So much time is left on the cutting room floor at school — which parents are seeing more clearly than ever before as kids finish their schoolwork in a small fraction of the time they would normally spend at school. In this episode, we look at how schools could use this time to teach the habits of success kids will need to be prepared adults. Habits include things like time management, working with others and the ability to self-direct. These habits are vital for success — in high school, in college, at work and at home.

We also talk with Grit author Angela Duckworth more about what these habits are, how they’re intertwined with academic learning and how they can be explicitly taught. And we talk to Veronica Vital, lead teacher of Acorn Montessori in Minneapolis, who puts these ideas into practice every single day.