Babies are smart

I've always known it all along. This fascinating interview of Alison Gopnik for her book "The Philosophical Baby" seems to affirm that.

Though all of us experience life as a baby firsthand, we’ve long held misconceptions about what babies are capable of thinking, feeling, and understanding. Only recently have we overturned dominant theories of development in which very young children were thought to be barely conscious at all.

The article is short but well worth reading. Here is what she has to say about two year olds:

They already seem to appreciate the difference between the kinds of morality that comes from empathy and the kind that comes from our conventional rules. From the time they are two, they recognize both are important but in different ways. That’s pretty amazing.

Read the rest online here.

Government is set to make schools greener

The House recently passed a $6.4 billion dollar package to make ecological friendly schools. That's wonderful news! Hopefully the Senate will follow suit and this gets put into law.

"The typical green school saves $100,000 a year on direct operating expenses. In school terms, that's enough to hire two new teachers, purchase 200 new computers or 5,000 textbooks," Gutter said.

Sure, it's a little expensive, but if they do it right and do it efficiently, it may even pay for itself in the long run. By updating the infrastructure it will give our schools a better safer environment for learning. Read more here.