From the joys (and motor skills) of preparing food, to designing cities for learning (like question prompts at supermarkets), to a mother's look at required versus spontaneous homework -- the stories below investigate opportunities for learning at home and in the rest of life. --Daniela

Teaching Kids To Cook

"Historically, the kitchen has been a grown-up domain, a place for adults to play with knives and flames... The cooking process, dieticians emphasize, is an important way to help children build healthy relationships with food." Grade 1 students in Calgary build a community cookbook to learn about traditions, culture, and food. Read Full Story »

City Learning Landscapes

"What if a bench were not just a bench? What if instead, it had puzzles on the back that could be arranged and rearranged to produce three separate pictures?" Children spend 20% of their waking moments in school. Researchers ask: How can cities be agents of change for real-life learning? Read Full Story »

Homework, or Not?

After a meta-analysis of 200 studies that concludes "there is no evidence that homework reinforces academic lessons at the elementary level," one mother's collaboration with a first grade teacher leads to a pilot of a "We Provide, You Decide" homework policy for K-4th grade students at her school. Read Full Story »

'Be The Change' Idea

Use your environment as a classroom today. Why is the sky blue? What produce is in season at the supermarket? How is the cement on our sidewalk made?