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Can you believe it?
52 issues. One full year.
When we started this newsletter, our goal was simple: give parents real, research-backed conversations about raising curious, capable, confident children. No fear tactics. No recycled parenting clichés. Just honest, warm, peer-to-peer talk between people who genuinely care about getting this right.
And here we are, a year later! Our community here asks great questions, votes in Think Tank polls, and sends emails that genuinely shape where we go next.
That means more than you know.
So for Issue #52, the topic felt obvious. Not because it's trending, and not because it's practical in the checklist sense. But because it might be the most quietly important thing you can give your child - and it costs nothing.
It's called awe. And the science behind it? It's remarkable.
Also in this edition:
Survey Says: We asked, you answered! Here's what parents really think about last week's big question.
🧠 The Think Tank: Cast your vote in this week’s poll!
The Science of Awe
There's a moment most parents have experienced at least once.
Maybe it was the first time your child saw the ocean. Or looked up at a sky full of stars and went completely still. Or watched a caterpillar with such intense focus that the rest of the world just fell away.
Just wide eyes, a jaw slightly open, and something that looked, unmistakably, like wonder.
That feeling has a name. Researchers call it awe.
And it turns out it is one of the most powerful emotions in your child's developmental toolkit.
UC Berkeley psychologist Dr. Dacher Keltner (one of the world's leading awe researchers) defines it: "the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world."
That vastness doesn't have to be the Grand Canyon. It can be a thunderstorm, a piece of music, or watching someone do something extraordinarily kind. Children encounter awe more naturally than adults because the world is still so genuinely new to them.
Here's what the science says it does.
When children experience awe, their sense of self quietly shrinks - in the best possible way. Researchers call this the "small self" effect: the usual mental chatter about "what do I want" and "what's mine" takes a back seat.
At the same time, the brain releases dopamine, energizing your child's drive to explore and understand. The University of Chicago's Human Nature and Potentials Lab found that children ages 4 to 9 reported feeling more motivated to learn about the world after awe-inspiring experiences.
Wonder, it turns out, is a catalyst for learning.
The Kindness Connection
Here's a finding that genuinely surprised researchers - and may surprise you too.
In a landmark 2023 study published in Psychological Science, Dr. Eftychia Stamkou and colleagues (including Dacher Keltner) showed children between the ages of 8 and 13 short video clips designed to elicit awe, joy, or a neutral emotional state. After watching, the children were given two chances to act generously toward others, including by donating resources to benefit refugee children.
The results were striking.
Children who watched the awe-eliciting clip were roughly twice as likely to donate their experimental reward to a refugee family as those who watched the joyful or neutral clip. They also spent significantly more effort on an effortful helping task.
This is notable because joy is also a positive emotion.
But awe did something joy didn't: it shifted children's attention away from themselves and toward others. The "small self" effect made generosity come more naturally.
In real terms, this means that a hike where your child stands at the edge of a waterfall, a visit to a planetarium, a night watching a meteor shower in the backyard - these aren't just family memories. They may be quietly building the kind of character you're hoping to raise.
Awe and Physical Health
The benefits don't stop at the psychological.
Research at UC Berkeley has found that awe experiences are associated with lower levels of inflammatory cytokines - the proteins tied to chronic stress, illness, and disease.
In other words, awe has measurable effects on the body. It appears to activate the parasympathetic nervous system - the "rest and connect" state - which is the opposite of the chronic low-grade stress many children carry.
In studies measuring children's heart rate responses during awe-eliciting experiences, researchers observed increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia - a physiological marker of calm, social engagement, and openness to connection.
Not all emotions do this. Joy doesn't. Awe does.
Keltner has described awe as an "everyday emotional superfood" - accessible, free, and profoundly good for developing minds and bodies.
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Awe at Every Age: What It Looks Like and How to Cultivate It
Awe doesn't look the same at every stage. Here's a simple map of what to expect - and what to offer.
Ages 4-7: At this age, almost everything is a potential source of awe. Children are naturally wired for it because the world is genuinely vast and new to them. Bugs, puddles, clouds shaped like animals, the concept that stars are very far away suns - all of it lands with intensity. The parent's role here isn't to create awe, it's to slow down enough to share it. Pause when your child pauses. Get on their level. Ask "what do you notice?" instead of naming the thing immediately. Naming too fast can close the wonder before it opens.
Ages 8-12: This is where curiosity and awe start to intersect with big questions. Why do things die? How big is the universe? How was music invented? This age group is ready for what researcher Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Robert Waldinger calls "radical curiosity" - asking open, genuine questions together without rushing toward answers. A parent who says "I don't know, let's wonder about that together" models something profoundly important: that not-knowing is a comfortable, even exciting place to be.
Ages 13+: Awe in adolescence often looks quieter and more private. It might be a song that gives your child goosebumps, a book that shifts how they see the world, a documentary that leaves them silent. The key research finding here: when teens feel parents notice and validate what lights them up - even when it seems random or fleeting - they stay connected to their sources of wonder longer. Notice what makes your child say "wow", and you’ll learn who they're becoming.
The Awe Walk: One Research-Backed Move for This Week
This one is almost ridiculously simple. And yet the research behind it is solid.
An "awe walk" is exactly what it sounds like: a walk taken with the explicit intention of noticing things that feel vast, beautiful, surprising, or strange.
No phones. No destination pressure. No narrating or explaining.
Just looking, slowly, with fresh eyes.
Studies on awe walks in adults have found that even 15 minutes per week produces measurable increases in positive emotions, decreased anxiety, and greater feelings of social connectedness - lasting benefits, not just in-the-moment ones. The research on children mirrors these findings, with awe experiences linked to greater motivation to learn and explore.
A few things that make the awe walk more effective with children:
Look up more than usual. The sky, the tops of trees, the way light moves - most children (and adults) default to eye-level vision. Going vertical shifts perception.
Bring a question, not an agenda. "I wonder what's living in this log" is a better frame than "let's learn about nature." The first opens curiosity; the second can feel like school.
Let silence happen. The pause after something surprising is where the awe actually lands. Filling it immediately with information ("that's a red-tailed hawk, they're known for...") can short-circuit the experience. Let your child sit in the "wow" for a moment first.
Come back to it later. At dinner or before bed, "was there anything on our walk today that surprised you?" gives the awe a second life in language - and it signals that wonder is worth returning to.
Last week, we asked:
What's the biggest thing you focus on during your child's testing season?
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 💪 Making sure they're well-rested and fed (41%)
🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤔 Reviewing material and helping them prepare (17.5%)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤯 Keeping the emotional climate calm at home (24%)
🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😅 Honestly, just getting through it! (17.5%)
What stands out right away is that the top focus was not academics. It was well-being. Parents are recognizing that sleep, nutrition, and overall regulation are the foundation that everything else builds on.
And interestingly, one parent pointed out that being well-rested and having a calm emotional environment often go hand in hand. When kids are tired, everything feels harder. When the environment feels tense, even simple tasks can become overwhelming.
Another parent added an important perspective. A calm and emotionally secure environment is not separate from performance. It enables it. When kids feel safe and supported, they are better able to access their knowledge, stay focused, and recover from small mistakes. In many ways, emotional stability is what allows all the other efforts, like studying and preparation, to actually stick.
The takeaway is subtle but powerful. During testing season, what happens around the test may matter just as much as the test itself. And sometimes, the most impactful thing a parent can do is not add more pressure, but remove it.
We’re asking parents like you to share their thoughts on topics that matter each week! Cast your vote and see what others think! We’ll chat more about the results next week. 👀
When it comes to awe and wonder - which source is most powerful for your child?
This week's tools are all about nurturing curiosity and wonder - with options for home and school use.
One Strange Rock (National Geographic / Disney+) | Free with subscription A visually breathtaking documentary series narrated by Will Smith, exploring Earth's place in the universe as seen by astronauts. Designed for family viewing. Episodes are short enough for school nights and have consistently sparked "why" conversations families didn't see coming. Not a learning program - just genuinely awe-inspiring television that happens to be educational.
The Kid Should See This | A curated collection of short, awe-inspiring videos for curious children - covering science, art, music, nature, and human ingenuity. No ads, no algorithm. A parent-researcher runs it specifically to surface things that make children (and adults) stop and say "wait, what?" Genuinely excellent, and endlessly browsable.
Merlin Bird ID (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) | An awe walk's perfect companion! Children point their phone at a bird and the app identifies it in real time by sound or image. More than 7,000 species worldwide. The magic of recognizing something that was previously just "a bird" creates a reliable, repeatable micro-moment of wonder.
NASA's Eyes on the Solar System | An immersive 3D simulation of the solar system that allows students to travel through space in real time using actual NASA mission data.
Until Next Week…
Fifty-two issues. A year of Wednesday mornings, research dives, parent polls, and honest conversation about what it actually takes to raise good humans.
Here's what one year of writing this newsletter has reinforced more than anything else: the parents reading this are already doing more right than they realize.
Showing up curious about your child's development - asking questions, reading the research, paying attention - is itself an act of wonder. You're modeling something.
So this week, if there's one thing worth trying, it's this: find one moment of awe to share with your child. It doesn't have to be the Grand Canyon. It can be a moth at the window, a piece of music that gives you chills, a question neither of you can answer.
Let yourself be a little amazed. Together.
That's the long game. And you're already playing it well.
Thanks for joining us in raising kind, capable, and confident humans. We’re so glad you’re here.
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