Parenting and family stuff

A lot of people I know are not on the fence about having children, but for those who are, let me shill them for a moment--

Reading for pleasure was the lodestar that governed my entire teaching process. A lot of other “teach your child to read” methods are based on modular lessons and exercises, which makes learning to read separate from what it’s all about, which is enjoying books. Comparatively, I did it by mostly reading books together, because it turns out reading ... See more

In the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) project, a cohort of over 10,000 children in the US was tracked longitudinally. A 2023 analysis of the data revealed that the earlier a child was reading for pleasure, the more this correlated with higher scores on cognitive tests and lower numbers of mental health issues, even after controll... See more

fwiw I'm now quite enjoying having a baby, thanks to some mix of: - baby is older and more active (almost crawling) - attitude shifts on my part (nothing fancy, just getting more curious about skill-development - baby's and mine) - getting 👇 off my chest helped me reorient