Here Comes The Sun

This post is not the popular song by the Beatles (😎), but it is the recently published book by Bill McKibben. The author presents the world's transition in electric power and heat from coal, oil, and gas to solar and wind power. The statistics he shares are so impressive. 

Here is a link to a brief YouTube video to capture your interest in reading his book. The statistics he presents are so impressive and a wake-up call on energy production and use. I lean towards the solar panels as I have 12 on my house. The savings alone are amazing.

Children Are So Sharp

I was reading to a group of preschool children as I do every Tuesday and Thursday, and I thought it might be good to read a book I discovered in their school library. Make Van Gogh's Bed by Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo was a children's book that I thought they would enjoy. Van Gogh was one of the artists  along with other artists of that period. 

When I turned to the page below, I introduced the painting by saying that my wife and I crossed this water-lily pond in France. Before I could say anything further, Frankie, a 4-year old class listener, said, "Monet." My jaw dropped, and I quickly recovered by saying, "Yes Frankie, it was painted by artist Claude Monet, well done!"

 

A MUST READ FOR KIDS & PARENTS

As a follow-up to his fantastic bestseller, The Anxious Generation, author Jonathan Haidt has a graphic book that beautifully appeals to kids and adults — especially parents and educators. This is a must-read book for preteens, teens, young adults, and parents. 

The book mentions that AI and technology goals are pitching social media apps no matter what the human damage results are, so long as financial profits are high priority. The book and this video below have Jonathan's two simple student rules for going forward with today's technology: "Use technology as a tool. Don't let it use you. And, second, fill your life with real freedom, friends, and fun."

Take five minutes to view this YouTube interview with Jonathan Haidt.

Janitor at a Middle School Makes People Cry

Here is a very special video from 2025 America's Got Talent. The singer presents himself in a very humble way and changes all expectations once he begins singing a song. See what you think . . .

"Permission to Feel" Emotional RULER Skills & Guiding Young Ones

I first met author Marc Brackett at a conference when I was heading a toddler through eighth grade school in Brooklyn, NY. What I love about Permission To Feel is that it says so much about adult — parents and educators — caring for children and children responses.

The book's beginning introduction is an acronym RULER — Recognizing Emotions, Understanding Emotions, Labeling Emotions, Expressing Emotions, Regulating Emotions and how it helps the reader understand how to view and process emotions.

When reading Chapters 9 - Emotions at Home and 10 - Emotions at School: From Preschool to College with all of the true-life examples, gives the reader guidance on helping you guide children regarding emotional intelligence for you and them. Marc supplies such good true stories that convince you how good emotional intelligence is for children and adults.

If you have not already read Marc's book, here is a website that gives you more about Marc Brackett and his work.

Guiding Children To Be Kind - Part 2

I bumped into this book on kindness as I was gathering books to read to my two preschool classes that I read to each week. Like my previous blog post, I love this book because of how it reaches out to parents, educators, AND children on being kind. So much of what we do as educators and parents is setting the best examples in our own lives to help children move forward with kindness in their lives.

A big thank you to author and illustrator Todd Parr for his beautiful book on kindness! Check out this YouTube to view him reading and discussing the book with children.

Guiding Children To Be Kind

Being kind is paramount in this day and age. Guiding — modeling for and building — children to be kind to others is so important. By the way, the previous views for my October 10 blog post "Being Kind Helps Others and Oneself" has over 85,000 views!

So, as a follow-up to the last blog post, I found a beautiful children's book on being kind that I read to my preschool classes this week.        I like to be Kind by Aleks Harrison has a similar message as presented in the previous post. It was such a treat to see the children's smiles as I read.

Being Kind Helps Others and Oneself

Simple as it may sound, being kind to one another can be life altering. This is helpful to children when they view adults being kind to others. Also, being kind to others can be powerful to oneself.

Here is a beautiful short piece on being kind from author Steve Garnaas Holmes

Supercommunicators

Supercommunicators caught my attention right from the beginning with author Charles Duhigg highlighting the importance and use of emotional intelligence throughout the book. As an example, he states "One of the reasons supercommunicators are so talented at picking up on how others feel is because they have a habit of noticing the energy in others' gestures, the volume of their voices, how fast they are speaking, their cadence and effect."

Here is more of getting to know Charles Duhigg and his good work via his TEDx Manchester video . . . 

Stop Asking for Feedback and Start Asking for Advice

Dan Pink's Pinkcasts are short and present powerful information. He is one of my favorite authors, advisors on leadership, and helper of  others. Take 54 seconds to watch this excellent Pinkcast on "advice v. feedback." 

Link to Dan Pink video

The Art of Asking

Such a beautiful TED Talk with 13M views AND a powerful message on "The Art of Asking." As a singer, Amanda Palmer has a simple but important message when interacting with people . . . 

"And the media asked,

Amanda, the music business is tanking and you encourage piracy. 

How did you make all these people pay for music? 

And the real answer is, I didn't make them. 

I asked them. 

And through the very act of asking people, 

I'd connected with them, 

and when you connect with them, people want to help you. 

It's kind of counterintuitive for a lot of artists. 

They don't want to ask for things. 

But it's not easy. 

It's not easy to ask. 

And a lot of artists have a problem with this. 

Asking makes you vulnerable." 

Watch her TED Talk to get the full, beautiful picture of asking.

Nexus - Stone Age to AI - A Lesson for all to Learn

Nexus is a special book for educators and parents and the children they serve. They will all get a clear, outstanding picture of the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Yuval Noah Harari is one of my favorite authors. He is so thoughtful and brilliant in how he takes the reader from the beginning of humanity to AI, making sure he explains democracy, wars, evolution of communication via newspapers, radio, television, phones, computers, and the many aspects of algorithms. 

If you don't have the time to read the book, go to the BIG THINK website to listen to Harari's Nexus 75-minute interview; he is such a good speaker.

How to Stop Languishing and Start Finding Flow

My introduction to FLOW was when I read Finding Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and subsequently introduced him at a conference.

I love how Adam Grant begins his TED Talk on how to stop languishing and start finding flow . . . 

"I know you all have long to-do lists, 

but I hate wasting time so much that I have a to-don't list. 

Don't scroll on social media, 

don't check my phone in bed 

and don't turn on the TV 

unless I already know what I want to watch."

The Power of Words

The power of words can make a huge difference in our lives — especially when children are learning how to use words well. 

This video is amazing the way it helps one understand the power words have when used correctly . . . particularly when we are in the midst of elections.

Happiness v. Meaning in Your Life?

Emily Esfahani Smith's TED Talk "There's more to life than being happy" gives great insight on the differences in happiness in life and having meaning in life. 

Smith goes on to say "Our culture is obsessed with happiness, but I came to see that seeking meaning is the more fulfilling path. And the studies show that people who have meaning in life, they're more resilient, they do better in school and at work, and they even live longer."

She goes on to talk clearly about . . . 

. . . THE FOUR PILLARS OF MEANING

1) Belonging   2) Purpose   3) Transcendence   4) Storytelling

Here is here beautiful TED Talk that has over 13M views — 

Journey With a School Janitor

Fifty-five year old Richard Goodall has been serving as a janitor at a local school for 23 years. He loves to sing and make people happy. He had the opportunity to be on stage at America's Got Talent TV show on May 28. As of June 14, his YouTube performance below has over 13.4M views! His story, wrapped around a popular song, moves everyone when he sings. 

Who Moved My Cheese?

Written in 1998 by Spencer Johnson, M.D., this book is a fantastic read that you can read in an hour.  The quote on the cover says it all — "An A-Mazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life." Also, "Cheese" is a metaphor for what you want to have in life—whether it is a good job, a loving relationship, money, a possession, health, or spiritual peace of mind."

If you don't have an hour to read the book or you want to share the story with a child, you can click over to this three minute YouTube graphic version.

What Adults Can Learn From Kids

Here is a very special TED Talk. See below for the 8-minute Talk by Adora Svitak — "What Adults Can Learn From Kids." As of this blog post it has 7M views. 

"How every child can thrive by five"

This 7 minute TED Talk by seven-year-old Molly Wright is fantastic! Here is the introduction to this 11M viewed Talk:

"What if I was to tell you that a game of peek-a-boo could change the world?" asks seven-year-old Molly Wright, one of the youngest-ever TED speakers. . . "

"How AI could save (not destroy) education"

Here is a 5-star TED Talk for educators from the popular Sal Khan. He has such a good message—on the positive side—for AI. 

If you have not met up with Sal Khan, click over to his Khan Academy.