Children
Some very interesting articles appeared recently regarding children, play, etc. See “Schools Hire Consultants to Make Recess Safe, Structured, Sad” and “Kids Need To Get Out And Play.” Also on the subject of children be sure to at least skim (from the Washington Post) “Are parents ruining youth sports? Few kids play amid pressure.”
Conversation and Technology
See the interview with Sherry Turkle in the Huffington Post regarding her new book Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. The article is “Texting Isn’t the Problem: A Conversation with Sherry Turkle About Reclaiming Conversation.”
Productivity
See Adam Toren’s “7 Healthy Habits that Maximize Your Productivity Every Day.” (Reading these kinds of articles often reminds me of a bad habit I’ve acquired or a good habit that I’ve neglected.) See also “7 Invaluable Lessons from World Class Achievers.”
Parenting
Be sure to read my recent blog post “What Good Parents Do.” These are some reflections on the practices and habits of good parents.
Odds and Ends
I am reading Tim Keller’s book Preaching. This is an excellent book written by a seasoned minister who has been preaching for many years. I especially pay attention to Keller’s footnotes as he is apparently one who reads widely.
This weekend I read several two articles and an interview by James K. A. Smith in Comment (print edition). (See online edition here.) In particular I enjoyed his “An annotated reading of your world.” I will quote one section of this article:
The world needs your (continuing) education, and your soul is starving for it. We are remarkably well-educated dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants who could only dream of what we enjoy. Let’s not squander our inheritance. (p. 11)