They’ll have more time at home, but will they be bored when they get into the classroom?

It’s hard to believe that little one, who used to fit snugly in the crook of your arm, is finally ready for kindergarten…or are they? Maybe you should wait another year? After all, what is the right kindergarten age? Especially since the practice of “redshirting” kids—giving them an extra year before starting kindergarten (making them one of the oldest as opposed to the youngest)—has risen in popularity. But like most trends in the parenting world, it leaves parents wondering if it really is a good idea. That’s why we looked at the studies and asked experts to weigh in on what is the right age to start kindergarten. Here’s what we found.

Getting Kids Started in Kindergarten

The preschool years are over and it’s time to start kindergarten. But where do parents start? Where we do with all things—online and by asking other parents. Now is the time to check out your local school’s website or find and join parent Facebook pages or other social media accounts associated with the school. Other suggestions include talking to parents with older kids, and asking your preschool teacher about local schools and expectations. There are lots of resources out there for parents with inquiring minds.

Kindergarten First Year Enrollment

Although kindergarten enrollment varies from state to state, parents can expect to encounter some similar requirements no matter where they live. Here are a few universals:

  • In most states, kids must turn five years old by a certain date, usually September 1.
  • Many schools require kids to have certain vaccinations before starting school; check with your district about specific requirements.
  • Most will ask for proof of residence. A utility bill or other piece of mail works fine.
  • You may be asked to provide a copy of your child’s birth certificate to enroll.

What Do Kids Learn in Kindergarten?

Although the curriculum varies from district to district across the country, parents can count their kindergartners learning the alphabet, sight words, phonics, and basic sentence structure as part of Language Arts. Math covers basics like number recognition, counting, addition and subtraction, measurement, and basic geometry. Additionally, hands-on activities and play-based learning help kids learn about real-world concepts like weather, plants, and animals. But many would say the most important things kids learn in kindergarten support their social-emotional growth (or soft skills) like building relationships, solving conflicts, and developing empathy and self-awareness.

What is the difference between Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Transitional to Elementary School (TES)?

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is a two-year public school program designed for kids who turn 5 between September 2 and December 2 of the school year. It provides an additional year of instruction, focused on developing social-emotional skills, language and literacy, math, and physical development, to support kids who may not be ready for kindergarten just yet.

Transitional to Elementary School (TES) is a program offered by preschools or childcare centers to prepare children for kindergarten. It typically focuses on language and literacy, math, social-emotional development, and basic self-help skills so kids can successfully transition to the academic and social expectations of kindergarten.

Related: How to Help Your Child Transition to Kindergarten Like a Pro

Pros of Delaying Kindergarten

three kids who are kindergarten age draw at a table with markers in the classroom
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Your kid will (probably) be more willing to sit still if given an extra year.

Whether or not your five-year-old will sit still during circle time or stay on task at writing centers (or at home) may actually depend on her age, since younger children generally have a harder time doing both. Studies have shown that kids are often misdiagnosed with behavior problems in kindergarten when in fact, the behaviors are just a matter of being younger than classmates. And, according to this Stanford University study, children who wait a year to enroll have significantly lower levels of inattention and hyperactivity—with results continuing even at age 11.

Your kid may be misdiagnosed with ADHD if they start too early.

All those wiggles in the classroom may have some unintended consequences for kids when it comes to the right age to start kindergarten. A 2018 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that kids who turned five the month before starting kindergarten were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than those who started the month that they turned six. "Our findings suggest the possibility that large numbers of kids are being overdiagnosed and overtreated for ADHD because they happen to be relatively immature compared to their older classmates in the early years of elementary school," said study author Timothy Layton, an assistant professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, in this article for Education Week

An older child will probably have an easier time saying goodbye to you.

Younger kids—especially those who haven’t already attended a preschool program—may have a tougher time saying goodbye in the morning (and we all know how hard it is to leave a tearful tot at drop-off). Giving your child more time to become independent may help her let go when it’s time for the school day to start. with the in-home model of learning most schools will use this year, it may be challenging to start a drop-off situation mid-year should children resume in-class learning. 

Their fine motor skills will be more developed.

Older kids usually have an easier time with fine motor activities (holding a pencil and using scissors, for instance). Being able to do these things can help build confidence and make a kid more excited about their accomplishments at school.

They have more time to be kids; you have more time with them.

Waiting to start formal schooling gives kids more time to be kids, to enjoy a more leisurely day, and to play freely (which, studies have suggested may be more valuable than academics for young children). Delaying kindergarten also gives you one more year with your child. If you're lucky enough to be home with your kiddo, you'll be glad you got that time.

Related: What Redshirting My Son Taught Me about Time

Cons of Delaying Kindergarten

a kindergarten age boy plays with friends building with colorful blocks
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An older child may be taller than their classmates; that matters (especially in middle school). 

You may not be thinking about the teen years yet, but let’s not forget: A child who is the oldest kid in kindergarten will also be the oldest in her middle school grade—and that's no small thing, especially when puberty hits. 

They may be bored (and consequently misbehave).

This study has suggested that kids who delayed kindergarten were twice as likely to drop out of high school. Researchers think this is because they reach adult age sooner, which is when kids are legally allowed to quit school on their own (most state laws require kids to stay in school until at least age 17).

That extra year may be expensive.

If you’re a working parent, delaying kindergarten means another year of paying for childcare or preschool. And, with the average cost of preschool as high as more than $10,000 per year in some states (according to this study from the Economic Policy Institute), it's an expensive wait. 

They may not find peers on their level (initially).

A year can make a big difference when you're only still in your first decade of life. This means that a calm, more introverted six-year-old may have trouble finding like-minded peers in a kindergarten class full of rowdy five-year-olds.

It may not matter in the long run.

Despite conflicting research and strong opinions on both sides, it is still unclear whether "redshirting" makes any difference at all in the long run. Some studies even suggest that, whether your child starts school a year early or a year late, it all levels out by the middle school years.

Related: 16 First Day of School Picture Ideas to Start the Year Off Right

So... Now What?

With all that information,  you're probably still wondering: What is the right age to start kindergarten? The answer: Both. It really depends on the kid.

"Kids should be with developmental age peers as much as possible since kindergarten builds not just academics but social skills, too," said Deanna Lapen, a Los Angeles-based school psychologist and former kindergarten teacher. "With that being said, every child is an individual. Parents should think about why they would consider redshirting."

Lapen said parents should talk with their child's preschool teacher (if applicable) as well as look at the kindergarten curriculum for whatever school your child might attend. Then ask: "Is the upcoming kindergarten class a place where the child will thrive socially and academically?"

If so, don't delay. And, as always—trust your instincts.

Kids who respect different worldviews and love all kinds of different people are just two good things that come from being socially aware

Raising children who feel good about who they are, love all different kinds of people, and respect different worldviews is still not mainstream. The good news is that parenting is our greatest social activism because we can influence our children to be more socially aware and compassionate. We can expose them to different environments, cultures, and people, give them opportunities to learn in collaborative settings, and help them find opportunities to serve others. These things will help our children develop the soft skills that they need to be more successful in life and ultimately transform the culture of our society. Here are five specific reasons why being socially aware matters.

Kids who are socially aware will develop and display greater emotional intelligence

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A child who is trained to be socially aware can empathize with the perspectives of others, listen empathically and display vulnerability. These are the skills that comprise emotional intelligence. According to Salovey and Mayer (1990), emotional intelligence is a “set of skills that contribute to the accurate appraisal and expression of emotion in oneself and others, the effective regulation of emotion, and the use of feelings to motivate, plan, and achieve in one’s life.” Research suggests that emotional intelligence may be a greater predictor of success than IQ, so these skills are important to the growth and development of your children. Children who can imagine what others are going through will be better able to perceive, use, understand and manage emotions, which will ultimately serve them in learning and achieving their goals.

Kids who are socially aware will be better prepared to be leaders

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Being socially aware means that you understand how to react to different social scenarios, and you can adapt your interactions to achieve the best results in any situation.  A child who develops the sophistication to read people and situations will be able to gain friends, influence people, and motivate and inspire others. According to renowned executive coach, Maren Perry, it is great to have a strong understanding of your skills, values, and emotions and to be able to focus and manage your emotions, “However, outstanding leaders balance this self-focused drive with a healthy amount of empathy and organizational awareness to leverage others to accomplish more than they can alone.”

Related: 10 Ways Parents Can Fight for Social Justice Every Day

Kids who are socially aware will have greater self-awareness and self-acceptance

Jonathan Borba via Unsplash

According to the book Emotional Intelligence 2.0, while self-awareness “involves looking inward to learn about yourself and understand yourself, social awareness is looking outward to learn about and appreciate others.” This is a reciprocal process of learning that involves understanding yourself and understanding others to greater and greater depths. A child will learn to appreciate their personality and individuality as they learn to authentically respect the experiences and perspectives of others. They will develop the ability to see themselves more clearly and evaluate themselves through introspection. Essentially, as a child learns to step outside of their own experience, they will learn how to be critically self-reflective as well.

Kids who are socially aware are more likely to practice gratitude

volunteering at a food bank is a great way to teach kids how to be grateful
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According to the Character Lab, gratitude is "appreciation of the benefits we receive from others and the desire to reciprocate." To be grateful, you need to be aware of the benefits you receive from others and understand how to reciprocate appropriately. Gratitude is a social and emotional learning skill that is built from in-person interactions, meaningful discussion, and reflection. 

Gratitude is associated with many positive outcomes including more satisfying social relationships and decreased distress and mental illness. There are four components to gratitude, as identified by UNC-Chapel Hill’s Raising Grateful Children Project:

  • Noticing: Did someone do something nice for you? Did someone give you something or take you somewhere fun?
  • Thinking: What are all the reasons you’re thankful for this? Why do you think someone did something nice for you? Does this mean something to you? 
  • Feeling: When you think about these special things or people, how do you feel?
  • Doing: What can you actively do to express your gratitude for this person, place, or thing? 

Social awareness supports a grateful attitude in children because they learn to be humble and appreciative as they consider the perspectives of others.

Related: 10 Words & Phrases You Might Not Know Are Racist

Kids who are socially aware can persevere and find greater purpose in life

October birthday
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Finally, research has also shown that individuals with greater social awareness and higher emotional intelligence perform better on cognitive tasks and are better able to overcome frustration when faced with challenges performing these tasks. Perseverance comes from a growth mindset. A child who approaches learning with humility and open-mindedness is going to be more resilient in their processes. This combination of compassion and resilience will support children in finding and achieving greater purpose in their lives through strong relationships, flexibility of thought, and persistence toward their goals.

More and more jobs have gone remote since the pandemic started. Right now the remote job marketplace is extremely competitive so knowing which soft skills are crucial for success in the top remote career categories will help put job seekers in the best position possible. FlexJobs, the leader in remote jobs, and PAIRIN, a leader in soft skill development, has teamed together to identify the top 10 career categories offering the most remote jobs in 2020 and the skills job seekers need to succeed in these emerging remote careers.

remote work

“Remote job seekers face a very competitive job market right now, as remote jobs have become even more desirable in the current pandemic environment, and there are certainly more opportunities in some career categories versus others,” said Sara Sutton, founder and CEO of FlexJobs. “To help job seekers land a coveted remote job, FlexJobs is proud to partner with PAIRIN to not only identify where those jobs are available, but also help candidates understand the specific soft skills that are needed for them to stand out and succeed in those careers,” Sutton concluded.

Dr. Dan Hawthorne, director of I/O psychology and head of research at PAIRIN, conducted the research and analysis to identify the critical skills for each career category. “The COVID-19 pandemic forced many companies to break down pre-existing barriers to quickly adapt and move their workforces to remote work,” said Dr. Hawthorne. “Now that these organizations have the structure in place to support remote workers, it is expected that many will continue to offer remote working opportunities for the long-term. This, in turn, presents a bright outlook for remote work in the future,” Dr. Hawthorne added.

A “remote job” is defined as a professional-level job that allows the worker to work from home either entirely or part of the time. The ten career categories identified had job listings for the most remote jobs in the FlexJobs database from Mar. 1, 2020 through Nov. 30, 2020.  Included under each career category are the five most important soft skills, as identified through PAIRIN’s personalized, science-based research, that professionals need in order to thrive in that respective career. 

Computer & IT 

  • Creativity – The desire to think, do, and express in ways that are different from the norm. This includes personal elaborations or variations on known or existing techniques.
  • Originality – The ability to invent or independently conceive of ideas, methods, or products of the first order (underived), regardless of their usefulness.
  • Objective-Analytical – The emphasis of logic and fact-based evaluating over feelings, suggesting clarity, thoroughness, and productivity. 
  • Problem Solving – To discover, analyze, and solve a range of unfamiliar problems in both conventional and creative ways.
  • Critical Thinking – To gather and objectively assess key information as a guide to belief or action. An intellectual process that uses analysis, conceptualization, synthesis, and evaluation.

 Medical & Health 

  • Service Orientation – The ability to anticipate, identify, and meet people’s often unspoken needs through assistance, products, or services. The drive to generate customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Supportiveness – The drive to assist, protect, and provide for others in emotional or physical need.
  • Social Awareness – To relate and respond to the feelings, needs, and concerns of individuals or broader societal groups. (Includes: Empathy, Organizational Awareness, and Service Orientation).
  • Accountability – To be answerable. To take responsibility for outcomes through appropriate use of resources, personal integrity, and self-monitoring.
  • Compliance – Global tendencies to maintain self-discipline and conform to another’s plan, rules, will, or direction.

 Project Management

  • Relationship Management – To use awareness of one’s own emotions and those of others to navigate interactions successfully. (Includes: Inspiration, Influence, Enriching Others, Cooperation, Change, and Conflict Management). 
  • Collaboration & Teamwork – To combine efforts and resources with others toward a common goal. To work effectively and respectfully with diverse teams.
  • Dynamism – Global tendencies to generate results through intentional, resourceful, energetic mindsets and behaviors.
  • Productivity – To set and meet goals, even in the face of obstacles and competing pressures. To prioritize, plan, and manage work to achieve the intended results.
  • Stress Tolerance – To endure pressure or uncertainty without becoming negative (e.g. hopeless, bitter, or hostile) toward self or others.

Sales

  • Influential Leadership – The ability to positively persuade others’ choices by focusing on what is important to them and building consensus. 
  • Conflict Management – The ability to effectively negotiate and resolve disagreements.
  • Social Awareness – To relate and respond to the feelings, needs, and concerns of individuals or broader societal groups. (Includes: Empathy, Organizational Awareness, and Service Orientation). 
  • Service Orientation – The ability to anticipate, identify, and meet people’s often unspoken needs through assistance, products, or services. The drive to generate customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Assertiveness – Global tendencies to express and interact with boldness, enthusiasm, and confidence.

Accounting & Finance 

  • Social Awareness – To relate and respond to the feelings, needs, and concerns of individuals or broader societal groups. (Includes: Empathy, Organizational Awareness, and Service Orientation). 
  • Compliance – Global tendencies to maintain self-discipline and conform to another’s plan, rules, will, or direction.
  • Relationship – The drive to draw close and remain loyal to another person or people—to truly connect and enjoyably engage with them.
  • Conflict Management – The ability to effectively negotiate and resolve disagreements.
  • Critical Thinking – To gather and objectively assess key information as a guide to belief or action. An intellectual process that uses analysis, conceptualization, synthesis, and evaluation.

Customer Service 

  • Supportiveness – The drive to assist, protect and provide for others in emotional or physical need.
  • Service Orientation – The ability to anticipate, identify and meet people’s often unspoken needs through assistance, products or services. The drive to generate customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Conflict Management – The ability to effectively negotiate and resolve disagreements.
  • Stress Tolerance – To endure pressure and uncertainty without becoming negative (e.g. hopeless, bitter or hostile) toward self or others.
  • Assertiveness – Global tendencies to express and interact with boldness, enthusiasm and confidence.

Marketing

  • Flamboyance – The drive to impress or excite-to stir others through words or actions.
  • Influential Leadership – The ability to positively persuade others’ choices by focusing on what is important to them and building consensus.
  • Assertiveness – Global tendencies to express and interact with boldness, enthusiasm and confidence.
  • Inspirational Leadership – The ability to uplift, enliven, fill and empower people with a compelling vision.
  • Relationship – The drive to draw close and remain loyal to another person or people—to truly connect and enjoyably engage with them.

Education & Training 

  • Cooperative-Practical – The moderation of reason and feeling resulting in calm, commonsense thinking – upbeat, attentive and realistic.
  • Creativity – The desire to think, do, and express in ways that are different from the norm. This includes personal elaborations or variations on known or existing techniques.
  • Social Awareness – To relate and respond to the feelings, needs and concerns of individuals or broader societal groups. (Includes: Empathy, Organizational Awareness and Service Orientation)
  • Originality – The ability to invent or independently conceive of ideas, methods, or products of the first order (underived), regardless of their usefulness.
  • Perspective – The ability to understand broadly, to coordinate knowledge and experience, and to provide clear-sighted and meaningful counsel to others. An aspect of wisdom.

Business Development

  • Relationship – The drive to draw close and remain loyal to another person or people—to truly connect and enjoyably engage with them.
  • Cooperative-Practical – The moderation of reason and feeling resulting in calm, commonsense thinking – upbeat, attentive and realistic.
  • Enriching Others – Perceiving and reacting to others with acceptance and respect while supporting their development toward full potential.
  • Self Assessment – To engage in self-reflection so as to determine strengths and limitations in one’s values, abilities and resources. 
  • Critical Thinking – To gather and objectively assess key information as a guide to belief or action. An intellectual process that uses analysis, conceptualization, synthesis and evaluation.

Administrative 

  • Service Orientation – The ability to anticipate, identify and meet people’s often unspoken needs through assistance products or services. The drive to generate customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Supportiveness – The drive to assist, protect and provide for others in emotional or physical need.
  • Flamboyance – The drive to impress or excite-to stir others through words or actions.
  • Relationship – The drive to draw close and remain loyal to another person or people—to truly connect and enjoyably engage with them.
  • Stress Tolerance – To endure pressure and uncertainty without becoming negative (e.g. hopeless, bitter or hostile) toward self or others.

For more information you can visit https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/top-categories-soft-skills-remote-jobs/ and https://www.pairin.com/the-ideal-skills-for-the-top-10-remote-jobs-of-2021/.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

Featured photo: Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash

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If you’ve ever wondered what exactly is a Montessori education and whether or not it might be a good fit for you and your child, Simone Davies, a certified Montessori educator and blogger of The Montessori Notebook and author of “The Montessori Toddler(and mother of two!), helps parents understand and incorporate the Montessori method into their home and daily life.

What is Montessori education?

“Montessori education is an alternative education where the child learns on their own individual timeline. Looking around a Montessori classroom, there will be children working on different subjects, some working alone, some in pairs or small groups at tables or stretched out on mats on the floor. 

The classrooms are mixed-age where older children can help younger children and younger children can learn from watching older children. There is a rich curriculum in all learning areas using tactile materials that are beautifully displayed on the shelf. And the teacher acts as a guide, giving children lessons individually or in small groups where they are up to.”

How is the Montessori method different from other parenting methods? 

“I like to think of parenting methods along a spectrum from authoritarian methods of parenting (where the parent tells the child everything they need to do) to laissez-faire parenting (where the child is allowed to do anything they like). 

A Montessori approach to parenting falls somewhere in the middle of this spectrum—there is freedom for the child to explore and make discoveries for themselves within limits so that they learn to also grow up as a member of society taking responsibility for their actions. It involves mutual respect between the child and parent as in positive discipline or gentle parenting but goes further to help parents see how their child learns, how they can set up their home for the child to be part of the family, and how the parent can also look after themselves so they can bring the joy back to parenting.”

What’s the first activity you recommend a parent do as an introduction to the Montessori method? 

“There are many ways to start to include Montessori in the home. For me, I started with setting up Montessori activities for my children and noticed how engaged they were. Then I moved on to incorporating Montessori principles in every area of my home so that they could be involved in everything from hanging up their own coat when we arrived home to helping with meal preparation. The final piece that took a lot of practice for me was learning to slow down to their pace most of the time, seeing from their perspective and finding ways to work with them to get their cooperation, to learn to observe my children as their unique selves (not comparing them to others or my own childhood), and to parent in a kind and clear way.”

Most people find toddlerhood to be the most difficult age, they call it “the terrible twos” for a reason—but you say that toddlers are your favorite age group. Why?   

“Yes, whilst many people see their behavior as frustrating, I love being with toddlers. They are so authentic—they have no judgment about anything around them. They learn so easily. Dr Montessori referred to the absorbent mind to describe how they absorb language, culture, attitudes, and everything around them with little effort like a sponge. Their moods change easily, so once they may have had a tantrum and calmed down, they easily go back to being their delightful selves (unlike adults who can stay in a bad mood all day). They are so capable and love to be involved in what we are doing—when their spaces are set up for them and we slow down, children as young as 1 year old take delight in helping to bring laundry to the hamper, being involved in meal preparation and setting the table, and learning to take care of their things. And they live in the present moment—they will spot the weeds growing up between some pavers or hear a fire engine blocks away. They show how simple life can be.”

You claim that toddlers are misunderstood. Why and what are some crucial things that we all need to learn about them?  

“Adults get frustrated that the toddler won’t sit still, keep saying “no”, or won’t listen. What we need to learn is that toddlers need to move and want to explore the world around them. They are also learning to be independent of their parents, so learning to say “no” is a way of trying out more autonomy. 

Toddlers also are still developing their impulse control (their pre-frontal cortex will still be developing until the into their early 20s), meaning that it is the adult’s job to keep everyone safe in a kind and clear way. We also think that toddlers are giving us a hard time. Really in these moments they are having a hard time and need us to be on their team to help them calm down and once they are calm to gently guide them to make amends if needed.”

Threatening and bribing are common approaches that parents of toddlers resort to. You say there is another way?  

“In the Montessori approach, we see that threatening, bribing, and punishments are all extrinsic motivation—it is the adult that needs to do something to get the child to cooperate. A child may cooperate so they don’t get in trouble or so that they receive a reward. However, they are not learning to act for themselves and develop self-discipline. Instead of threats and bribes, another way to get cooperation is find ways to work with them in a respectful way. For example, when they need to get dressed, we can:

  • Give them (limited) choices about what they’d like to wear so they feel involved.
  • Have a checklist hanging up that we’ve made together of the things that need to be done to leave the house.
  • Set up our home so they can find everything they need at the ready.
  • Learn to talk in a way that helps us be heard (for example, instead of nagging, using fewer words or using actions instead of words)
  • Allow time for them to try to dress themselves
  • Break things down into small parts to teach them skills for them to be successful in this. Over time they are then capable of getting dressed all by themselves, without having used or needing to use threats or bribes.”

In The Montessori Toddler, you discuss setting up a “yes” space for children to explore. What is that and what are the benefits? 

“When children hear ‘no’, ‘don’t touch that’, ‘be careful’ all the time, they start to ignore us. So instead of having to say no all the time, we can look at our home and make it a space that is safe and engaging for them to explore without us having to constantly correct them—a ‘yes’ space. Even if we cannot make the whole house a ‘yes’ space, I encourage families to set up a large area where both the adults and child know it is safe to play and explore. I like to sit on the ground to see what the space looks like from their height—then you can see if there are any tempting cords, power outlets or things that you simply don’t want them to touch (like television controls or buttons) and remove them or make them inaccessible. Both the adult and the child then can relax and enjoy their ‘yes’ space.”

What positive attributes have you observed in children that you would credit to the Montessori method? 

“Montessori children learn that if they don’t know something, they can find it out. For example, they can look it up in a book, ask an older child in the class, their teacher or parent, visit someone in their community that may know more about the topic, or do an experiment. So Montessori children are very resourceful and love to find ways to solve problems. Famously, the Google founders went to a Montessori school and credit part of their success to this ability to think for themselves.

Montessori children love learning. Rather than following the timeline of the teacher, each child learns at their unique pace, following their unique interests and abilities. A teacher or older child in the class can support them in areas they find difficult, and they become remarkably self- motivated learners. The love of learning is not stomped out of them by passively learning or rote learning facts. They make discoveries using concrete materials with their hands. A valuable way to learn.

Montessori children learn to care for themselves, others, and their environment. Whilst there is a strong academic curriculum for learning maths, language, humanities, etc, there are also many soft skills that Montessori children learn. To wait their turn, to look after their environment (for example, watering plants or cleaning up a spill), to learn to blow their nose, or care for a friend who has been hurt. It is heart-warming to see the children help each other, for example, children helping a friend who has spilled their activity on the floor, or coming over with a tissue to a child who is sad.”

Your book focuses on toddlers, but can the Montessori principles be applied to older children. If so, what age range would you recommend and why? 

“The Montessori principles can be applied to any age child, teenager, and even with other adults. It’s a respectful way to be with others. I suggest starting as early as possible so that you can practice the ideas as your children grow. The solid foundation built in the first years built gives a solid base as the children get older. So it’s never too young or too old to start.”

The Montessori Toddler primarily addresses parents of toddlers, but can grandparents and caregivers apply the Montessori techniques mentioned in the book?  

“Absolutely. There is a chapter of the book about working with our extended family (grandparents and caregivers) and how they can also include these principles with our children. For example, when they spend .me with our children to share their special skills and interests and finding a positive way for parents to work together with this extended family.”

SIMONE DAVIES is an Association Montessori Internationale Montessori teacher. Born in Australia, she lives in Amsterdam where she runs parent-child Montessori classes at Jacaranda Tree Montessori. Author of the popular blog and Instagram, The Montessori Notebook, where she gives tips, answers questions, and provides online workshops for parents around the world.

Photo: Photo Provided By Hack

A simplified definition of computational thinking is “a set of problem solving methods that involve expressing problems and their solutions in ways that a computer could execute.” Upon further exploration, you may find the specifics of this definition a bit intimidating. Let me quickly further summarize it for you:

It is not simply the computer science; it is the related “thought process.” Computational thinking is breaking down a complex problem into smaller parts, looking for similarities within these parts while focusing on only relevant information and developing a step-by-step solution to the problem in a way that a computer and/or person can understand. Although there are literally hundreds of activities your children can pursue to develop both their problem-solving and logic, learning to code is a wonderful way to teach children computational thinking skills.

Why are coding and computational thinking skills so important? I would argue that both coding education and computational thinking should not simply be viewed as important to our children’s intellectual development, but as necessary life skills. Current research continues to show that in the near future, this type of knowledge will be important to our children in anything career path they want to pursue. Computational thinking skills are fundamental skills for all, not just computer scientists.

Coding is a tool that both encourages and cultivates so much in our children. Creativity, analytical ability, critical thinking and collaboration are some of the soft skills that learning to code will enhance. Current research underscores that students who have learned to code are significantly better prepared for the challenges of their personal and professional lives. It is as simple as that!

It is also of critical importance to urge BOTH our girls and boys to learn to code and develop their computational thinking skills. In many cases there remains a discrepancy in these abilities with regard to gender, but recent studies have shown that this imbalance is not related to aptitude but rather cultural factors. As parents, we need to make sure we educate and encourage our girls that the development of these skills is equally important to them! They, too, should be interested and engaged.

Our job remains to encourage our children’s interest in these areas to help prepare them for today as well as the future. Starting early, as with the development of any skill, is critical. We are fortunate that, currently, there variety of products and activities available to help expand our children’s knowledge. I also continue to feel that whatever avenue you pursue for your child to learn these skills, that learning through play and “by doing” is one of the most effective paths to productive learning. I have found that entertaining AND educational is the most effective combination in any sort of curriculum.

It is my belief that computational thinking skills and coding education is critical to our children today and for their future. Currently, our children’s technology knows much more about them than they know about it. As an innovator in the tech space and a mother of a ten year old, my personal mission remains to enable a new generation to feel empowered by technology and feel comfortable in being proactive with it, rather than being beholden to it and consuming it passively. Teaching our children to code and cultivating their computational skills is invaluable to achieving this.

Roberta Antunes is a visionary trailblazer who is motivated by big challenges. Roberta, a prominent female entrepreneur is slated to take the STEM industry by storm. Moved by the desire to make a difference in society, she is determined to make STEM technology available to children across the United States, and thus created Hack.

Photo: Pixabay

Are you on a career break and thinking about rejoining the workforce? Is some kind of fear holding you back? Women at all stages of their career struggle with feeling unqualified with their roles (hello, imposter syndrome!), but career reentry can be an especially scary process for even the most qualified applicants. You aren’t alone in wondering: “Where do I start and is it worth it?”

We broke down two of the largest apprehensions women face when they reenter the workforce. Then, we asked six women with varying career gaps, who participated in IBM’s Tech Re-Entry Program, for their best advice on breaking down these barriers and jumping back in.

“I’m worried about representing a career gap on a resume or in an interview.”

“Trying to reenter the workforce, my challenges were three-fold: I had a gap in my resume, I was changing careers and I was bound by geography,” Avanti Tilak, an IBM Data Scientist, said. “Whenever I introduced myself as an astronomer wanting to switch to data science, there was a lot of interest. But it would easily peter out once they found I had a gap on my resume.”

One of the biggest fears women reentering the workforce face is that they are no longer qualified for the jobs they are applying for or that representing their career break will be difficult. What if you missed out on the newest industry developments? How do you explain your gap as growth? How should you write it out on your resume? And what if the interviewer doesn’t think you’re dedicated because you spent years outside of the workplace?

How to manage: You can quell these concerns by taking a few action steps during your job search. First, tackle your fear that you aren’t knowledgeable by reminding yourself that you have relevant and important previous experience.

“Don’t undersell your previous experience,” Jill Burns, an IBM Software Developer, emphasized. If your experience doesn’t perfectly translate to the role you’re applying for, focus your resume on more general professional skills and key accomplishments you gained during your time in the workforce.

Burns suggests that you can also learn more about how to apply your previous experiences to a new field or role by talking to women in the field in a casual setting.

“Join some meetup groups in areas that interest you. This gives you the opportunity to learn what is relevant in the field and consider if this is the direction you want to go,” Burns said.

Now that you’ve tackled how to present your previous experience, how should you present your gap? Karuna Barla, a Software Engineer at IBM, suggests talking up any new skills you learned in an organic setting. For her, that meant learning coding languages for her parenting blog and adding those to her resume.

“When I had my twin girls, as all cool moms do, I started blogging. However, I found myself more intrigued in the design/layout of the blog pages rather than the content. I began experimenting with all the web development knowledge I had amassed…  Even as my heart enjoyed my time raising my baby girls, staying in touch with technical learning kept my mind excited,” she said.

Remember that not all skills are technical or job-specific skills. Tilak emphasizes that you’ve likely gained many applicable soft skills from the life you’ve been experiencing outside of work—and that those can be very valuable.

“As I was searching for jobs, I found ways to keep updating my skills… by enrolling in online classes or by doing various projects… But it was hard to build a strong narrative that would compensate for the seven-year gap.

“I picked up so many skills during these early years of motherhood—soft skills that are exceedingly valuable in the workplace, like negotiating with unreasonable parties to get the best possible outcome, setting expectations and boundaries and focusing on the task at hand despite the surrounding chaos.”

“I’m worried about recovering or gaining skills/technical knowledge quickly enough.”

Another common fear women have when they reenter the workforce is that they will not have enough skills to contribute to their new team, that they will take a long time to recover or gain these skills or that they generally will not be a strong team member. That’s imposter syndrome to the extreme.

“I had concerns about being able to get up to speed quickly enough on new technologies,” Anna Nguyen, an IBM Software Engineer, shared.

“It had been over a decade since I took a break to be a caregiver. I was concerned about how much I needed to learn before I could contribute to a project,” said Priti Shah, also an IBM Software Engineer.

How to manage: First, it’s important to remember that you were selected for a reason.

“My advice would be to have confidence in one’s ability,” Nguyen said, emphasizing trust in the interview process and your new manager.

Jen Jones, a Data Scientist, points to the importance of setting aside your imposter syndrome and being vulnerable enough to ask for help.

“I had to learn when and how to ask for help,” she added. “I started a 72-hour rule: Work a problem for three days and if you haven’t solved it by COB on the third day, ask for help.”

The best way to get meaningful advice and guidance? Seek out a mentor, like Priti Shah did.

“My mentor was critical to helping me identify my existing core skills and capacity and identifying what I needed to learn so I could contribute to the team,” she said.

If you’re looking for a return to your career without fear, the IBM Tech Re-Entry Program is a great choice.

This paid internship will help relaunch your career as you get exposed to continuous training, challenging projects and the breadth of IBM resources. The program will allow you to update your technical expertise, develop new skills and forge new professional relationships. If you’ve taken a career break, love to learn and are very interested in re-skilling and learning new skills, you’re exactly who we are looking for.

“Don’t give up and OWN the journey you have taken,” Priti Shah said. “Opportunities and pathways are always changing.

Fairygodboss Georgene Huang & Romy Newman, Founders
Tinybeans Voices Contributor

As the largest career community for women, Fairygodboss provides millions of women with career connections, community advice and the hard-to-find intel about how companies treat women.

Could your kids use a little more….class? While no child is perfectly-mannered, many can leave parents cringing at less-than-respectful or uncouth behavior. A new etiquette class for kids at the refined New York institution The Plaza is ready to school your child in all things proper, from how to hold a fork and knife, to meeting someone new and beyond. We dropped in for a class — please check out our report! (Thank you!)

Manners Matter?
According to Beaumont Etiquette’s founder, Myka Meier, “It’s never too young for little ones to begin learning good etiquette…because then it simply becomes second nature.” And she should know. Trained at an etiquette school in Switzerland, Meier taught business, dining and social etiquette to adults in London, with an emphasis on finessing situations in foreign countries and cultures.

After a move to New York, she’s schooling people stateside, with social, dining and business classes for adults at The Plaza Hotel. The program launched last fall, and classes have been filling up with millennials who want to be in the know for every first date and work event.

Now, Beaumont’s Youth Etiquette classes for 5-11 year olds and young adult classes for the older set (ages 12-17) are becoming as popular as their adult counterparts.

Start to Finish
The Plaza Hotel Finishing Program with Beaumont Etiquette is a series of group courses which are both educational and social, featuring refreshments from the legendary New York city hotel. Adding an extra element of fun to the youth classes is the the location: kids learn alongside peers in the Eloise Tea Room.

The Case for Class
Guess what? Spending a lot of time looking at a screen doesn’t make for the best manners. “We’re finding [kids] tend to lack some of the basic social skills needed to interact face to face,” says Meier. “These courses teach soft skills to instill confidence  — ranging from how to shake hands while making eye contact, to how to introduce yourself and hold a conversation.”

According to Meier, having good etiquette simply means to be kind to others and to put other people first. “They’ll learn many lessons, but at the end of the day, if they leave understanding what the core of etiquette really means, that’s what is most important.”

What’s On the Manners Menu
While the idea of an etiquette class might sound boring and staid, these classes try to keep things fun and informative, with kids putting their newfound knowledge to work right away.

“We play warm up etiquette games, and then move into lessons [during which] they actually get to practice right then and there,” says Meier. For example, the children are served refreshments so that they can practice eating and using their new dining skills.

“We walk around the room, gently correcting how they are holding their cutlery, sitting and eating. We always teach by using positive reinforcement, so the children feel very accomplished when they leave and are excited to show their parents what they learned.” After the two-hour session children are given a takeaway flyer covering dining etiquette do’s with visual reminders.

Book for Better Manners
Intrigued? Upcoming sessions will take place on Wednesday, May 17th, Saturday July 15th and Thursday July 20th. (Later in the year, special holiday-related classes will take place, covering sticky situations that come with the the end of the year, like family gatherings and all they entail, and how to properly accept a present.)

Classes are two hours long and $125 per child. (If you feel your brood needs one-on-one instruction, Beaumont Etiquette offers private instruction as well. Inquire directly at beaumontetiquette.com.)

The Plaza Hotel Finishing Program with Beaumont Etiquette
768 5th Avenue at Central Park South
Midtown
212-390-1557
Online: beaumontetiquette.com

Would you send your child to an etiquette class? Tell us in the comments below! 

—Kim Sunshine