Education

In June, the U.S. Department of Education released its 2013-2014 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) results.

The CRDC is an annual survey of all public schools and school districts in the country.

Have you ever found yourself in a stressful or overwhelming situation where you had to tell yourself to stop and breathe?

If so, you've practiced mindfulness and may not have even known it.

Rita Benn is co-founder of the Michigan Collaborative for Mindfulness in Education. She explained to Michigan Radio's The Next Idea:

America's public schools have reached a milestone.

The number of students who identify as minorities outnumbered white students for the first time during the 2014-2015 school year.

What was your favorite book as a kid?

For me, it was Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends. I’d take it with me to school, to sleepovers, to the park. I read it so many times that I can still recite some of the poems by heart. 

But for poor children, books aren’t so easy to come by.

We've already reached the middle of July and this summer seems to be flying by.

Many stores already have pens, pencils, and notebooks prominently displayed. Their racks of new backpacks are fully stocked.

And while many parents will be falling back into the same school year routine as years past, others will be sending kids to school for the first time. If you're one of them, how can you make this transition easier for your little one?

1. Start your school routine early

The first three years of a child's life are really important. Every experience and interaction builds connections in the brain that can last a lifetime. The more enriching the environment is, the better the brain develops. 

For working parents, this means that finding high-quality child care is essential. But quality doesn't come cheap. Day care can cost almost as much as in-state college tuition. The state of Michigan does provide a financial subsidy for child care, but it is reserved for the poorest of the poor. 

From kindergarten through high school, I attended schools with pretty racially diverse student populations. I've seen that same diversity reflected in the friendships I've maintained throughout my life.

And it turns out those interracial relationships may have actually helped my development.

In recent years there's been a lot of talk about homework. Recently, I told you about my daughter's preschool homework load, and research that suggests education is becoming overly structured -- to the detriment of students.

Question: What do Steve Jobs, Whoopi Goldberg, and Steven Spielberg have in common?

Answer: Dyslexia.

The neurologically based learning disability impacts an estimated one in five Americans. And while people with dyslexia have normal intelligence, they face significant challenges in learning how to read and write. As you might imagine, that can have a big effect on academic outcomes.