Posted by Cottontimer on 17 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Parenting, Schooling
These two videos feature a school for animals to teach them running, climbing, flying, and swimming. Animal School is a metaphor for the various skills children are taught in school and how they might approach learning. Fascinating!
Animal School video with subtitles.
Animal School narrated by Stephen Covey
Posted by Cottontimer on 10 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Schooling, What the @#!
Hey, you slackers. Have you attended a college fair lately? No excuses. You can attend online college fairs just like this mother who’s getting a head start:
Julie Richardson, a Virginia mother of two elementary-school-age boys, attended as a preliminary way to research colleges, she said, since she “didn’t know the difference between a Harvard and a Michigan.” [emphasis added]
I’ll tell you some differences between Harvard and Michigan:
As Cobweb put it at WSJ’s The Juggle:
Typical Harvard guy. Thinks he’s smarter (more clever) than the rest.
Just kidding! Substitute Stanford for Harvard if you want to take a potshot at me. 
Posted by Cottontimer on 31 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Motherhood, Parenting, Schooling, Stephen
Stephen has a 10-word spelling test every Tuesday. Here’s how we prepare:
Aside from the first time when Stephen refused to participate until word #6 because he thought the test was “stupid,” the boy has done well. He’s scored 10/10 on the rest except one and on that one he scored a 9/10. When he had a hissy fit over the one he missed, the TA told him to never mind about the test and just sit it out. The reverse psychology worked.
When she called out the next word, he said, “I know that one.”
“That’s nice, Stephen, but you don’t have to do it anymore if you don’t want to,” she replied. (heh The woman is goood.)
“But I know it! I’ll write it down,” obstinate boy continued the test without further complaints.
So our test prep clearly works. Problem is, he finds something to complain about every single stinking day that we practice spelling. After our last practice session, I said, “You are very lucky you have a mother to practice with you. What have you been getting on your spelling tests because you work so hard?”
“I get 10 out of 10.”
“What do you think other children get if they don’t have parents to practice their spelling with them?”
“Zero out of 10.”
SLAM DUNK! That’s recognition that was long past due.
Posted by Cottontimer on 19 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Schooling, What the @#!
Who knew there were so many different ways to solve 26×31 or 133/6?! Life just keeps getting more complicated. Our poor kids are really in for it and therefore so are we, their poor parents. ARGH.
Meterologist MJ McDermott lists the following problems graduates of the American school system are having with math:
In the end, McDermott recommends Singapore math for children having trouble with math. There was also a great discussion of these various math education methods–TERC and Everyday Math–at kitchen table math, the sequel.
What do you think of your own or your child’s math education?
HT: Lilian, math teacher extraordinaire
Posted by Cottontimer on 25 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: Funny, Schooling
Posted by Cottontimer on 11 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: Schooling, Stephen
And what did I say???
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Starting school at the age of four is “stressful” to children and does not help their education, according to a major review of English primary schools which also concluded kids take too many tests too early.
The Cambridge University review noted that some English children start at primary school two years earlier than in other countries.
…some students born in summer months seem to perform worse in their first years.
Stephen is among the youngest in his class having been born in August. If he were born in September, he would be the oldest in his class. He should grateful that I am providing performance enhancing education at home. /cue evil laughter
Posted by Cottontimer on 28 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: London, Schooling, Stephen
And so I continue to wonder if Stephen has been in school too much, too soon. This is his second year of full-day schooling in the UK - 6.5 hours, 5 days a week. He is only five-and-a-half years old.
In Finland they do things differently. Finnish children stay at home much longer. They play and tell stories years after ours are sitting down in school to a target-driven curriculum. Maybe that’s partly why Finnish children are happier, and maybe that’s why they rate higher in the literacy stakes.
~100 books every child should read by Michael Morpurgo for Telegraph
via Aquatique.net, Sunday Salon member
Posted by Cottontimer on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Schooling, What the @#!
Proof that the whole college application process has made people go completely bonkers. Here’s what 17-year-old Jessica Assaf said in the Wall Street Journal about last year’s 13.5% low acceptance rate at Brown University.
A 14% acceptance rate isn’t a good statistic. If someone said you had a 14% chance of living, that’s nowhere near being reassured.
She just compared getting into college to death!
Posted by Cottontimer on 30 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: Schooling
My alma mater, Stanford, is considering expanding the freshman class. For the past 35 years, the number of undergraduate students enrolled has been between 6,000 and 7,000.
University President John Hennessy:
In the end, though, I believe expanding the size of the undergraduate population would be both a practical and a principled response to current realities. It would create more opportunities for gifted students to attend Stanford and it would avail Stanford of some of the best and brightest minds in the country.
There is no doubt that each year, many qualified students are denied admission to Stanford. These students would, of course, enhance any university. The question is, can these same students find a quality university experience at another school besides Stanford? Of course! So do we really need to expand the student body to give more people a chance to attend Stanford? I’m not convinced. Bringing more students in could lead to overcrowding, insufficient resources, and brand dilution.
As much as I loved my time at Stanford, I’m not under the illusion that it’s the only university worth attending. The US has many wonderful colleges and universities, big and small. Gifted students can find a rewarding experience no matter where they go because the real gift is within themselves. No matter where you go to school, it’s up to you to take the initiative to create opportunities for yourself and to discover the path you’re meant to go down.
You don’t have to go to Stanford to achieve great things. What distinguishes successful people from the rest is some parts good luck and many parts drive, ingenuity, and hard work. Going to Stanford was a small achievement. Living a productive life is an even greater one.
Posted by Cottontimer on 17 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: Food, Schooling, Stephen
I’ve mentioned before that Stephen really seems to enjoy his school lunches. Earlier this week, I had a chance to attend a school lunch tasting. Now I can see how truly lucky he is to have such a wide selection of meals each day served by friendly staff. His school has its own kitchen with food prepared fresh on the premises and they also have a salad bar with fresh fruits and vegetables.
I especially appreciated the handout the food service team prepared.
Menus are nutritionally balanced using the latest computer-based technology and must conform to our own tested recipes and quality assurance programme. All of our suppliers are carefully identified and then audited to ensure that they are providing us with products that meet our quality and nutritional standards. We will not knowingly use any ingredient that has been genetically modified.
Our aim is to ensure that school meals are not only great value but that they also provide your child with a safe diet that will assist with their learning development
The school lunch tasting included:
I know for a fact that Stephen is more willing to taste a variety of different foods because of the many flavors he encounters at lunch.
The lunches put my own simple meals to shame. And with smiling staff like this, lunches must be a highlight of the children’s day.
Thank you to everyone involved in encouraging Stephen’s culinary adventure!
