Lily Jones

Educator, writer, curriculum developer, mother, lover of learning & teaching
Springboard Collaborative •

Three ways to involve families in their child’s learning

Learning doesn’t just happen within a school building. To increase student achievement, it’s important to not just focus on what happens at school. Research shows that parents’ involvement in their kid’s learning is the strongest predictor of academic success. An analysis of 100 Chicago public schools showed that students were four times more likely to improve in reading if they had strong parental involvement. To truly partner with families, schools need to actively listen to families and prio
Forbes •

Healing Together: How Guardian Lane Helps Children Cope With Loss

When Kristina Jones was seven, she lost her dad to cancer. To help process her loss, she went to therapy and grieved with her family. But, reflecting back on her experience, Jones wishes she had more of a support network. “It was very traumatic. I never got the help I needed to process what had happened. My school didn’t give me any type of support. They just gave us a Christmas tree and expected me to go back to normal,” said Jones. Now Jones is committed to making sure other children who exp
Forbes •

Proud To Be Us: Celebrating Pride Month With Supernow

With Pride Month underway, children’s media has been finding ways to celebrate all month long. From the Blues Clues Pride Parade to Sesame’s Street’s rainbow muppet message of solidarity, kid-focused brands have been infusing pride into their programming. Even Lego got in on the Pride Month celebration with their Everyone is Awesome rainbow-themed set. For Supernow, relatively-newcomers to the children’s media scene, celebrating pride month has presented an opportunity to double-down on their m
BabyCenter •

How to prepare your child for daycare or school with coronavirus (COVID-19) precautions

As kids go back to daycares and schools, they'll find new precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Safety measures are necessary, but they may take young children time to adjust to. Help your child adapt to the "new normal" with these tips. When your child goes to daycare or school, people may be wearing masks, sitting farther away from each other, doing activities in smaller groups, and spending more time outside. Talk to your child's daycare or school administrators to get
BabyCenter •

How to handle anxiety about sending your child to daycare or school during coronavirus

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has changed everything and layered anxiety onto everyday events. If you're sending your child to daycare or school, it's absolutely normal to feel nervous about it. But managing your anxiety is good for you and your child – so get relief by working through your feelings, reaching out to your community, and practicing self-care. Name it to tame it If you're struggling with making a decision about sending your child to daycare or school, start by articulating
Forbes •

Everyone’s Out Of School: How Outschool Is Making Virtual Learning Personal

After the coronavirus outbreak closed schools across the world, parents became teachers at a rapid rate. Though a sudden switch to homeschooling certainly has its challenges, it is also an opportunity for kids to dive deep into subjects that interest them. This is the perfect time to help kids develop agency, self-direction, and a love of personalized learning. Enter Outschool. Though their online learning platform has been around since 2015, they have grown rapidly over the last few weeks, so
BabyCenter •

Three ways to celebrate World Kindness Day with kids

Did you know there is a whole day devoted to spreading kindness around the world? There is! Celebrating World Kindness Day is the perfect way to show your child the power of kindness. Use #WorldKindnessDay to follow and share positivity on social media on November 13. At home, use these three tips to show your child it's cool to be kind: Talk with your child about how it feels when someone is kind to her. Share examples from your life, and ask your child to reflect on a time when someone did so
BabyCenter •

How to help your child struggle through problems … without your help

As parents, we wish we could make all our kids' problems go away. But as great as that may sound, kids learn important skills by working through problems on their own. Instead of rushing to intervene, help your child turn his struggles into learning opportunities. Start by following these steps: When you see your child struggling, take a deep breath and a step back. Ask yourself: Does my child need my help? If your child fell and has a bloody knee, he likely needs your assistance and comfort. I
Forbes •

Want to Support Teachers? Pay Them, Help Them, Love Them

A recent study found that teacher pay is decreasing. This is bad news for an already struggling profession. Many come to teaching as a calling, something they feel they are born to do (I was one of them). Many leave teaching because it is unsustainable, as there’s too much soul-wrenching work without support, both monetarily and otherwise (I was one of them too.) We know that society doesn’t value teachers, though many of us individuals do. How can parents and other supportive community members
BabyCenter •

Three ways to find high-quality parent friends

Life with a baby or young kid can be isolating. You may long for adult contact, but what tired parent has the energy to look for new friends? Often you can end up hanging out with anyone who has kids of similar ages … and then discover you have little in common with them. Use these tips to find friends that will stick around long after you pass the baby stage: Put yourself out there When you have a little one, it can be easy to get wrapped up in her schedule. Whole days can pass without you ev
BabyCenter •

Get your creative groove back with National Novel Writing Month

If you're a busy parent, the idea of writing a 50,000-word novel in the month of November may seem laughable. But participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) can give you the creative boost you most definitely need. NaNoWriMo provides the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices and achieve artistic goals. Whether you're tackling a novel or just want to get back to journaling, use these three lessons to bring more artistry into your life: The ingen
BabyCenter •

Reframing your child's 'attention-getting' behavior

In a recent article, early childhood expert Tamar Jacobson wrote that young kids' misbehavior often stems from a desire for a relationship. Instead of leaving kids to figure out how to regulate their emotions on their own, it's important for parents and caregivers to help kids develop the tools and language to deal with their feelings. Use these ideas to reframe attention-getting behavior as opportunities for connection: It can be hard to remain neutral when your child gets upset. As much as po
Woman's Day •

Why I Refuse to Teach My Kids the Santa Lie

I remember exactly where I was: in the car with my mom, around the corner from our house. I was nervous to ask, afraid I knew what her response would be. While my mom blew Santa's cover as sweetly as possible, all I could think of was how I'd been lied to. "Does Dad know? Do my sisters know? DOES EVERYONE KNOW?!" I remember asking. I wasn't upset that Santa didn't exist; I was devastated that everyone I loved had been lying to me. As a kid with two much older sisters, I was no stranger to fee
BabyCenter •

Age-by-age sensory activities

From the minute babies are born, they're learning about the world through their five senses. This learning doesn't stop as kids get older – sensory play is a great way to engage kids in exploring the world around them. Use this age-by-age guide for brain-building sensory activities: Engage your baby's sense of touch by having him feel different materials. Take soft fabric, smooth plastic, and any other textured baby-safe object you have lying around and run your child's fingers over the materia
BabyCenter •

3 ways to help young kids build language and literacy skills

You may have heard of the "word gap" study, which found that by the time kids turn 3, there is a 30-million-word gap between children from the poorest families and those from the wealthiest families. Recently, the study drew some backlash; some said its sample size was too small (42 families) and that the findings put too much emphasis on families and not enough on schools. That said, no matter what a family's income level, parents play a big role in helping children develop language skills. Bu
BabyCenter •

Motivating kids to do chores (and maybe even like them)

Using everything from reward charts to allowances, parents have been tying chores to rewards for decades. But is that truly the best way to motivate children? It's not so clear. Giving kids rewards can cause them to be motivated by the reward rather than the behavior we hope they develop. Giving kids rewards for something they are already motivated to do can even decrease their intrinsic motivation – an effect called overjustification. When it comes to chores, your goal is probably for your chi
BabyCenter •

3 life-changing lessons from a renowned preschool teacher

In July, the education world lost one of the most prominent voices in early childhood learning. Vivian Paley was a renowned educator and author who published 13 books about teaching young children. Paley's stories teach us about child development and how to make the most of the time we spend with our children. Start with these three key lessons, and then turn to Paley's books if you want to learn more. Paley spend her whole career observing and learning from children. Paley was endlessly curiou
Forbes •

Teaching After Hours: The Rise Of International Online Teaching

After teaching all day long, most teachers want to go home and rest. But with meager teacher salaries, many teachers take on additional jobs to make ends meet. We normally think of teaching as something that’s done within four classroom walls, but technology has expanded the ways in which teachers can work. At the forefront of this expansion are virtual teaching companies that give teachers a chance to tutor students internationally, outside of their regular workday.
BabyCenter •

3 parenting books we can’t wait to read this fall

Fall is the perfect time to cozy up with a book. If a parenting book is what you're looking for, these new books can help you gain insight into your child's development and pick up helpful skills along the way. Start by adding these books to your fall reading list: The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child by Daniel J. Siegel Siegel, who wrote the amazing The Whole Brain Child, is back at it with this book about encouraging courage and curiosity in childr
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