#occupyedu: challenge schools to change. One of my fellow bloggers on Cooperative Catalyst, Chad Sansing, has started a group with a mission of giving EACH child a personally meaningful education and a community of learning that includes, involves and inspires
Sometimes you read an article and feel blessed.

While both the parents and educators attached to Kidzmet feel strongly about giving kids the best education they possibly can, sometimes you read an article that makes you feel truly blessed to be in a position to advocate for BETTER education and
Smart Reasons to Keep Kids Learning Over the Summer

article originally written by Jen Lilienstein for FamilyShare. For many kids, their mid-July mantra is “lazy”— not “learning.” While summer fun is on the daily agenda, some conceptual calisthenics also needs to make it onto the calendar during July and
Butterfly Parents vs. Tiger Mothers

I don’t know about you, but the message of the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua rubs me the wrong way. And this is not to say that I don’t expect my kids to always do their best…but
3 Easy Steps to Help Your Students Avoid Summer Slide

Article originally written by Jen Lilienstein and published on LessonPlanet. As we round the bend into summer, visions of holiday fun occupy the daydreams of pupils, parents, and teachers. While summer can be a great time for your students to
Necessity PLAY is the Mother of Invention

I stumbled across our Monsters, Inc DVD last night and one of the key themes replayed in my mind…the realization at the end of the movie that joy/laughter creates significantly more power than fear. I think we need to
Five years later…

In 2011, I started Kidzmet in the hopes that, as parents and educators, we start celebrating and embracing the strengths that our kids were born with rather than trying to school them into molds that society deems optimal at the
Project Based Learning, Personality Type, and the 16 Habits of Mind

This article was written by Jen Lilienstein and originally published on LessonPlanet As new brain research permeates educational insights, we are becoming increasingly aware that engagement and affectivity – long key components of many pedagogical constructs – are now being
What matters in life…and how do we teach these values to our kids?

First, let me just say that I am a HUGE documentary fan. For me, there’s something so rich and compelling about things that really happened or people who believe that they may be really, truly onto something. In the documentary
5-15 Reports :: Learning from our Students
One of my former colleagues recently posted this in our Facebook group. We used to use this technique to get our creative juices flowing vis-à-vis product development and corporate strategy in the educational software world. I’m still a believer that

