Where Parents Talk radio on 105.9 The Region, host Lianne Castelino speaks to Dr. Cristine Legare, professor of psychology at The University of Texas at Austin, a researcher, and mom about how a parent can better support a child’s learning.
DR. CRISTINE LEGARE
Professor of Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin
Researcher
Director, Centres for Applied Cognitive Science
Mom
“I think that a lot of traditional school curricula focuses much more on discreet and measurable context. And there’s a number of reasons for that. And certainly building up your knowledge base is important. But I think a lot of what children end up doing in school focuses disproportionately on memorizing new information and building up that knowledge base. There’s a growing interest in practicing the types of skills that are readily generalizable outside of the classroom, as you’re supposed to be preparing for the world. And so a parent can provide a lot of opportunities to take process skills that maybe don’t receive quite as much emphasis as they maybe ideally could, in the classroom, into spaces outside of the classroom.”
