1. What Adults Can Learn From Kids by Adora Svitak
Child prodigy Adora Svitak says the world needs “childish” thinking: bold ideas, wild creativity and especially optimism. Kids’ big dreams deserve high expectations, she says, starting with grownups’ willingness to learn from children as much as to teach.
2. For Parents, Happiness is a Very High Bar by Jennifer Senior
The parenting section of the bookstore is overwhelming—it’s “a giant, candy-colored monument to our collective panic,” as writer Jennifer Senior puts it. Why is parenthood filled with so much anxiety? Because the goal of modern, middle-class parents—to raise happy children—is so elusive. In this honest talk, she offers some kinder and more achievable aims.
3. Love, No Matter What by Andrew Solomon
What is it like to raise a child who’s different from you in some fundamental way (like a prodigy, or a differently-abled kid, or a criminal)? In this quietly moving talk, writer Andrew Solomon shares what he learned from talking to dozens of parents — asking them: What’s the line between unconditional love and unconditional acceptance?
4. The Importance of Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by Erika Brodnock
According to the Mental Health Foundation, one in ten children between the ages of one and 15 has a mental health disorder and it is reckoned that 1 in 4 will experience some form of depression or anxiety at some point in their childhood. Erika founded Karisma Kidz, a company that coaches children through their problems, helping them to learn to manage and counter any difficulties they are facing or having to deal with using play.
5. Kids Need Structure by Colin Powell
How can you help kids get a good start? In this heartfelt and personal talk, Colin Powell, the former U.S. Secretary of State, asks parents, friends and relatives to support children from before they even get to primary school, through community and a strong sense of responsibility.
6. Play is more than just fun by Dr Stuart Brown
A pioneer in research on play, Dr. Stuart Brown says humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults — and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age.
