Word: skillful
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Parents might find it easier to believe all this if it weren't for the increasingly fashionable theory of windows of opportunity for learning--the idea that there are comparatively narrow periods when various parts of the brain can be taught various types of skills. What gives the theory special weight is that there is, in fact, a little truth to it--but only very little. When it comes to language--perhaps the most nuanced skill a person can master--the brain does appear to have fertile and less fertile periods. At birth, babies have the potential to learn...
...should be obvious to any fan of the romantic comedy genre; no prizes for guessing whether or not he will get back together with his supportive, though somewhat dumpy wife. Director Peter Chelsom (The Mighty, Serendipity) is better known for his wholesome family fare than suggestive romance, and his skill at putting together anything more than a completely innocent work is greatly doubtful. With the utterly harmless Beatty as the romantic lead, even the cleavage shots lose their steaminess. Diane Keaton as his hapless wife and Goldie Hawn as a longtime friend round out the leading roles. Even...
Thank you for spelling my name correctly (a basic skill for any aspiring journalist) and thank you for mentioning "Dixie's Dirty Secret," a book that is, in part, an account of my work on behalf of civil rights in Mississippi in the 1960s. The KKK gave that book terrible reviews—and, as always, I was happy to receive them. I am proud of my work on behalf of equal rights for African Americans and Jews, and if you are on the other side of that issue, I urge you to thoughtfully reconsider your position...
...When it comes to other skills, such as math or music, there is virtually no evidence for learning windows at all. Children grasp things at different rates, and parents whose child can read by age 3 may thus conclude that they somehow threaded the teaching needle perfectly, introducing letters and words at just the right time. But the reality is often that they simply got lucky and had a kid who took a shine early on to a particular skill. "People took the notion of a critical period and misunderstood it to apply to all learning," says Dr. Sparrow...
...were well within the range of normal behavior for four-year-olds. And what about that adjective, anyway? Is a vice not sometimes a form of virtue? Cruelty never is, but arguing back? Is that being defiant - or spunky and independent? "Demanding attention" could be a natural and healthy skill to develop if you are in a room with 16 other kids...