Author Archives: Sara Bennett

Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Letter to the Editor

Morgaine Pauker, a mother of a soon-to-be ninth grader in Westport, CT, wrote the following letter to the Westport News, after learning, at a meeting about high school, that the children could expect to be “inundated with homework.” Letter to the Editor–Homework Policy Needed by Morgaine Pauker Wednesday night I attended the Staples High SchoolContinue reading “Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Letter to the Editor”

New Study: Stress Disrupts Human Thinking

A new neuroimaging study on stressed-out students suggests that male humans, like male rats, don’t do their most agile thinking under stress. The findings, published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that 20 male M.D. candidates in the middle of preparing for their board exams had a harder timeContinue reading “New Study: Stress Disrupts Human Thinking”

New Study Shows Importance of Recess

While any reader of this blog knows the importance of recess, it’s always nice to read a new study that backs that claim. The study, “School Recess and Group Classroom Behavior,” which was just released on January 26 and published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, “suggests that recess may playContinue reading “New Study Shows Importance of Recess”

Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Teen Stress

Last year, Kerry Dickinson wrote often for this blog about the ways in which she was trying to change homework policy in her Danville, California, community. At the end of the school year, the school instituted a new homework policy. That doesn’t mean that Kerry has stopped. (Type her name into the search box toContinue reading “Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Teen Stress”

From my Mailbox–Letter from “Frazzled Parent”

Hello Sara, My husband and I share custody of his 2 sons, now 3rd and 4th grade. We have them 2-3 days each week, along with rotating weekends. Our time with them is limited and constantly invaded by homework demands and frustrations. We are a very pro education family, with both of us having degreesContinue reading “From my Mailbox–Letter from “Frazzled Parent””

Recess Should Not be Optional

Here’s a great piece from the Commercial Appeal about the importance of recess. Recess should not be optional program Unstructured outdoor physical activity renews children’s minds and enhances their social skills By By Ben Dyson and Lisa Dyson Special to The Commercial Appeal Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Childhood obesity rates in the United States haveContinue reading “Recess Should Not be Optional”