Interesting question, isn’t it?
I didn’t just come up with it on my own. I recently read an article entitled “The Habits of Highly Successful Families,” on the Huffington Post site, written by Rebecca Jackson.
The title alone got me thinking.
What *does* make a highly successful family? Are we a highly successful family? I guess it depends on the kind of day we have! Some days are certainly better than others!
As I read through the article, it discussed a learning habit survey that Jackson and her colleagues at Good Parent Inc., are sponsoring, in conjunction with the Brown University School of Medicine and the Children’s National Medical Center. In addition to the two medical centers, Jackson and her colleagues are also partnering with Huffington Post Parents, National PTA, WebMD, Parents Magazine to spread the word about this survey.
The goal is to have 50,000 parents of students in grades K-12 take the survey so that a comprehensive study of the data can take place, which will then be published in 2014; a guide, in a sense, for parents struggling with the things we struggle with every day.
According to a recent press release, “The information gathered by this study will be critical toward understanding the relationships between media use, grades, social interactions, and emotional learning,” says lead researcher Robert M. Pressman, Ph.D., ABPP, Director of Research at the New England Center for Pediatric Psychology. “Our goal is to provide parents, teachers and pediatricians information on which family routines and behaviors improve academic success, increase social skills, and contribute to emotional balance in children.”
I was intrigued, so I decided to take the survey myself. I’m a K-12 parent, times three. The study asks you to think of one of your children in particular as you answer the questions, which range from topics such as media usage, to rule setting, to sleep habits.
I answered each question as honestly as I could, but I found myself wondering, “Is this the right answer or the wrong answer? Is there even such a thing as one right or wrong answer? What would other parents say if they were answering this question?”
The exciting thing that I found out, was that at the end of the survey, you actually get some feedback as to how your answers compared to the answers of others who took the survey already.
I loved that!
One of the questions I’d wondered about; the answers were split practically right down the middle almost: 49% went one way, while 51% went the other.
It makes me somewhat excited to think that by answering the survey myself, by being one of the 50,000 or more parents who take the same survey, that I am helping to establish what currently constitutes learning habits in this day and age.
Each generation has their own issues to deal with and media usage is definitely a big one for our generation as parents, to deal with.
Are you curious? Do you wonder what the questions are and how you fall with your answers on some of them?
I encourage you to give the survey a try! It’s only available through October 31.
And the best news yet: By taking it you are automatically entered into a drawing for a $500 gift card. Imagine taking a survey and possibly winning $500 just for your time?
But wait, there’s more! There’s also a Pottery Barn gift pack valued at more than $100 that’s being given away as well, to one lucky survey-taker.
I encourage you to check out Jackson’s article, and take the survey yourself. It only takes a few minutes and who knows, you might be one of the lucky winners!
The Whole bag of Chips 