learning to happen not just in academics but in everyday life. Encoding information, integrating it into what you already know or don’t know, is a key difference between passive consumption and the formative nature of deep learning. LLM users were supervising an external source of knowledge, not building up their own internal knowledge base.

4. Practical Takeaways for Parents

Delay LLM integration until middle school and high school. Students need to develop strong internal neural networks, conceptual knowledge structures, and resilience in academic work BEFORE integrating AI as an educational tool.
Preserve brain-only experiences (or “normal” educational experiences as we would have called them 3 years ago): A significant portion of your child’s cognitive work should happen in “brain-only” mode, where they’re fully responsible for the thinking, the struggle, and the breakthrough. Intentionally create opportunities for your child to work without AI assistance. The brain needs practice doing hard cognitive work. Let them struggle with a math problem. Let them revise their own essay or their friend’s essay. Let them research a topic by reading actual books, even if they are developmentally capable of using AI tools.
Model AI use (and lack thereof). Remember that you are your child’s most influential model. If they only see you reaching for AI assistance at the first sign of difficulty, that’s the pattern they’ll internalize. Model the struggle of brain-only experiences AND model the intentional use of discernment when working with LLMs. If they see you mindlessly copying AI outputs, they’ll do the same. If they see you actively questioning AI, evaluating outputs, asking questions, and considering your own internal knowledge base as well–they’ll use that approach too. Your actions and behaviors should communicate to your children: “My brain is capable. Thinking is valuable. Struggle is productive. I don’t need AI or LLMs for every cognitive task.”
Teach information literacy.
- Require source checking and validation of LLM outputs. Look for hallucinations.
- Examine point of view and algorithmic bias. Is it “true” or is it a reflection of the LLM training data?

5. Conclusion

Sometimes the harder path, the one that requires more brain connectivity, more memory engagement, more cognitive effort, is exactly the path our children need to take. We need much more research in this area, but we can’t always wait for a big popular research study before we act. LLMs are already here, in our schools, and in our children’s hands. The speed of AI integration into education is unprecedented. As parents, it is our job to be informed and intentional. We need to preserve cognitive challenges that build strong brain networks and sound minds while also preparing our children for a world where AI collaboration is a reality.

Let’s not sacrifice our child’s prime time for neural development at the altar of convenience and efficiency. Build their brains now and incorporate the bots in education, later.

For more on this topic, check out my other posts on AI and education:

What are your thoughts on AI use in your child’s education? How are you balancing the benefits and concerns? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

References

https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/your-brain-on-chatgpt/overview

ChatGPT: A Practical Guide for Curious Parents

5 Thinking Skills to Help Your Child Thrive in the Era of ChatGPT

AI & Education: A 2025 Update for Curious Parents

Modeling: How to Shape Brains & Behavior For Better

Growth Mindset: Helping Your Child Embrace Failure to Achieve Success

in Academic, Critical

AI & Education: A 2025 Update for Curious Parents

by Rachael Mumbower

April 1, 2025

1 Comment

1115

It’s been 2 years since I released a two part series on generative AI, specifically ChatGPT: ChatGPT: A Practical Guide for Curious Parents and 5 Thinking Skills To Help Your Child Thrive in the Era of ChatGPT.

It’s time for an update.

This post answers the following questions:

What has changed in genAI since 2023?
What does the research (or lack thereof) say?
What does the relationship between AI & education mean for parents?

1. What has changed in generative AI (genAI) since March 2023?

The following themes trended in the initial news craze over genAI: general excitement toward genAI capabilities, grave concern over the potential pitfalls of AI, and predictions of AIs market disruption across many disciplines (including education).

Some things haven’t changed: there are still substantial concerns for accuracy, bias, plagiarism, ethical use and regulation, data privacy, lack of students practicing human to human communication skills, and students passing off opportunities for critical thinking.

There are new developments including:

New capabilities
- As genAI tools have gained popularity, they have much more data to train from. As a result, they have grown more intuitive, more personalized, and have improved in their output and formatting. They can provide dynamic feedback tailored to the user. New functions on some platforms address the concerns for misinformation and bias using “explainability” functions that display reasoning and sources to verify accuracy. Filtering and customization options can set guidelines on what genAI tools can and cannot generate.
New products
- We are seeing a boom in genAI educational products from elementary to higher-ed and graduate school programs. These genAI educational products range from improved adaptive standardized testing software to personalized chat “tutors” that can personalize feedback and provide resources to individual students. Basic genAI functions are also marketed to educators to relieve administrative burden by grading, papers, crafting emails and newsletters, reading out loud to students, or crafting lesson plans.
New concerns
- Transparency, large scale misinformation/deepfakes, and manipulation of individuals are new concerns as genAI transforms the education sector. It is important to note that not all genAI is equally transparent or customizable, and explainability functions are often found in the paid tiers of popular AI tools. The ability to generate highly convincing fake content (images, videos, voices) has grown, making it harder to differentiate real from AI-generated content. This raises concerns for education, where critical thinking skills are crucial. And, genAI is now highly personalized, adapting responses based on user behavior. While this can enhance learning, it also raises concerns about content filtering—are students getting a balanced education, or just AI-curated viewpoints?
New questions
- The biggest question of all is no longer what CAN genAI do, but what SHOULD AI do?

Should AI be shaping kid’s opinions and thinking patterns?
- This is no longer a question of IF. The responses of AI can absolutely shape the knowledge presented–but is that appropriate?
What should we define as “cheating” versus “AI-assisted learning?”
Which subjects should belong to AI and which should belong to humans?
- Should AI be used to teach soft skills like emotional intelligence?
- Can AI role-play social scenarios to help kids navigate relationships? And even if it CAN, SHOULD we rely on this as a training tool?
How do we handle AI’s role in creativity?
- If a student creates something with AI, who gets the credit?
- How do we teach children the difference between AI-generated creativity and their own unique voice?
- This is especially relevant as AI tools allow young students to produce professional-level creative work—raising questions about originality, authorship, and skill development.
What new skills will children need to thrive in a world where AI is everywhere?
Should schools be teaching AI literacy the way they teach reading, writing, and math? Is it of the same level of importance as these core subjects?

2. What the (lack of) Research says

High quality research takes time. There is still very little high-level evidence (controlled experimental trials) regarding genAI’s educational utility (at the time of this post’s release). Many of the academic papers published in the last 2 years are qualitative gatherings of opinions on AI use, or they are simply survey descriptive studies. There are also narrative discussion papers, and research recommendations. These can help provide foundation to future experimental research for AI in education, but they do not “prove” or provide a causal link between AI and educational outcomes.

3. What does the relationship between AI and education mean for parents?

Two things for parents to consider: regulation and preparation. Parents need to know how AI is integrated into their child’s curriculum (if at all), how their school regulates the use of AI, and parents need to be prepared to train their own child responsible AI use. Here’s why…

Regulation (Policies)

While some schools have adopted it wholeheartedly, outright bans are also common. EdWeek Research Center surveyed 924 educators and 79% reported their districts had no clear policies on AI use, but more than half expected to use more AI in their district over the next year (Klein, 2024). The lack of regulation is exacerbated by how fast AI technology is changing–”… any policy a district or state crafts could be outdated the moment it is released.” (Klein, 2024).There are currently no federal or state statutes regulating the use of AI in classrooms (Linderman, 2024).

Speaking of regulation…there’s been some recent litigation! In October 2024, parents of a high school student filed a federal lawsuit against their son’s school, claiming that he was unfairly punished for using AI during a history project. He claims AI wasn’t used to write the content, but was used to help research and outline the paper. The student received a failing grade and was also not allowed admission to the National Honor Society. This case is an excellent example of the ambiguity of AI policies and the critical need for alignment between parents, students, and teachers on AI use in education.

What can parents do about AI regulation? Use the following list of questions to openly discuss genAI use with your student’s school:

What is this school’s policy on genAI use in the classroom or at home for assignments?
What type of assignments or parts of classroom teaching will incorporate genAI?
How will we ensure that AI supports rather than replaces the thinking process? (Spencer, 2024)
How will my child’s collected data be used?
“How can we work with the school to help our children learn about AI, ensuring its safe and meaningful use?” (Fitzpatrick, 2024)
“How are you equipping students with the skills to use AI safely, ethically, and responsibly?” (Fitzpatrick, 2024)

Preparation

Parents CANNOT simply assume that school will prepare their child to use AI well. Moms, Dads, and caregivers, it is our responsibility to prepare our children to navigate AI with wisdom. We need to be informed, curious, and cautious.

“…78% of educators surveyed said they don’t have the time or bandwidth to teach students how to think about or use AI because they are tied up with academic challenges, social emotional-learning, safety considerations, and other higher priorities” (Klein, 2024). Not only do most schools have ambiguous policies or no policies in place, teachers are too tied up with other priorities and have limited AI literacy resources. Despite this lack of time and training, I predict that students will be interacting with AI more frequently, especially in larger class settings where AI can potentially ease teachers’ administrative workloads.

If it’s our job to train our children to use AI well, how do we do it? Here are ways to teach our children to engage with AI critically:

Focus on AI literacy. Assess your student’s current knowledge of chatGPT and other genAI tools.
- Use this FREE printable discussion guide to talk with your child(ren)!

Keep AI in its proper place. Teach them to think critically and then use AI to help, rather than letting AI do the mental lifting for them.
Ask questions like, “Is AI the right tool for this job?”
Encouraging fact-checking of AI-generated content
- Ask questions like “How do you know this is true?” “Why did it give me this answer?”
- Use this FREE printable workbook to walk you through it!

Discuss ethical AI use in learning and everyday life.

Conclusion

The world of genAI is becoming more entwined with the world of education. New capabilities are leading to new products and generating more questions. However, serious concerns still linger. Create an open dialogue with your child(ren) AND their school to prepare them for genAI’s safe and meaningful use.

References

ChatGPT: A Practical Guide for Curious Parents

5 Thinking Skills To Help Your Child Thrive in the Era of ChatGPT.

Spencer, 2024. Seven Questions to Ask Before Having Students Use AI Tools

Klein, 2024. Schools Are Taking Too Long to Craft AI Policy. Why That’s A Problem

Linderman, 2024. Parents Sue Massachusetts School Over Student’s Use of AI

Fitzpatrick, 2024. 5 Questions Every Parent Should Ask Their Child’s School About AI

in Academic, Brain Basics, Critical, Resources

Fighting the Cult of the Head Start: A Book Review of Range

by Rachael Mumbower

October 3, 2024

The Cult of the Head Start

Have you felt the pressure?

Pick the sport or instrument your child is going to play and start them as early as possible. Pick the right preschool. Help them learn their letters as soon as you can.

There is no time to waste.

If I stop and think about it, I hear this messaging every day. When my oldest child turned 3, people started frequently asking which extracurricular she would be starting. Dance? Soccer? An instrument? One acquaintance told me that if my children didn’t choose early they wouldn’t qualify for travel sports teams so “better start soon!” Close friends who are educators in both public and private schools have shared that the standards for kindergarten students have increased dramatically and they can easily spot the children who did not attend preschool or early childhood education programs. There are more and more early admission programs for college and career training programs.

Pick early. Choose now.

In the book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, David Epstein calls this the “Cult of the Head Start”, or the pervasive cultural idea that by starting early, performing hours of deliberate practice, and providing your children with the exactly right cocktail of resources, your child can become the prodigy of whatever area or career you’ve steeped them in. But despite this philosophy’s current appeal, Epstein encourages a different approach that supports broad experiences and broad thinking instead of zealous commitment to singular mindset or specific job path.

Summary of Range

Epstein challenges the conventional wisdom of early specialization that our culture is obsessed with and champions the power of generalization. He highlights the successes of real people with intellectual and professional “range” (aka generalists) by using a diverse mix of stories, research studies, and compelling anecdotes. Epstein comprehensively provides a convincing case for the power of diverse experiences to develop the type of future thinkers and innovators our modern world will need.

3 Highlights from Range

Early hyperspecialization is not applicable to every job and learning environment.
- Epstein describes several specific savants in their fields (chess, tennis, golf, musicians, etc.) and how early specialization led to their success in their narrow area of expertise. Success with early specialization is associated with job areas that are very specific in nature–they always follow the same set of rules and never change. Does that sound like most jobs to you? “The world is not golf and most of it isn’t even tennis…most of the world is ‘martian tennis.’ You can see the players on the courts with the balls and rackets, but nobody has shared the rules. It is up to you to derive them, and they are subject to change without notice.”
- Epstein describes a key downside to early specialization: cognitive entrenchment. Cognitive entrenchment occurs when over specialization is applied and individuals become so rigid in their thinking and narrow in their application of knowledge that they are unable to perceive alternative perspectives or create new solutions.
- Esptein argues that no savant has ever been the type of creator to “change their field.” They may master the given parameters of their niche, but that doesn’t guarantee they can apply the skills they have learned anywhere else.
The opposite of narrow specialization is “our ability to integrate broadly”
- Epstein interviews researchers who have studied both cognitive entrenchment and also successful, innovative experts. He reports that the most successful experts have broad interests in the wider world and their breadth leads to insights that cannot be attributed to their specific job training alone.
- Cognitive flexibility is the mental agility to switch between different concepts or perspectives. In Range, it’s often presented as the opposite of cognitive entrenchment. People with high cognitive flexibility are adaptable, open to new ideas, and able to think creatively across various domains. They aren’t confined to a single way of thinking but can easily shift gears to find solutions to problems. This ability is crucial in a world that’s constantly changing and evolving.
Knowledge transfer should be integral to modern education systems. Unfortunately, it’s not.
- Epstein describes multiple research studies investigating the outcomes of higher education at top American universities. The researchers found no relationship between GPA and critical thinking performance. Essentially, great grades in college education do not ensure that you can apply fundamental logic across subjects or analytically evaluate data in another field.
- “…college departments rush to develop students in a narrow specialty area, while failing to sharpen the tools of thinking that can serve them in every area.”
- Epstein isn’t arguing that higher education isn’t valuable–he is conveying that the needs of modern students have changed and advocating for a shift in the educational approach.

Why should parents read Range?

The goal of Thriving Little Thinkers is to share low cost and high impact activities to help children learn how to think. We want to connect parents with the resources they need to have an impact on their child’s intellectual life (even at an early age). The book Range highlights a need to focus on curiosity and adaptability in young minds; crucial components to raising innovative thinkers who can solve complex problems.

A few high impact takeaways you could apply today:

Give your kids sampling periods. A sampling period isn’t incidental–it’s integral. Let them try multiple sports and then pick for themselves which they enjoy the most. Let them try different instruments, clubs, teams…give them a feast and let them choose. Then, if they want specialty training, great! But let them pursue it alongside other interests and experiences.
Let your kids experience frustration and even barriers to their goals. It may lead to pivoting, and pivoting out of necessity causes eruptions of creativity.
Remember that specialization has its place, but it doesn’t provide the perfect preparation cocktail for raising thriving thinkers. “Pretending the world is like golf or chess is comforting” and can give us parents a sense of control…but it isn’t reality. Remember, our complex world requires habits of minds and ways of thinking, not singular preparation in one sport or instrument. Your child may win 20 soccer trophies or attain paid violin performances by age 12, but what will they do with that skill? Is it their only tool to take into adult life or is it part of a large, broad toolkit to draw from?

Specialization isn’t all bad–it just isn’t the whole picture either. Particularly for young children, it shouldn’t be the end-all be-all education approach.

Notable Quotes

“The more constrained and repetitive a challenge, the more likely it will be automated while great rewards will accrue to those who can take conceptual knowledge from one problem or domain and apply it in an entirely new one.”

“The more contexts in which something is learned, the more the learner creates abstract models, and the less they rely on any particular example. Learners become better at applying their knowledge to a situation they’ve never seen before–which is the essence of creativity.”

“Knowledge increasingly needs not merely to be durable, but also flexible–both sticky and capable of broad application.”

“…there is often no entrenched interest fighting on the side of range, or of knowledge that must be slowly acquired. All forces align to incentivize a head start and early, narrow specialization, even if that is a poor long-term strategy.”

“Knowledge with enduring utility must be very flexibly, composed of mental schemes that can be matched to new problems.”

“…successful problem solvers are more able to determine the deep structure of a problem before they proceed to match a strategy to it.”

A Case Study on Learning Environment: Unexpected Takeaways from the Biography of Martyr & Spy^Featured

by Rachael Mumbower

May 4, 2024

1. What was their home life like?

A deep and rich family culture emanated from the parents.

Dietrich’s mother, Paula Bonhoeffer, was “the soul and spirit of the house.” She was an educator and homeschooled the children until they were 8 or 9 years old. She cared deeply about training her children in academic and critical thinking. She also gave them a firm foundation in biblical thinking. She taught them the fundamentals of Christian faith, spurred them intellectually, and created family traditions. She came from a lineage of pastors and theologians, but her faith was highly personal and practical. She believed in a faith that was evident in daily life.

Karl Bonhoeffer, the father, spurred the family intellectually. He was at the head of his field in Germany, holding a chair position at the University and also director of the hospital for nervous diseases. He was both highly logical and intellectual, but interestingly also had “a genuine respect for the limits of reason.” Despite his own numerous accomplishments, he taught his family to value humility and simplicity.

He fully supported his wife’s training and teaching of their children in Christian life. Karl also shaped the types of thinking and communicating in the Bonhoeffer house. “There was a strong atmosphere in his home against fuzzy thinking” AND sloppy speech. If the children had something they wanted to say, they were expected to say it, but with carefully chosen words. He expected well thought out answers and respectful discourse at all times. The children “loved and respected him in a way that made them eager to gain his approval…”

Together, the Bonhoeffer parents were a force to be reckoned with. They had a solid marriage (they were apart less than a month their entire 50 years of marriage), they each brought their personal and professional strengths into their home, and they also used humor. They had high expectations of their children, but also showed kindness and fair judgment. Their heritage cultivated a rich family culture: “The family trees of Karl & Paula Bonhoeffer are… so laden with figures of accomplishment that one might expect future generations to be burdened by it all. But the welter of wonderfulness that was their heritage seems to have been a boon, one that buoyed them up so that each child seems not only to have stood on the shoulders of giants, but also to have danced on them.”

But, the house was NOT always serious!

The parents gave the children younger years of wholesome, free FUN. They dug caves, climbed trees, put up tents, and played in the garden. They skated on a makeshift ice rink their father made for them in the yard. They changed an outbuilding into a zoo and created a room in the house for a museum of their nature collections and another for a workshop.

Music was an important part of the Bonhoeffer family culture. Their children, especially Dietrich, arranged and composed. They were “a deeply musical family” and held “musical evenings” each Saturday night. On these ritual evenings, which went on for many years, each child had to present something. They invited family and friends and gave performances for special occasions like birthdays, going away parties, or holidays.

Connection was highly valued. Family members and friends visited often, and Dietrich remained so close to his parents and family that he called them often. He consulted his parents before big decisions throughout his life.

“The Bonhoeffers were that terribly rare thing: a genuinely happy family…”

2. What was their education like?

It’s difficult to distinguish descriptions of the Bonhoeffer home from the Bonhoeffer education because they were so inextricably intertwined. They received a diverse mix of formal AND informal education that taught them to think academically, critically, and biblically.

Homeschooling & Classical Education

The Bonhoeffer children were homeschooled in their early years. Paula was “openly distrustful of the German public schools and their Prussian educational methods” and believed that she should care for them during their earliest years. While at home they memorized poems, hymns, folk songs, created plays, performed puppet theater, and dived deeply into topics of their own interest.

Later, the children attended a local school that used a classical education model. A classical education is based on a three part model that builds upon a child’s learning capacity over time. The early years are spent absorbing information and laying the foundation for advanced studies. The middle school years focus on logic and argument, and in high school the focus is rhetoric–learning to express themselves through writing and speaking with excellence and originality. A classical education views all knowledge as interrelated and works to integrate different subject matters. This philosophy heavily emphasizes history, and highlights ancient Greek and Roman cultures due to their prolific influence on the modern world. Classical education even stems from these cultures, where thinkers like Aristotle and Plato taught that education should develop the whole person, including moral virtues and intellect. The school the Bonhoeffer children attended learned classical history, art, literature, and even used pictures of the Roman forum for classroom decoration.

The values of a classical education were matched in the Bonhoeffer home. Close mindedness wasn’t tolerated–they came to decisions based on evidence and thoughtful discussion. They were also taught to control their emotions: “Emotionalism, like sloppy communication, was thought to be self-indulgent.” Both parents modeled a sense of perspective, of staying cool and not emotionally reacting to a new thought or point of view. They didn’t ascribe to a single political viewpoint, they “seemed to have the best of what we might today think of as conservative AND liberal values, of traditional AND progressive ones.”

Biblical Thinking & Daily Christian Living

All of the Bonhoeffer children were educated in biblical thinking and daily Christian living. The Bonhoeffer’s Christianity was “mostly of the homegrown variety.” Their normal, everyday life included bible readings and hymn singing. Paula taught the children to revere God’s word, and tried to read bible stories straight from the actual text, only using illustrated children’s versions for an occasional picture. Her faith was also evident in the values that she and her husband cultivated: “Exhibiting selflessness, expressing generosity, and helping others were central to the family culture.”

Their mother’s faith “spoke for itself, it lived in actions and was evident in the way she put others before herself and taught her children to do the same. There was no place for false piety or any king of bogus religiosity in our home.” Her influence on Dietrich’s theology and walk with God was so profound that Metaxis suggests that Dietrich’s famous idea of “cheap grace” may have originated in her humble example.

Essentially, the Bonhoeffer’s taught their family the basic tenets of the Christian faith AND how to live them out practically. The same intellectual culture of respectful discourse and thoughtful argument included topics of theology and the Word, so the children learned to reason and evaluate their biblical ideas to the same extent as discussions of any other topic.

3. Are there lessons that we can learn and apply today from this extraordinary family?

Absolutely! While we live in a different era, there are timeless approaches to a home learning environment that are low cost and high impact that we can apply from the Bonhoeffer family. I think this biography’s description of Dietrich’s upbringing resonated so deeply with me, because it mirrors many of the education values I share through Thriving Little Thinkers:

High expectations are beneficial when they are paired with connection and the right amount of support. High expectations abounded in the Bonhoeffer family, but there was also love, respect, and humor. We know from modern day research that connection is critical for young children to feel safe and secure to learn grow and challenge themselves. They effectively “scaffolded” for their children; they created an optimal learning zone by building a loving, supportive family environment in which they knew their children and challenged them appropriately.
Parents are ultimately responsible for their child’s education in character AND academics. The Bonhoeffers did not relinquish spiritual training of their children to the church. They didn’t assume that the public schools were the best option available to them, nor did they rely only on homeschooling for the entirety of their children’s education. They thoughtfully considered their children’s needs and made decisions based on that, not on convenience. They made intentional choices about education opportunities.
Modeling is a crucial part of raising biblical, academic, and critical thinkers. The Bonhoeffers modeled great character and intellect. Not only did their parents model what they wanted for their children, the family was immersed in a community of extended family and friends that esteemed the values they taught their children. So not only were the parents modeling Christian living, moral values, and intellectual pursuits, other adults in their life were doing the same. While some might call it social pressure to perform, there is a great amount of neurophysiological and psychological evidence behind the draw to adapt to your given group or tribe. Truly, more is caught than taught.
Play is essential for raising focused, thriving little thinkers. It is beneficial for our children to become engrossed in a task–and the most typical flow experience for children is PLAY! The children’s play was described as intense and happened for long expanses of time. They had a rural summer home with no electricity where they spent time reading and “dug trenches and went for hikes in the vast pine woods to search for wild strawberries, onions, and mushrooms.” They performed plays in the evenings, ball games, guessing games, sang songs, and enjoyed nature. One home had an acre of gardens and grounds where they played, explored, planted, and even raised animals.
Raising thinkers doesn’t require you to break the bank. Some of the most high impact activities for building brains actually cost little to nothing. The Bonhoeffers climbed trees, played in the garden, read books, and performed their own plays. They didn’t have the “latest and greatest” of a learning toy or computer program. The children learned by exploration and play under the guidance of engaged adults.
Biblical thinking is tied to critical thinking and academic thinking. Dietrich and his family often discussed theology and biblical ideas about Christian living at the dinner table. Biblical thinking sees academic and critical thinking through a biblical lens–understanding that God gave us our brains and all forms of thinking as ways to know and love him better. While many people separate theology from education (rooted in our division of church and state funded educational programs), our theology and understanding of the gospel give meaning to our thoughts and the actions we take based on those thoughts.
- Academic thinking supports biblical thinking. Knowing how to read the bible, understand numbers, memorize and meditate on important biblical content, grasp historical context, understand translations–all of these require a basic academic foundation. Biblical literacy, gospel fluency, and memorizing scripture are necessarily tied to academic thinking skills. But academic thinking isn’t an end point.
- Critical thinking supports biblical thinking. “…Bonhoeffer was no mere academic. For him, ideas and beliefs were nothing if they did not relate to the world of reality outside one’s mind.” It’s one thing to read a text and it’s another thing to evaluate text, compare and contrast with cultural ideas, and apply that truth to today’s dilemma. “In our increasingly secular society, young people are exposed to a plethora of ideas that counter the truths of the Bible. They need critical thinking skills to discern falsehood and make reasoned arguments for their faith (2 Cor 10:5).” Sophia Auld. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 tells us to “Test all things; hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” So how do we “test all things?” By wisely comparing and contrasting the ideas of the world and the truths of God’s words.

A few caveats on context

I am NOT saying that every family needs to use the Bonhoeffer household as an ideal or checklist of how to raise successful children. I’m simply intrigued that the methods infusing their home life and education life were not at odds but each fueled the other and in turn the environment was rich, fertile soil for raising thinkers of great character.

There are a few caveats to the Bonhoeffer lifestyle, neither negative or positive, but context for understanding the learning environment:

They lived before the advancement of technology that so easily ransacks modern day households and derails focused attention or sustained thinking. Social media and internet use today in our homes is difficult to curtail for both adults and children. The result is a downward trend in our ability to focus well, a critical foundation for thinking well and solving problems. While it is still possible to create homes where our children’s focus isn’t derailed by shiny digital distractions, it is an added layer of parental consideration that the Bonhoeffers didn’t have to consider.
The household help included a governess, nursemaid, a housemaid, parlor maid, and cook. This likely provided Mrs. Bonhoeffer with more time to plan, educate, and guide the household culture. A household staff isn’t possible for most families I know, but it also doesn’t negate the high quality of the environment. The richness of learning described in their home can be done without a posse of helpers and it certainly doesn’t require immense wealth.
The Bonhoeffer children had impactful learning experiences beyond their childhood. As parents, I think it is important to remember that our children are heavily influenced by our investment in their home life but what they choose to do with it is beyond our grasp. It isn’t always feasible for us to take our school aged children overseas on an immersive cultural expedition or attend monthly arts performances when you’re on a tight budget. We can, however, light a fire of curiosity that propels them forward to create their own lifelong learning experiences. After leaving home, the Bonhoeffer children chose to pursue additional lifelong learning through travel, expansive reading, writing, interesting job opportunities, discussion groups, playing instruments, exposing themselves to culture through ballets, operas, plays, etc. These self-initiated opportunities undoubtedly impacted the great outcomes of their professional and personal lives.
And finally, the Bonhoeffers were immersed in a rich like-minded community of family and friends that esteemed the many of the same values they taught their children. Being immersed in a like minded community is possible today, but not always as common. For those involved in a local church this environment can be more easily attained, but in terms of valuing intellectual thought and high moral values, our post modern society can be very isolating indeed. It is difficult, but worth the effort to find a like minded community for yourself and your family.

Conclusion

Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer were parents strong in faith, intellect, and personal character. They had a strong marriage. They valued education not for vanity but for understanding. They valued discourse and evidence-based reasoning and decision making. They valued service to others. Most of all, they valued their family.

A strong marriage of two individuals of character can create a household that shapes the values AND intellect of its members.

References

Metaxas, E. (2010). Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Thomas Nelson Inc.

Auld, S. (2019). Critical and Creative Thinking: An Essential Skill for Every Student https://www.acc.edu.au/blog/critical-thinking-essential-skill/

Featured

in Academic, Brain Basics, Critical

#1

5 Ways LEGO® Bricks Promote Learning

I had no idea how much y’all love LEGOs! This post ranked first in pageviews for 2024, with almost double the views of #2.

This post explains how LEGO® bricks are a high impact and high value educational toy so that parents or grandparents aiming for play-based learning can invest in quality tools. Not just toys–tools to help them grow and learn to think.

For FREE LEGO RESOURCES straight to your inbox, click here!

# 2

ChatGPT: A Practical Guide for Curious Parents

Open AI released chatGPT in November 2022 and the education world responded in force, both with excitement and with deep concern. 2023 could easily be labeled the year AI disrupted…frankly every market it has touched.

This post encourages parents to approach AI with both curiosity and caution, to determine how to best leverage these tools AND how to train our children to do so. It’s the first in a two part series on chatGPT, the second being #4 of the top posts this year.

Don’t forget to grab the FREE PRINTABLE DISCUSSION GUIDE!

# 3

Modeling: How to Shape Brains and Behavior for Better

Every evidence-based parenting book I’ve read mentions modeling. But is it really as simple as “monkey see, monkey do?” And can it be used for more than just behavior modification? Can you use modeling to shape thinking processes? Mindset? What about modeling values?

This post explains the concept of modeling, the underlying brain research behind it, and empowers parents to be agents of change. As Charles Spurgeon once said: “Train up a child in the way he should go–but be sure you go that way yourself.”

#4

Thinking Skills to Help Your Child Thrive in the Era of ChatGPT

In light of AI’s impact on education, what thinking skills are essential now, more than ever? How do we teach our children those skills?

This post debunks the argument that thinking skills are obsolete and encourages parents to build up cognitive skills that are even more necessary in this digital, evolving world.

Put critical thinking skills into practice right away by grabbing the FREE STUDENT WORKBOOK: Smart Kids Chat Smarter that walks you the C.R.A.A.P. test for evaluating ChatGPT output!

#5

H omeschool in Under 1 Hour: Brain-Friendly Kindergarten Curriculum Picks

There are a million ways for parents to invest in their child’s education. We have chosen to homeschool our Kindergartener this year with specific brain-friendly curriculum and an everyday learning lifestyle for the entire family.

Whether you are homeschooling, public schooling, private schooling, or something in between, this post provides ideas for a lifestyle of learning and plenty of resources to explore.

There you have it! The top 5 posts of Thriving Little Thinkers for 2023. I pray that when you come to thrivinglittlethinkers.com you receive practical help and inspiration for raising little thinkers. Don’t forget to subscribe!

Cheering you on,

Featured

in Academic, Brain Basics, Critical

Homeschool in Under 1 Hour: Brain-Friendly Kindergarten Curriculum Picks^Featured

by Rachael Mumbower

December 4, 2023

2 Comments

2388

There are a million ways to do Kindergarten. Public school, private school, university-model, co-op, distance learning, and more. We’ve decided on homeschool for our Kindergartener this year (which worked out well with the timing of our recent move). Schooling with 3 under 5 in an apartment is challenging, but it actually takes up less than an hour of our day and is a beautiful part of our family culture. And less than one hour a day?! This gives us immense freedom to explore, play, experiment, and enjoy our days together.

How do we get this done in under an hour?

Learning is all day in everyday life. “Doing school” for under an hour a day by no means limits our learning to that one hour! We are always learning. We work on building good habits, we cook, read loads of books, play board games, get as much outside play as we can, and constantly learn how to interact with others in loving, respectful ways. Education has been described as “… an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life” (Charlotte Mason, an education reformer). That means my children are constantly learning from the environment they are immersed in.
Quality over quantity. We prioritize our most important subjects: bible, reading, and math. Anything else we accomplish is just gravy! This helps us to prioritize focused attention to our main subjects rather than expect a long school session with multiple subjects for little brains with short attention spans. Being able to focus is an academic skill (and life skill) just as important as our core subjects.
School time is anytime. Formal “school time” for our Kindergartener can happen during naps, after the boys go to bed, or even on the go! Our gym offers a very generous childcare time, so occasionally I can finish my workout, pick up our Kindergartener early, and knock out a reading lesson in the cafe area before we pick up the boys. At home, school can look like coloring at the table next to us, or playing with bowls of rice and scoops on the floor, or sometimes participating with scaled down counting or sorting activities that apply to our work that day.
Family style learning (everyone participates). While formal lessons are reserved for our Kindergartener, we have a family style learning time when we all learn together, focused on the same content at the same time. Specifically, we utilize something called Morning Time. Morning Time is an intentional time when everyone in the family can come together and learn about specific priorities for your family. A typical Morning Time includes bible reading, hymns, and catechism. But it can expand to include the arts, read alouds, and any other subject that you want to start your day with.
- We use Brighter Day Press’s Morning Time curriculum that included the topics and resources I wanted for our family, was open and go (requires little to no prep), and adaptable to my kid’s ages. I highly recommend both Morning Time Volume I, or Volume II if you want to start Morning Time but you don’t know where to begin.

Kindergarten Curriculum Picks

I only use 3 specific tools for Kindergarten formal schooling: 1) All About Reading, 2) Secret Stories and 3). Right Start Math

All About Reading, Level 1 (20 minutes a day)

What it is: All About Reading (AAR) is phonics based, lightly scripted, highly visual, interactive reading program. It includes a Teacher’s Manual, student activity book, 3 texts filled with decodable stories, letter and sound cards, and letter tiles (or the letter tiles app).

Is it Brain Friendly? Check! AAR is a brain friendly reading program. It is multisensory, which means your student employs multiple senses during each lesson (hearing, sight, and touch) to enhance learning and improve retention. By activating different brain pathways, neural connections are strengthened and learning is deeply wired. As a researcher and educator with a neuro background, I love finding programs like this that tap into brain based learning principles.

What I love about it:

It’s not workbook centered. Workbook based phonics curriculums are great for fun extra work but they demand fine muscle coordination. Many 4 year olds and 5 year olds have not developed the fine motor skills necessary to do the pencil work necessary to complete handwriting assignments. Does that mean we don’t work on handwriting? By no means! We have a fun handwriting book that we use because my daughter is physically capable of correct pencil holding. But my 4 year old son? He listens and soaks up much of the phonics we review and will likely be capable of reading much sooner than he is able to write legibly. That’s okay! We will work on handwriting more extensively when it is developmentally appropriate.
It’s not just brain friendly, it’s EASY to follow. Once you’ve set up your activity pages, it is open and go! I first heard about AAR from April Stevenson at thefivegirlschoolhouse.com and @fivegirlschoolhouse on Instagram. She has saved stories about how she sets up her AAR binders of activity sheets so that they are easy and able to be re–used for multiple children. I followed her instructions on binder set up to the letter (pun intended).
The Teacher’s Manual is an easy to read, wealth of information. It includes specific tips, tricks, background information, and the “why” behind the lessons. The appendix includes lists of games, activities, snacks and rewards, and creative word play for even more reading fun.

The Secret Stories (combined with AAR)

“The teachers at my school can’t stop talking about Secret Stories“ my friend and elementary teacher raved. I had never heard of it before. I dug deeper into this program and the more I’ve learned, the more I want to share it!

What it is: “Secret Stories are the secret sounds that some letters make when they get together.” The Secret Stories are a brain-based phonics tool created by teacher Katie Gardener. It is not an independent phonics program–it is used as an adjunct to whatever reading program you choose.

There are many rules in the English language and many many many exceptions to the rules. Letters make one sound in this scenario, a different sound in this scenario, and wait, ANOTHER sound when they get together with this other letter. This leads to confusion and an emphasis on sight words rather than the decoding skills needed to master phonetic based reading. When your child asks “But WHY do those letters make that sound when they are next to each other?” Do you find yourself saying “They just do” and get frustrated at the arbitrary rules? The Secret Stories are a set of stories that explain all of these why’s.

Here’s an example:

“These two love to ride the train down the track, chugging along as they go- “CH-CH-CH-CH! CH-CH-CH-CH!” And that’s the sound they make (church, chin, chew)

BUT…sometimes they pretend to be the train conductor and make his hard C (or K) sound instead! (choir, schedule, ache)

Brain Friendly? Check! “Secret Stories® aligns phonics instruction with how our brains actually learn best, engaging more neural pathways for stronger learner connections and easier skill retrieval. Weaving abstract letter sounds into stories makes them interesting, activating the brain’s positive emotional state and hooking the information into a strong memory-holding template.” —Katie Gardener (Educator and creator of The Secret Stories)

What I love about it:

It fits seamlessly with many phonics based reading programs. We combine Secret Stories flashcards with our All About Reading Level 1 curriculum and love to point out the “secrets” we find while we work.
Visual cues. If it’s easy on the eyes, it’s easy on the brain. The flashcards and posters are a big part of The Secret Stories program, because they provide visual prompts for that letter combination. They can reference the visuals while reading and writing, giving them a big boost in competence, comprehension, and confidence.
The Facebook Support Group has FREE file uploads to help you incorporate the secret stories! Check it out here: Science of Reading meets Science of Learning with Secret Stories Phonics. The group is monitored by the creator Katie Gardener and is full of educators who share their experiences and ideas. We use a free version of the Word Collection Book, found in the files of the group, as a way for my kids to look out for “secrets” in the words they see every day. When they find it, we get their collection book, turn to the page for that particular secret, and then record the new word.

RightStart Math, Level A (20 minutes)

I learned about RightStart Math from a master’s prepared teacher at a homeschool development event. The talk was all about teaching math with an integrated and holistic approach. She taught at a rigorous school which mandated an older, established math curriculum (Saxon Math). She taught from Saxon, and her children who attended the school were also required to use it. But the part that grabbed my attention was that she personally supplemented her children’s math at home with RightStart Mathematics. Instead of “drowning in math worksheets” she and her boys played math games, made shapes, and had fun working their way through the concepts. As a professional educator, she wanted her own children to have RightStart.

What is it? An evidence-based, comprehensive math program that emphasizes visualization of quantities, discourages rote counting (simply reciting numbers in sequential order vs. determining quantity), and provides visual strategies (mental images) for memorizing math facts. Understanding is emphasized over completion. It focuses on chunking in base groups of 5 and 10, a hallmark of common core math education. It balances both conceptual teaching and procedural practice with a Montessori-like approach.

Brain Friendly? Check! Remember, If it’s easy on the eyes, it’s easy on the brain. Children (and adults) thrive on visual representation when learning new concepts. RightStart Math is heavily focused on visual representations and physical manipulatives to understand core math concepts. In fact, RightStart does NOT emphasize counting as a primary way of learning math. It heavily utilizes games for practicing math concepts and learning math facts which increase motivation and interest-led learning. RightStart also prioritizes problem solving. And, because it’s a multisensory program, it uses visuals, songs, and touching physical manipulatives to learn in a more holistic (and effective) way.

What I love about it:

It’s not workbook centered. I’ve already mentioned the developmental pitfalls of an early workbook focus (see above under All About Reading). RightStart Level A is a hands-on program, so it is not directly tied to a student’s ability to write. Since math is inherently practical and embedded in our everyday life, I want to provide a conceptual understanding and foundation first. Will we add more paperwork as we progress? Absolutely! And as the levels progress, RightStart incorporates more worksheets for review. But for beginners, particularly in Level A, it is an interactive approach.
It promotes independent thinking, a hallmark of raising a competent adult.
- The National Research Council published a report on the future of mathematics education called Everybody Counts. Here’s what they have to say about thinking and math: “More than most other school subjects, mathematics offers special opportunities for children to learn the power of thought as distinct from the power of authority. This is a very important lesson to learn, an essential step in the emergency of independent thinking.”
- Here is an example of this principle on pg. 3 of Level A:
  - “Place 3 objects on one tray and 2 objects on a second tray. Ask the child if she agrees that there are 3 objects on each tray. It is very important that the child feel free to disagree with you during math time. After a short discussion about the number of objects, add one more object and then ask her if she agrees that they now both have 3.”
It emphasizes games! “Games are to math as books are to reading” —Dr. Joan Cotter, creator of RightStart Math. There are math games incorporated into Level A AND a separate book of math games that many teachers have told me they utilize in their classrooms or homeschools. A plethora of research studies in the past two decades have highlighted the benefits of math games. Using math games to reinforce learning can:

Takeaway

Total time for “formal” academic work: 40 minutes a day. If we add in our Morning Time as a family, we reach 1 hour a day! Even if we add extras we can finish quickly and practice focusing well. I prefer homeschooling with a few, carefully chosen, evidence-based, high quality curriculums. We do occasionally supplement with fun add-ons, but our core subjects are laying a firm foundation for future work. In review, here are our core curriculums: 1) All about Reading, 2) Secret Stories, and 3) Right Start Math. Too add beauty and truth we add Morning Time. For fun handwriting work we use A Reason for Handwriting. These are supported by an everyday learning lifestyle.

For FREE exclusive tips on raising a thinker, CLICK HERE! You’ll get an email from us once a month with tips, resources, and ideas.

Featured

in Brain Basics

Moving to a New State with Kids: 5 Brain-Friendly Transition Tips^Featured

by Rachael Mumbower

November 1, 2023

2 Comments

7420

Thriving Little Thinkers has moved to Indiana!

My family of 5 just moved from Birmingham to Indianapolis for a work relocation. To call it a major adjustment would be an understatement. While there are exciting parts about moving to and exploring a new part of the country, these are big changes and can often show up in behavior, mindset, and even physical symptoms of stress or anxiety in our children.

What does neuroscience have to do with new beginnings?

Moving is inherently stressful for adults and kiddos alike. Stress and good thinking don’t go together.

When you are stressed your body releases hormones associated with a fight or flight response and inhibits your access to the part of the brain that does deep thinking. This makes sense–if you see a grizzly bear charging at you, it’s not the best time to stop and have a deep thinking session! No, you want your survival instincts to takeover and react quickly, often before you even realize you’ve started moving away from the threat.

Changes in environment, routine, or caregivers can cause these types of stress responses in our kids. As prepared adults, we can provide avenues to explore that discomfort and work through it so that our children gain skills for inevitable future challenges.

I’ve been utilizing brain based and budget friendly techniques for helping our kids through this transition. You can help your kids through transition too, without breaking the bank! All you need is some scratch paper, a sharpie, and some coffee.

Here are 5 brain-friendly transition tips:

1. Anticipate and recognize signs of stress. Address them as quickly as possible.

Changes in routine, their environment, and even our own stresses as parents can all contribute to a child’s stress. Don’t be surprised when you need to leave a library or park due to behavioral issues soon after a major transition (Hi! It’s me…this has happened to us multiple times in the past two weeks).

Have you ever wondered “What were they thinking?” Well, during stressful times they are NOT thinking. Stress limits our ability to inhibit impulses, think critically or solve problems. Couple that with already limited social skills and a small vocabular in a tiny body and it’s no wonder we see such behavioral issues during transition.

Model a growth mindset, not a fixed mindset. Be intentional in how you convey stressful situations to your child (or even around your child). Do you treat this transition time as the worst possible thing that has ever happened to your family? Or do you acknowledge the hard while highlighting the good? Managing your own stress will help you to assist your child.

2. Use your words with intention.

Speak honestly about what is happening, but don’t provide unnecessary details. Less words and more plain speech.

“Our things will be ride in the moving truck and we will ride in our van.”

“We will sleep in our new room tonight.”

“We are visiting our new doctor this afternoon.”

Speak positively about the move. We talked about our “big adventure” of moving and shared our excitement about exploring new places. There are great brain benefits to having adventures (Read 3 Ways That Adventures Change Our Thinking). Enthusiasm is contagious just like anxiety is contagious. Your child will likely look to you to see how to react to new things.

When our child brought up any anxieties about the move, we acknowledged them and discussed them plainly and honestly. We also provided appropriate reframing when necessary.

3. Make connections between the “old” and “new.”

“Making multiple connections is a skills that becomes possible during the later preschool and early school-age years and beyond as the prefrontal cortex of children’s brains mature. It calls on executive functions of the brain, including working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility.” Ellen Galinsky, Mind in the Making

Notice what is different and what is the same. (There is a great Daniel Tiger song for this!) As we made trips for house and apartment shopping in Indiana, we pointed out thinngs around us and asked “Different or the same?” We strongly highlighted the things that wouldn’t change such as God, His Word, and our family. And our kids were PUMPED to know that there is a Chick-fil-a because, ya know, priorities. They noticed that there were still parks, libraries, grocery stores, and houses even if they weren’t identical to the ones in Alabama.

We took this game a step further and documented some of their connections on a piece of white paper and posted in the old house and in our new apartment. This idea of taking their ideas and making them visually accessible leads to the next tip:

4. As much as possible, make things VISIBLE!

We have made three visual charts to make transition thinking visible during this moving process. We’ve made 1) a different vs. same chart, 2) a questions list, and 3) an Indiana bucket list of things we’d like to do here.

Simply taking their observations and questions and documenting them has helped eased their anxiety, given a reference point when a question is repeated, and helped my kindergartener begin to play with visual organization of ideas.

My children’s questions are not very complicated, but when unanswered they can create stress and anxiety. My five year old mentioned that she is having “lots of thoughts” about our new house and that she “keeps thinking about it all day and all night.” I asked her what the thoughts were about and it turns out she has some anxiety and worry over her place in our new house and the lack of knowledge about where it will be and what it will look like.

“Where will I sleep?” “Where will my brother sleep?” “Who will get to keep the bunk beds?”

“Will my stuff come there, too?” “Will things stay in storage?”

“Will we keep moving again and again?”

We added these questions to our chart “What ?’s do you have?” and answered the ones we could. For the questions we didn’t know the answers to, since we haven’t found a new house, we were honest and told her that we would find that out together when the time comes.

Hilariously, our three year old’s questions have been almost all about food. “Will we get Rick Krispie Treats there? Do they have Chick-fil-a there? Can we bring our oatmeal packets for breakfast?” I assured him that we will continue to feed him all the things.

Another time we prioritized visuals was when packing up their bedrooms. I asked each child to come to their room with me and explained “We are packing up your things so that they can come with us. I want you to see me put them in the boxes, and I want you to help me box them as well, so that you know where your things are going. All of the boxes will go on the truck and daddy will drive the truck to Indiana. You can keep it all, we are just sending it on the truck. Even if you can’t see it once it is packed up, it isn’t “gone.”

Simply allowing them to visually see where their things were going put them so much more at ease.

5. Introduce multiple perspectives.

Seeing multiple perspectives is a hallmark of critical thinking. And by teaching your child to consider multiple perspectives in a situation uses multiple executive functions of the brain, building up the brain’s “muscles” that make critical thinking possible.

“Perspective taking calls on many of the executive functions of the brain. It requires inhibitory control, or inhibiting our own thoughts and feelings to consider the perspectives of others; cognitive flexibility to see a situation in different ways; and reflection, or the ability to consider someone else’s thinking alongside our own.” Ellen Galinsky, Mind in the Making

My daughter asked me why someone else would want an “old home” from us (I’ve been referring to our Alabama home as the “old house” and our apartment as our “new home”.) She was taking me literally, and thought “old” was a negative term. So I explained that the house was our previous house, and that it would be “new” to the people who bought it even if it wasn’t brand new. It would be new because they haven’t experienced living in that home yet. She made the connection, and asked if there would be people moving out of our new home and that we would be moving into their “old” home? YES! Absolutely.

Takeaway

Even during times of stressful transition, parents can empower their children to think logically and critically. It can be done in everyday moments, without spending all your hard earned money.

Looking for more?

Get a FREE MONTHLY TIP for building up your child’s thinking skills, straight to your inbox. No strings attached!

Read more about your child’s brain and challenges:

Featured

in Brain Basics, Critical

How to Help Your Child Navigate Challenges: A Parent’s Guide to the Zone of Proximal Development^Featured

by Rachael Mumbower

September 1, 2023

1 Comment

2975

Ever heard the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?

Just like Goldilocks searching for that “just right” porridge, your child’s learning journey can benefit from finding the “just right” zone. It’s called the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and it’s like the sweet spot where learning magic happens.

The zone is a realm of optimal learning where your child isn’t just absorbing facts– they are conquering captivating challenges and fueling a passion for discovery.

Creating a learning environment with developmentally appropriate challenges is crucial for growing minds. But how do you know if a task is to hard? Too easy? Can they accomplish it by themselves or do they need help? And how much help should you provide?

This post will help parents like you to harness the power of the Zone of Proximal Development and cultivate a challenge-driven education right in the heart of your home. It’s a guide to creating a zone of low cost learning in everyday life.

What is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?
Under the Hood: What’s Happening In the Brain?
How does learning about the ZPD help parents?
Offer targeted support
Takeaway
Reference

Parents can create safe learning zones at home, that provide both challenge AND support, at no cost. Creating the optimal learning environment takes intentionality, not money. It’s much more about our parenting demeanor and coaching than any tangible school supply.

A prepared, responsive parent can harness the ZPD by providing appropriate challenges and support for their child along the way. This can yield high impact outcomes of problem solving, understanding how to utilize resources, confidence, and building a love for lifelong learning.

1. What is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?

Think of ZPD as the optimal learning zone for your child, which lies in the space between what a child can do independently and what they can achieve with appropriate guidance. Picture it as the realm of “just right” challenges – not too easy to be mundane, and not too difficult to be discouraging. It’s within this zone that cognitive magic happens, where children stretch their capabilities, solve problems, and thrive.

The ZPD is a learning concept developed by psychologist Lev Vygotsky¹. Vygotsky emphasized the concept of a “stretch zone” where learners experience a motivating level of challenge while feeling emotionally supported and secure. The stretch zone or ZPD isn’t the same for every child. Each unique individual will need challenges specific to their abilities. Additionally, the stretch zone involves challenges that often require assistance. In the context of ZPD, this help is called scaffolding.

Scaffolding

Have you ever seen a building renovation with support structures lining the walls? These temporary, removable structures are called scaffolding. On work sites, scaffolding is put in the exact place where work needs to occur, to provide both safety and support for the workers, and then it is removed when the work is done.

In ZPD, scaffolding is the support and safety parents provide to their children to help navigate through challenging tasks. The key is to provide the right amount of assistance, neither too much nor too little, so that children can gradually own and apply the skills on their own.

TRANSLATION: scaffolding is helping your child to do something with the least possible amount of intervention. Instead of rescuing them from a challenge, you support them through their challenge.

2. Under the Hood: What’s Happening In the Brain?

Recent research has provided remarkable insights into the neurobiological underpinnings of the ZPD². Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to adapt and rewire itself, is a key player. As children engage in activities within their ZPD, the brain forms and strengthens specific neural pathways associated with the task. This strengthening, known as neural reinforcement, enhances connections between relevant neurons.

Neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin also come into play. These chemicals are essential for motivation, mood regulation, and overall learning. A positive learning experience within the ZPD can trigger the release of these neurotransmitters, creating an environment conducive to cognitive growth.

When your child is operating in their ZPD, their brain is in a sweet spot for growth, too.

3. What’s the benefit of ZPD for parents?

Understanding the ZPD equips parents with powerful tools to create optimal learning environments at home:

Tailored Learning: Recognizing your child’s ZPD allows you to tailor learning experiences to match their developmental stage. This prevents frustration from tasks that are too difficult and boredom from tasks that are too easy. It ensures that learning remains engaging and achievable.
Independent Thinking: Scaffolding within the ZPD is designed to be gradually withdrawn as your child gains proficiency. This nurtures their independence and problem-solving skills, enabling them to rely on their own abilities and strategies.
Stress Management: The ZPD helps parents understand the impact of stressors on their child’s brain and thinking skills.
- Take a look at the image of ZPD again, and focus on the right sided area where children cannot achieve the task at hand. It surpasses their current capabilities or resources. When a task is beyond the child, and scaffolding or support from a parent is not available, your child can experience stress to the point that they cannot think or work effectively. Cortisol, a stress hormone, is linked to the fight or flight response. When your child is in fight or flight, they can’t access the part of their brain (the prefrontal cortex) that helps them make decisions or plan.
- By providing appropriate support and guidance, parents can mitigate the potentially destructive effects of stress and create an environment that fosters healthy cognitive development.

Parent as Coach

The ZPD encourages parents to take a coaching approach. Rather than solving problems for your child, encourage them to think critically, explore alternative solutions, and take ownership of their learning journey. This approach instills a sense of responsibility and independence, qualities that are invaluable in all aspects of life.

Parents play a pivotal role in guiding their children through the stretch zone. Just as a coach guides athletes through training, parents coach their children through learning challenges. It’s important to remember that appropriately challenging work should indeed be challenging⁴. Challenges mean struggles and sometimes parents are uncomfortable with the idea letting their child struggle or feel frustration. However, navigating struggles is essential for genuine growth to occur.

4. Offer targeted support

Select activities that intrigue your child and encourage active participation. Opt for tasks that spark their curiosity and require some effort but are still within their reach.

When your child encounters a challenge, offer targeted support without solving the problem outright. Ask probing questions to stimulate their critical thinking and guide them toward potential solutions³.

For instance, if your child is struggling with a math problem, instead of immediately providing the solution, you might ask a guiding question that steers them towards the correct course. “I wonder if you could check your answer by working backwards.” “Have you tried a different approach?” These questions foster critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and the ability to tackle challenges independently.

5. Takeaway

Parents hold the power to build a safe learning environment at home. Recognizing your child’s capabilities and personality allows you to tailor learning experiences that match their developmental stage. This individualized approach respects their pace of development, setting realistic expectations while nurturing independent thinking.

Empower your child’s learning journey by connecting them with resources that support autonomy and discovery. Help them anticipate challenges and brainstorm resources they can turn to when faced with difficulties. Tailor learning experiences by reflecting on your teaching styles, strengths, and opportunities for facilitating student-directed learning. Create conditions that encourage ownership, problem-solving, and the development of growth mindsets.

While assistance in the ZPD is crucial, it’s not a guarantee of learning. Effective scaffolding strikes a delicate balance, allowing children to navigate challenges and develop problem-solving skills without rescuing them from their struggles.

Looking for more?

Get a FREE MONTHLY TIP for building up your child’s thinking skills, straight to your inbox. No strings attached!

Check out these related posts:

6. References

1. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.

2. Goldberg (2022). Growing brains, nurturing minds–Neuroscience as an educational tool to support students’ development as life-long learners. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9775149/pdf/brainsci-12-01622.pdf

3. Wass & Golding (2014). Sharpening a tool for teaching: the zone of proximal development. Teaching in Higher Education, 19(6), 671-684. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562517.2014.901958

4. Lynch (2019). Challenge is a Part of Learning. Education Digest 85(2), 51-56. https://0-web-s-ebscohost-com.vulcan.bham.lib.al.us/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=20&sid=4025f0fb-9d22-41b9-9bff-9a6553fd962e%40redis

Featured

in Academic, Brain Basics, Critical

Struggle Stories: Using The Brain’s Love of Books to Build A Growth Mindset^Featured

by Rachael Mumbower

August 1, 2023

1 Comment

1673

As an amazon associate I earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting the mission of Thriving Little Thinkers!

Do you want to teach your son to persevere through solving a problem?

Do you want your daughter to bounce back from setbacks?

Our brains love stories AND our brains loving having examples (i.e., models) to follow. This post explains the concept of struggle stories, a low cost & high impact tool for parents to build growth mindset in their children by using storybook characters to model resilience and perseverance.

Low Cost & High Impact
What is a struggle story?
Can struggle stories help preschoolers increase persistence in difficult tasks?
Try This
Takeaway

Struggle stories: a low cost & high impact idea for building resilience and perseverance

Using storybooks is a highly economical way to introduce and reinforce values (like resilience or perseverance) or mindsets (like growth mindset) to our children.

Many of these books are available through local public libraries, making access completely cost free for families.

Research shows that students with growth mindset, who believe that they can achieve through incremental persistent progress rather than talent, perform better than their counterparts with fixed mindsets across academic subjects.

But academics are only part of the picture–using struggle stories to build resilience helps prepare a child for the inevitable challenges that she will face in everyday life.

2. What is a struggle story?

In the Little House on the Prairie series, Laura Ingalls and her family overcome frigid winters, rushing waters, famine, and illness as they create a home and a life in the American pioneer era. In the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, young Harry overcomes evil while facing manipulative adults, giant trolls, and significant peer bullying. In The Swiss Family Robinson, a family survives a shipwreck and learns to thrive on a remote island while facing wild animals, lack of resources, and even fighting off pirates.

Reading aloud stories like these to our children have profound benefits, even beyond neurochemical advantages. Stories with adventures like these don’t just capture the imagination–the characters exemplify a growth mindset. A growth mindset is a perspective that encourages persistence in incremental progress, no matter the starting point.

Modeling a growth mindset is important, especially from parents and caregivers who can display a living example of trying hard things and persistently moving forward. However, when personal models of growth mindset aren’t readily available in homes or in the classroom, storybooks that share tales of persistence to novel tasks can be readily used as narrative models at little to no cost (Hachigian, 2020).

In her recent dissertation at Columbia University, Amy Hachigian conducted a research study to determine if preschoolers could listen to storybooks (specifically struggle stories) and then demonstrate persistence on difficult tasks. Hachigian defined struggle stories as books that “demonstrate how sustained effort towards a difficult task and the use of multiple problem-solving strategies are essential to goal-achievement despite moments of set-back or failure.”

3. Can struggle stories help preschoolers increase persistence on difficult tasks?

Here’s how Hachigian conducted her research study:

She developed original struggle story books and read them to young children. Two groups of children participated: one group heard struggle stories and one group heard non-struggle stories.
For the group that heard struggle stories, some used roleplay to reinforce the learning and the others heard the reader provide specific praise for the character’s display of persistence.
Then, the researchers gave all participants challenging tasks (puzzles, search and finds, or shape sorters) and measured their time spent attempting to complete them (to measure persistence).

Her findings?

The children that showed significantly higher persistence on challenging tasks were the “...children who heard researchers praise characters throughout each reading of the struggle narratives…”

She did NOT find differences in persistence between the students who heard struggle stories vs. non-struggle stories. Further, roleplaying after hearing struggle stories was not an effective approach in this particular study. But something special happened when vicarious praise was used to reinforce perseverance while reading a struggle story.

Our brains follow models & keep what is reinforced

In the post Modeling How to Shape Brains & Behavior for Better, I mentioned the roles of observational learning and social learning theory. Essentially, these two theories support the use of struggle stories to teach children character values like persistence or resilience. Children observe what adults and peers are doing around them and they encode the behavior. But, some of the behavior is more likely to be encoded if it is reinforced. Reinforcement can be positive (i.e. praise, reward) or negative (i.e., critique, punishment).

The power of modeling and reinforcement means that parents (or characters in a narrative) can model desired behavior and can also reinforce the desired behavior. Even children at very young ages can “…learn messages from their environment and can generalize the value of persistence to novel tasks” (Hachigian, 2020).

There is a difference between praising the process and praising the outcome, though. If our desire is to build growth mindset, we want to highlight and praise the model’s incremental steps toward success despite failure, adversity, or hardship. We want to focus on and praised effort-based success, not an outcome. This is called process praise. For example, instead of saying “Good job” when your child showed you their castle of blocks, you could say “You worked hard to rebuild this several times.”

What about persistence with an impossible task?

An interesting caveat from Hachigian’s study: children showed demonstrated persistence on challenging tasks but NOT on a clearly impossible task. Children were given a shape sorter task in which a new shape presented could not possibly fit in the holes provided. Most participants correctly recognized this task as impossible and didn’t waste their efforts. This is an important consideration as we help our children to develop persistence. Fruitless persistence for an unattainable outcome is unproductive.

We want our children to persevere in finding a solution…when finding a solution is possible.

4. Try This!

Find struggle stories!
- Use your local library
  - Ask the children’s librarian to help you identify struggle stories that are age appropriate. Choose stories that involve a task or problem that your child can relate to (persistence in school, the sport they play, or instrument they are learning, etc.)
- Save time by downloading my FREE CURATED LIST OF STRUGGLE STORIES!
  - Use this list as a starting point for finding picture books AND chapter books you can read aloud to your children. It also includes a free quick guide about struggle stories and the best ways to use them!
Read the struggle story more than once!
- Repeated exposure (at least twice) to books increases vocabulary comprehension and aids content retention.
Verbally reinforce the growth mindset of the storybook character (process praise).
- As you read aloud, vicariously praise the efforts of the character in the story who tried multiple ways to solve hard problems or endured difficult circumstances (Hachigian, 2020). This reinforces the behavior of sustained effort despite difficulty.
  - “Wow, Harry didn’t give up even when he was scared.”
  - “Rosie was so persistent! She kept building even though she didn’t know how it would turn out.”
  - “I noticed that he tried four different ways to solve the problem.”
  - “I liked how Laura’s family kept trying, with good attitudes, even when things got hard.”
Ask your child open ended questions about the struggle story.
- Who was persistent in the story? Tell me more about that character.
- Why do you think they chose that solution?
- What kind of problems do you think the character will encounter?
- What kinds of tools could they use?
- What would you do in that situation?

6 Takeaway

In her dissertation study, Hachiagian concluded that struggle storybooks alone may not increase persistence. However, “…vicarious praise may play a critical role in how effectively children learn from struggle stories and, in turn, how children apply these learnings to situations where persistence is required to succeed.” (pg. 57-58, Hachigian, 2020).

Parents and teachers can consider using vicarious process praise, specifically focused on the efforts and problem solving of characters, while reading storybooks aloud.

Don’t use struggle stories as an isolated tool.

Model growth mindset at home, read struggle stories while praising persistence, and encourage failure as a stepping stone to success. These strategies collectively enhance the building of a growth mindset.

Grab the printable PDF BOOK LIST of curated struggle stories you can read and use, today!

Do you need more resources for helping your child build resilience and perseverance? Check out these related posts:

References

Bauer (2021). The Neuroscience of Storytelling. Neuroleadership.com https://neuroleadership.com/your-brain-at-work/the-neuroscience-of-storytelling/ Accessed 6_15_23

Hachigian (2020). Persisting Preschoolers: Using Storybooks to Increase Persistence on Difficult Tasks (a dissertation). Retrieved from: https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/d8-amkd-9p19

1. Consistency is key. PRACTICE!

2. Are your expectations realistic?

3. Take Learning Outside

4. Containment + Snacks (I use these daily.)

Downstairs safety check and baby gates

The High Chair Snack Station

The Hiking Backpack Carrier

5. Special “School Time” Bins

6. Parallel learning

7. Be Flexible with Lesson Timing

8. Know When to Get Help

Mother’s Day Out Programs

Grandparent Help

Mother’s Helpers & Babysitting

Try it today: Pick ONE strategy!

1. What the Study Measured

2. What the Study Found

What This Study Does NOT Say…

3. Why Does This Matter?

4. Practical Takeaways for Parents

5. Conclusion

References

1. What has changed in generative AI (genAI) since March 2023?

2. What the (lack of) Research says

3. What does the relationship between AI and education mean for parents?

Conclusion

References

The Cult of the Head Start

Summary of Range

3 Highlights from Range

Why should parents read Range?

A few high impact takeaways you could apply today:

Notable Quotes

Further Reading Recommendations:

1. What was their home life like?

2. What was their education like?

3. Are there lessons that we can learn and apply today from this extraordinary family?

A few caveats on context

Conclusion

References

#1

# 2

# 3

#4

#5

How do we get this done in under an hour?

Kindergarten Curriculum Picks

All About Reading, Level 1 (20 minutes a day)

The Secret Stories (combined with AAR)

RightStart Math, Level A (20 minutes)

Takeaway

What does neuroscience have to do with new beginnings?

Here are 5 brain-friendly transition tips:

1. Anticipate and recognize signs of stress. Address them as quickly as possible.

2. Use your words with intention.

3. Make connections between the “old” and “new.”

4. As much as possible, make things VISIBLE!

5. Introduce multiple perspectives.

Takeaway

Looking for more?

Contents

1. What is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?

Scaffolding

2. Under the Hood: What’s Happening In the Brain?

3. What’s the benefit of ZPD for parents?

Parent as Coach

4. Offer targeted support

5. Takeaway

Looking for more?

6. References

Struggle stories: a low cost & high impact idea for building resilience and perseverance

2. What is a struggle story?

3. Can struggle stories help preschoolers increase persistence on difficult tasks?

Our brains follow models & keep what is reinforced

What about persistence with an impossible task?

4. Try This!

6 Takeaway

References

Welcome

Recent Posts