[Tea] Growing a Mind

Welcome to "Tea with Julie," a weekly missive by me, Julie Bogart. My wish is to give you food for thought over a cup of tea to enhance your life as an educator, parent, and awesome adult. Glad you're here. Pinkies up!
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Cincinnati, January 29, 2022

Hi Friend,

Brains adapt. We know this from the research. The plasticity of the brain means that we can shape how we use our minds. Our brains adapt to influences, experiences, and materials that we consume and enjoy (or fear).

To grow a mind suited to education, shape your child’s mind toward curiosity and insight. Their brains need lots and lots and lots of encounters with attractive opportunities to:

grow their skills,
test their ideas,
and explore this amazing world we call home.

Learning needs to be about fostering thinkers.

A thinker is marked by these characteristics:

curious
able to pose meaningful questions
correlates information from one discipline with another
involves personal experience in academic contexts
willing to take risks
collaborative
postulates “what if…?”
generates multiple possible solutions (not one right answer)
observes and narrates own process during investigation
knows how to approach research
can identify credible versus not credible sources
open to creative solutions
expands the utility of the information into other arenas
interdisciplinary approach to any subject
skillful in current technologies

You can use any old content to work on these from rocks and geologic formations to Mr. Bingley and vintage dance! The content is no longer the primary goal of education.

THINKING—risky, exploratory, curious, probing thought—is!

For more, listen to these podcasts:

Learning can be pleasurable and effective at the same time. Keep reading, growing, and adapting. Your mind will join you on the journey.

My new book RAISING CRITICAL THINKERS: A Parent's Guide to Growing Wise Kids in the Digital Age comes out on Tuesday, February 1. It's not too late to pre-order and get in on the bonuses!

You can pre-order here.

Upload your receipt to be included in the presale bonuses here.

They include:

An annotated bibliography of all my research (in other words, handwritten notes about my sources)
An exclusive conversation with the author of the foreword: Neuroscientist Dr. Barbara Oakley

Thanks for pre-ordering! It means a lot.

Warmly,

P.S. Catch up on all the “Tea with Julie” emails here!