The Things You Can Read: How Children Succeed by Paul Tough

The Things You Can Read welcomes you and thanks you for your readership. We, here at The Things You Can Read, ask your help, if you visit our site regularly, please follow us either via email or Google Friend Connect. Launched on June 7, 2012, our site has already attracted a great deal of attention. One of the goals of the site is to feature reviews of Children's Picture Books, Young Adult novels and Adult Literary Fiction/Nonfiction. A second goal for the blog is to be a resource for teachers of English and writing--with examples of student created writing, writing tips, resource links, and the opportunity to pick the brain of a seasoned English teacher. To spice things up...every now and then, we'll also include random quotes and thoughts on education and life in general, but our ultimate goal is to reach out into the blogosphere and be a "Book Whisperer" and "Writing Whisperer" to children and adults of all ages. Thank you for your readership. Here is to a lifetime filled with reading and writing.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

How Children Succeed by Paul Tough

One of my favorite sites to visit out there on the Internet is Brain Pickings. I am always amazed at how much information just one person is able to decipher, and then publish in a meaningful publication in one weeks time, but Maria Popova does it week after week. If you have never visited Brain Pickings, I can't recommend this site highly enough. After a visit to Brain Pickings I always learn something. This week one of the books featured in an article entitled "The 13 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2013" is one that I have been interested in reading, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. I am always mystified, as both a teacher and parent, at what makes one child successful and another not. Below is an excerpt from the article. Read on...and if this is something that makes you go Humm...then click on over to read Brain Pickings full article or better yet pick up the book from your local bookstore or library.

In How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character (public library) – a necessary addition to these fantastic reads on education – Paul Tough, whose writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Slate, Esquire, The New York Times, sets out to investigate the essential building blocks of character through the findings and practical insight of exceptional educators and bleeding-edge researchers. One of his core arguments is based on the work of pioneering psychologist and 2013 MacArthur "genius" grantee Angela Duckworth, who studied under positive psychology godfather Martin Seligman at my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, and has done more than anyone for advancing our understanding of how self-control and grit – the relentless work ethic of sustaining your commitments toward a long-term goal – impact success.-BRAIN PICKINGS