52 pages • 1 hour read
Paul ToughA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
In the summer of 2009, shortly after the birth of his son Ellington, Paul Tough found himself in a pre-kindergarten classroom at Red Bank Primary School in New Jersey, visiting as a journalist. What struck him was the remarkable calm and orderliness of the children, despite the teacher's lack of explicit efforts to maintain discipline. These children were part of a program called Tools of the Mind, which focused not on traditional academic skills but on self-regulation—teaching children to stay focused, manage their emotions, and organize their thoughts.
This approach stood in stark contrast to the prevailing culture in preschool education at the time, characterized by a belief Tough refers to as the “cognitive hypothesis.” This hypothesis, born out of concerns raised by a 1994 report from the Carnegie Corporation, emphasized the importance of cognitive stimulation in early childhood development. It led to a proliferation of products and programs aimed at boosting children’s cognitive skills, driven by the belief that success depended primarily on intellectual abilities.
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