I’m not ready for ‘back to school’ quite yet, but I am back from vacation, so I guess that’s close enough. Hidden in among the piles of mail and email that were waiting upon my return were some fun reads on education and the continuing search for balancing traditional academics with lifelong learning skills, everywhere from the classroom to the playground to the museum.

• “The Junk Playground where Kids Run with Scissors” by Stephanie de Rouge for Bright
• “What if High School were more like Kindergarten?” by Ashley Lamb-Sinclair for The Atlantic
• “What if our school programs didn’t align with curriculum standards?” by Claudia Ocello for Museum Questions

Also on my current reading pile: Nina Simon’s The Art of Relevance and the latest issue of the Journal of Museum Education

What’s on your list of back-to-school reads?

What do you hope to do new or differently this year, in your classroom, gallery, studio, or teaching practice?

Indulging the inner kindergartener at the Eric Carle Museum earlier this summer.