Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn--and Why They Need to Play More with Professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek

Raising Good Humans

Voicing Change Media

Education, Kids & Family, Parenting

4.7 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this week’s episode, I sit down with professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek to rethink what learning actually looks like—and why play is at the center of it. We break down the science behind playful learning, the Six Cs kids need to thrive in a rapidly changing world, and why pressure, perfectionism, and early achievement often get in the way. Kathy and I talk about how play builds resilience, creativity, and real problem-solving skills, and why boredom is not a crisis but a developmental gift. I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK! Order your copy of The Five Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans Here: https://bit.ly/3rMLMsL Subscribe to my free newsletter for parenting tips delivered straight to your inbox: https://dralizapressman.substack.com/ Follow me on Instagram for more: @raisinggoodhumanspodcast Sponsors: Gruns: Visit gruns.co and use code HUMANS at checkout for up to 52% off your first order Clean Safe Products: Go to cleansafeproducts.com/HUMANS now to get $15 off the Green Mitt Kit Bobbie: Get 10% off with code humans at hibobbie.com Quince: Go to Quince.com/humans for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns iRestore: Reverse hair loss with @iRestorelaser and unlock HUGE savings on the iRestoreElite with the code HUMANS at https://www.irestore.com/HUMANS! Avocado Green Mattress: With code humans, you’ll save an extra $25 on Crib and Kids Mattresses on top of their holiday sale! That’s an extra $25 off their current sale at AvocadoGreenMattress.com with the code humans Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode. Produced by Dear Media. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast is a Dear Media production.
0:09.8	Welcome to Raising Good Humans.
0:11.9	I'm Dr. Elisa Pressman.
0:13.8	Today's episode is with Professor Kathy Hirsch-Pasick, who is one of my heroes in this field. She's so incredible. She runs the
0:25.9	infant language laboratory at Temple University. She's the author of 14 books. She has hundreds
0:32.0	of publications in peer review journals on childhood and infant development. She's an expert on play and learning.
0:41.1	And she wrote a book 20 years ago called Einstein Never Used Flashcards,
0:46.1	which was one of my favorite books.
0:49.3	I thought it was so informative, so brilliant,
0:52.6	and such like perfect translation of the research to parents.
0:57.3	And now there is a anniversary edition revised of Einstein, never used flashcards, how our
1:05.1	children really learn and play and why they need to play more and memorize less.
1:09.7	This book is so awesome. It's an up-to-date playbook
1:13.5	on why we should raise our children to be learn-it-alls, not know-it-alls. So one of the other things
1:21.6	that we talked about in this conversation that I think is so great is grandparenting and play. And I
1:27.4	think if you have some grandparents in your life,
1:31.0	if your parents are up for it, this is a great episode to send them because we even talk about
1:36.2	how to turn FaceTime interactions into really cool play for grandparents and other loved ones
1:43.0	who might be far away.
1:49.0	If you enjoy this episode, please pass it along to someone who might love it too.
1:52.8	Screens have changed the entire context for kids.
1:53.5	Yeah.
	...

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