Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Monday, March 23, 2009
ABCs for Baby Nerds!
How awesome is this? A seller on Etsy has just come out with a set of ABC flashcards for nerd babies! Now I'm jealous that my sister has grandchildren and I don't!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
See Shakespeare's Plays in a Whole New Way
If your kids are into graphic novels, check out Classical Comics. Not only are they real, unabridged classics in graphic novel format, but they also come in original text (for example, Shakespearean English), plain text (modern English) and quick text (~elementary reading level modern English) so differentiation is a breeze.
I think the graphic novel format is perfect for Shakespeare's plays, which are much more understandable when performed than when read. The teacher's guides are designed for British schools Key Stages 2 and 3, which correspond roughly with late elementary and middle school in the states. They include activities, quizzes, and tests with copyable black line masters and answer keys.
We're using Henry V right now--original text for my reader and plain text for my non-reader, although I have to say the plain text is helpful even for advanced readers. I never really understood what the Archibishop's arguments in favor of war with France were until I read the plain text version, and I've read the play at least twice and seen the movie a half dozen times. The plain text also preserves Shakespeare's language where possible, so I don't think using that exclusively would ruin the educational experience.
I think the graphic novel format is perfect for Shakespeare's plays, which are much more understandable when performed than when read. The teacher's guides are designed for British schools Key Stages 2 and 3, which correspond roughly with late elementary and middle school in the states. They include activities, quizzes, and tests with copyable black line masters and answer keys.
We're using Henry V right now--original text for my reader and plain text for my non-reader, although I have to say the plain text is helpful even for advanced readers. I never really understood what the Archibishop's arguments in favor of war with France were until I read the plain text version, and I've read the play at least twice and seen the movie a half dozen times. The plain text also preserves Shakespeare's language where possible, so I don't think using that exclusively would ruin the educational experience.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Great Stuff on Giftedness from EdWeek (Finally)
Education Week, "The Nation's Education Newspaper," is generally pretty quiet on things gifted, but this week they hosted a live chat with the authors of The Development of Giftedness and Talent Across the Lifespan, a forthcoming book in which they argue that giftedness is not static, nor is it something you are born with, but rather, like talent in sports or the arts, specific abilities, varying by person, which need to be nurtured. (The "live chat" link takes you to the transcript of the live chat. Click the title to order the book.)
(EdWeek keeps insisting that the book says "Giftedness can be taught," which is not at all what the authors are getting at. "[Author] Rena F. Subotnik:
We are arguing that giftedness can be developed rather than taught. Development of giftedness in a domain comes from high quality instruction and curriculum (like the work of those you mention above), mentoring in how to be successful, challenging peers, and personal motivation. The work of Benjamin Bloom in Developing Talent in Young People is very relevant here. He and his colleagues reported on the development of talent in athletics, arts, and academic domains. In each case, three types of teachers were most effective at different stages. In the first stage, the teacher helps students to fall in love with the topic or area. In the second stage the teacher provides advanced skills and knowledge and shares the values associated with that field. In the third stage individuals get a kind of coaching to help them refine their individual voice and contribution. In this way giftedness is "taught" or developed.")
To go along with the live chat, Donalyn Miller, who blogs as The Book Whisperer, and Tamara J. Fisher, who writes Unwrapping the Gifted, also have gifted-themed blogs this week. (Admittedly, Tamara's is always gifted-themed.) Read Donalyn's Lowering the Bar and Tamara's "The Evolving Definition of Giftedness."
(EdWeek keeps insisting that the book says "Giftedness can be taught," which is not at all what the authors are getting at. "[Author] Rena F. Subotnik:
We are arguing that giftedness can be developed rather than taught. Development of giftedness in a domain comes from high quality instruction and curriculum (like the work of those you mention above), mentoring in how to be successful, challenging peers, and personal motivation. The work of Benjamin Bloom in Developing Talent in Young People is very relevant here. He and his colleagues reported on the development of talent in athletics, arts, and academic domains. In each case, three types of teachers were most effective at different stages. In the first stage, the teacher helps students to fall in love with the topic or area. In the second stage the teacher provides advanced skills and knowledge and shares the values associated with that field. In the third stage individuals get a kind of coaching to help them refine their individual voice and contribution. In this way giftedness is "taught" or developed.")
To go along with the live chat, Donalyn Miller, who blogs as The Book Whisperer, and Tamara J. Fisher, who writes Unwrapping the Gifted, also have gifted-themed blogs this week. (Admittedly, Tamara's is always gifted-themed.) Read Donalyn's Lowering the Bar and Tamara's "The Evolving Definition of Giftedness."
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Books for Breakfast
When I was first beginning to plan homeschooling for the boys, I read a lot of "this is our typical day" articles and blog entries. Several of them included, "Well, I read to the children during breakfast." Sounds great, I thought, but morning is not my friend and breakfast for me has always been something to skip or scrounge for before doing something else. Now I was going to have to not only provide breakfast, but make it a learning opportunity, too? I don't think so.
That was last year, when it took at least several pokes to get Wolfie out of bed and Xavier had no interest in books at all. This year, I wanted to broaden Xavier's horizons. He was reading books of his choice on his own but they were mostly for kids a grade or two younger than he is. He's always up bright and early (gets that from DH) so I thought I'd get a book he'd like written at a higher level as we could read some in the mornings while waiting for Wolfie to get out of bed.
I bought What-The-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire. I'd read Wicked a couple years ago and thought this might be up Xavier's alley, and it was written as commercial fiction for adults, so at about an 8th-grade level.
An amazing thing happened. Not only did Xavier enjoy the book and being read to, but Wolfie started getting out of bed the first time I called so he could hear the story, too! Don't get me wrong, he still stumbles downstairs and curls up in a fetal position on the couch, but he also listens to the story and eats some breakfast and is ready to work when we're done reading. It's a miracle! LOL
We're currently reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a young adult novel by Sherman Alexie. I think Xavier could probably have read this on his own but I'm enjoying sharing it with the both of them. Coming up are probably The Hobbit and Book 1 of the Fire Thief series, a "hilarious reimagining of the myth of Prometheus" by Terry Deary, creator of the Horrible Histories Books.
That was last year, when it took at least several pokes to get Wolfie out of bed and Xavier had no interest in books at all. This year, I wanted to broaden Xavier's horizons. He was reading books of his choice on his own but they were mostly for kids a grade or two younger than he is. He's always up bright and early (gets that from DH) so I thought I'd get a book he'd like written at a higher level as we could read some in the mornings while waiting for Wolfie to get out of bed.
I bought What-The-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire. I'd read Wicked a couple years ago and thought this might be up Xavier's alley, and it was written as commercial fiction for adults, so at about an 8th-grade level.
An amazing thing happened. Not only did Xavier enjoy the book and being read to, but Wolfie started getting out of bed the first time I called so he could hear the story, too! Don't get me wrong, he still stumbles downstairs and curls up in a fetal position on the couch, but he also listens to the story and eats some breakfast and is ready to work when we're done reading. It's a miracle! LOL
We're currently reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a young adult novel by Sherman Alexie. I think Xavier could probably have read this on his own but I'm enjoying sharing it with the both of them. Coming up are probably The Hobbit and Book 1 of the Fire Thief series, a "hilarious reimagining of the myth of Prometheus" by Terry Deary, creator of the Horrible Histories Books.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
A Note From Horrible Ray
"If you're interested in more Horrible Books or Galore Park Books, I'll be doing another Galore Park / Horrible Books Order on September 9, 2007, with all the gory details at : www.horriblebooks.com
Thanks, and all the best,
Ray"
For those of you unfamiliar with Horrible Books, my review is here. Galore Park is another UK series aimed at the middle school set, which covers foreign language (including Latin and Greek), history (not US, of course), geography and other subject British children are expected to learn. I have not see the Galore Park books, but if Ray think they're good enough to import with the Horribles, that's good enough for me.
Thanks, and all the best,
Ray"
For those of you unfamiliar with Horrible Books, my review is here. Galore Park is another UK series aimed at the middle school set, which covers foreign language (including Latin and Greek), history (not US, of course), geography and other subject British children are expected to learn. I have not see the Galore Park books, but if Ray think they're good enough to import with the Horribles, that's good enough for me.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Facts on Fiction
Picking books for young gifted kids can be difficult. Just because a child can read at a high school level doesn't mean he or she is ready for "edgy" young adult books. So gifted parents have to either read everything before giving it to their children (Ha! Try keeping up with them!), or trust someone else--the librarian, the Caldecott committee or some other book reviewer--to determine what is or is not too frightening for your child.
Movie review sites like Movie Mom.com break down questionable movies by counting profanities, incidents of violence (cartoonish or otherwise), nudity/sex, use of alcohol or drugs. When my kids were in 4th and 5th grade and wanted to go to a PG-13 movie, I used Movie Mom frequently to make those decisions. Books did not have a similar resource until now.
Facts on Fiction is a nonprofit book review database that does for chapter books what Movie Mom does for movies. Take Dickens' A Christmas Carol, for instance. If you click here you can find FoF's evaluation of the mature subject matter in the story.
What I like best is that if you click Click Here for More Details at the bottom of the screen, it shows you exactly what the reviewer considered a reference to death, with page number and citation. That's true transparency. This is not an attempt at censorship. It's really a way for parents to search by title or reading level and then honestly evaluate if that reference to "suicide" is going to be too much for Junior or if it's just Tom Sawyer pretending he drowned so Aunt Polly won't punish him.
Movie review sites like Movie Mom.com break down questionable movies by counting profanities, incidents of violence (cartoonish or otherwise), nudity/sex, use of alcohol or drugs. When my kids were in 4th and 5th grade and wanted to go to a PG-13 movie, I used Movie Mom frequently to make those decisions. Books did not have a similar resource until now.
Facts on Fiction is a nonprofit book review database that does for chapter books what Movie Mom does for movies. Take Dickens' A Christmas Carol, for instance. If you click here you can find FoF's evaluation of the mature subject matter in the story.
What I like best is that if you click Click Here for More Details at the bottom of the screen, it shows you exactly what the reviewer considered a reference to death, with page number and citation. That's true transparency. This is not an attempt at censorship. It's really a way for parents to search by title or reading level and then honestly evaluate if that reference to "suicide" is going to be too much for Junior or if it's just Tom Sawyer pretending he drowned so Aunt Polly won't punish him.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Just Where Are Those Wild Things?
There's an interesting essay at Education World called One Teacher's Pitch to Be Emperor of Education. Chemistry teacher Dr. Richard Chempleau's "first two imperial acts would be to fire one-third of American teachers and then to give every parent a one-question quiz."
"Next, every parent of a 2-year old would have a one-question quiz, and they'd all have to take it at the same instant. I know too much about cheating, of course. The question would be "One Fish, Two Fish"? Any parent who didn't write "Red Fish, Blue Fish" would be required to sign a Universal Release of Liability and Parental Promise Not to Whine Statement. Parents who can't spout Dr. Seuss or Mother Goose, but who can name ten movie stars, professional sports players, or rock idols, are ruining their child's future.
They can't give their children the first four years of life in an impoverished educational environment, then expect the schools to fix all of their mistakes. A parent is the first and most important teacher their children will ever know, but most parents never spend that magical time with their child on the sofa. The TV should be off, the book is open, and their child is captured for life by the rhythm of a nursery rhyme. Four years watching reruns or ball games hardwires the future student to expect entertainment, not education, from 12 years of school."
Read to your kids, folks. From the day you bring them home from the hospital to the day they ask you to stop. It doesn't matter if you think they're too young to understand the words. You're building a bond between you that will last a lifetime and starting their education out on the right foot, too.
"Next, every parent of a 2-year old would have a one-question quiz, and they'd all have to take it at the same instant. I know too much about cheating, of course. The question would be "One Fish, Two Fish"? Any parent who didn't write "Red Fish, Blue Fish" would be required to sign a Universal Release of Liability and Parental Promise Not to Whine Statement. Parents who can't spout Dr. Seuss or Mother Goose, but who can name ten movie stars, professional sports players, or rock idols, are ruining their child's future.
They can't give their children the first four years of life in an impoverished educational environment, then expect the schools to fix all of their mistakes. A parent is the first and most important teacher their children will ever know, but most parents never spend that magical time with their child on the sofa. The TV should be off, the book is open, and their child is captured for life by the rhythm of a nursery rhyme. Four years watching reruns or ball games hardwires the future student to expect entertainment, not education, from 12 years of school."
Read to your kids, folks. From the day you bring them home from the hospital to the day they ask you to stop. It doesn't matter if you think they're too young to understand the words. You're building a bond between you that will last a lifetime and starting their education out on the right foot, too.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Attn: College-Bound High Schoolers!
According to EdWeek.org, "a study released today highlights the gap between what high schools are teaching in the college-preparatory courses and what colleges want incoming students to know." The survey, by ACT, Inc. (the testing people) "found that college professors generally want incoming students to have a deeper understanding of a selected number of topics and skills, while high school teachers in all content areas tend to rate a far broader array of content and skills as 'important' or 'very important.'"
Specifically, "In writing, postsecondary instructors tended to value the basic mechanics of writing (such as sentence structure and punctuation) more highly than high school teachers did. High school English teachers rated topic and idea development as the most important set of skills.
In mathematics, postsecondary instructors rated being able to understand and rigorously apply fundamental skills and processes as more important than exposure to more advanced math topics. High school math teachers tended to view the latter as important. Postsecondary instructors also placed far more emphasis on being able to understand new material by reading a textbook.
In reading, the survey found a general lack of reading courses in high school and a decline in the teaching of targeted reading strategies after the 9th grade. In contrast, college instructors of remedial courses rated such strategies as very important and reported devoting a large percentage of time to teaching them.
In science, high school teachers consistently rated content as more important to student success than science process or inquiry skills, in direct contrast to both middle school and postsecondary science teachers."
What does this mean for homeschoolers? I believe it gives us an edge over public school students in that we can more easily tailor our kids' education to what the colleges want, without having to overcome institutional bias.
Curriculum notes to myself:
Make sure the boys can write a grammatical sentence, create an outline with a strong thesis and write a persuasive essay following that outline, preferably in less than an hour. (Yes, I know that is a run-on sentence. ;-)
Make sure they can read and understand challenging literature.
Focus on fundamental math skills, no matter how much Wolfie complains. (Learning on their own from a textbook is pretty much standard procedure, isn't it?)
Continue to skip the make-work labs and "activities" in the science texts in favor of cramming more information into their little brains. Only do experiments when we genuinely don't know the results.
Specifically, "In writing, postsecondary instructors tended to value the basic mechanics of writing (such as sentence structure and punctuation) more highly than high school teachers did. High school English teachers rated topic and idea development as the most important set of skills.
In mathematics, postsecondary instructors rated being able to understand and rigorously apply fundamental skills and processes as more important than exposure to more advanced math topics. High school math teachers tended to view the latter as important. Postsecondary instructors also placed far more emphasis on being able to understand new material by reading a textbook.
In reading, the survey found a general lack of reading courses in high school and a decline in the teaching of targeted reading strategies after the 9th grade. In contrast, college instructors of remedial courses rated such strategies as very important and reported devoting a large percentage of time to teaching them.
In science, high school teachers consistently rated content as more important to student success than science process or inquiry skills, in direct contrast to both middle school and postsecondary science teachers."
What does this mean for homeschoolers? I believe it gives us an edge over public school students in that we can more easily tailor our kids' education to what the colleges want, without having to overcome institutional bias.
Curriculum notes to myself:
Make sure the boys can write a grammatical sentence, create an outline with a strong thesis and write a persuasive essay following that outline, preferably in less than an hour. (Yes, I know that is a run-on sentence. ;-)
Make sure they can read and understand challenging literature.
Focus on fundamental math skills, no matter how much Wolfie complains. (Learning on their own from a textbook is pretty much standard procedure, isn't it?)
Continue to skip the make-work labs and "activities" in the science texts in favor of cramming more information into their little brains. Only do experiments when we genuinely don't know the results.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
The Latest Horrible Book Order
"If you're in for some more Horrible Books from the UK, I'll be doing another Horrible Books Order on 4/29/07.
Enjoy your Horrible Day!
Horrible Ray
New Horrible Titles
Murderous Maths : Codes : How to Make Them and Break Them (2007 New Book)
Horrible Geography : Freaky Peaks & Perishing Poles (2007 New Book)
Horrible Science : Evil Inventions (2007 New Book)
Horrible Science : Fatal Forces & Fight for Flight (2007 New Book)
Horrible Science : Seriously Squishy Science Book (2007 New Book)
Horrible Histories : Barmy British Empire & Blitzed Brits (2007 New Book)
Horrible Histories : Oxford (2007 New Book)
Horrible Histories : Warriors (2007 New Book)
Dead Famous : Pirates and Their Caribbean Capers (2007 New Book)
Terry Deary : Terribly True Detective Stories (2007 New Book)
Terry Deary : Terribly True UFO Stories (2007 New Book)
--
Horrible Books
6574 Edmonton Avenue, San Diego, CA 92122
Tel : 858-202-0235
Fax : 858-202-0265
ray@horriblebooks.com
www.horriblebooks.com
Enjoy your Horrible Day!
Horrible Ray
New Horrible Titles
Murderous Maths : Codes : How to Make Them and Break Them (2007 New Book)
Horrible Geography : Freaky Peaks & Perishing Poles (2007 New Book)
Horrible Science : Evil Inventions (2007 New Book)
Horrible Science : Fatal Forces & Fight for Flight (2007 New Book)
Horrible Science : Seriously Squishy Science Book (2007 New Book)
Horrible Histories : Barmy British Empire & Blitzed Brits (2007 New Book)
Horrible Histories : Oxford (2007 New Book)
Horrible Histories : Warriors (2007 New Book)
Dead Famous : Pirates and Their Caribbean Capers (2007 New Book)
Terry Deary : Terribly True Detective Stories (2007 New Book)
Terry Deary : Terribly True UFO Stories (2007 New Book)
--
Horrible Books
6574 Edmonton Avenue, San Diego, CA 92122
Tel : 858-202-0235
Fax : 858-202-0265
ray@horriblebooks.com
www.horriblebooks.com
Thursday, March 15, 2007
What Guys Read in the UK
There's a story on the BBC News site today calling for more reading support, particularly for working class boys.
"Boys like books which depict them in powerful roles, often as sporting, spying or fighting heroes - not just Jane Austen, but a necessary dose of Anthony Horowitz as well," [Education Secretary Alan Johnson] said.
"To help get boys reading we need a boys' bookshelf in every secondary school library in the country, containing positive, modern, relevant role models for working class boys."
I'm the first to agree it's very hard to find novels that boys, particularly in the 10+ age-group, will read. But if you put all the exciting books on the "boys only" bookshelf, what happens to the girls who like adventure stories or the Hardy Boys?
Perhaps a better approach than sorting library books by gender, is to make English/reading lessons more accessible for the underwhelmed by changing the way the subject is taught. Enter English teacher Gary Spina, author of The Mountain Man's Field Guide to Grammar. From the New York Times:
"What few of his teachers realized was that Gary was an avid reader before his teens, making his way through the shelf of Jack London in the local library, digging into copies of Robert Louis Stevenson at home. In seventh grade, he picked up Hemingway and began to realize there might be something manly in writing well.
Then, in high school, he applied for a job writing copy at an advertising agency in Hackensack and was rejected because he spelled the word “advertize.” Learning something about correct language and grammar, he realized, might prove useful in his goal of being self-sufficient.
Decades later, Mr. Spina used these insights to write a most unlikely reference book, “The Mountain Man’s Field Guide to Grammar,” which was released last year. In the crowded field of grammar books, his is probably the only one to include “grifter” and “pemmican” in its glossary and to teach the simple sentence with examples such as “Dirty Doris spit tobacco juice.”
Cool, huh? I've been looking for a grammar resource that won't put the boys to sleep. I'm going to check this one out right away!
"Boys like books which depict them in powerful roles, often as sporting, spying or fighting heroes - not just Jane Austen, but a necessary dose of Anthony Horowitz as well," [Education Secretary Alan Johnson] said.
"To help get boys reading we need a boys' bookshelf in every secondary school library in the country, containing positive, modern, relevant role models for working class boys."
I'm the first to agree it's very hard to find novels that boys, particularly in the 10+ age-group, will read. But if you put all the exciting books on the "boys only" bookshelf, what happens to the girls who like adventure stories or the Hardy Boys?
Perhaps a better approach than sorting library books by gender, is to make English/reading lessons more accessible for the underwhelmed by changing the way the subject is taught. Enter English teacher Gary Spina, author of The Mountain Man's Field Guide to Grammar. From the New York Times:
"What few of his teachers realized was that Gary was an avid reader before his teens, making his way through the shelf of Jack London in the local library, digging into copies of Robert Louis Stevenson at home. In seventh grade, he picked up Hemingway and began to realize there might be something manly in writing well.
Then, in high school, he applied for a job writing copy at an advertising agency in Hackensack and was rejected because he spelled the word “advertize.” Learning something about correct language and grammar, he realized, might prove useful in his goal of being self-sufficient.
Decades later, Mr. Spina used these insights to write a most unlikely reference book, “The Mountain Man’s Field Guide to Grammar,” which was released last year. In the crowded field of grammar books, his is probably the only one to include “grifter” and “pemmican” in its glossary and to teach the simple sentence with examples such as “Dirty Doris spit tobacco juice.”
Cool, huh? I've been looking for a grammar resource that won't put the boys to sleep. I'm going to check this one out right away!
Friday, October 06, 2006
It's Horrible Books Time Again!
I've just been notified that Ray at DelSol Books is ready to put in another order for the UK's Horrible Books series. You can find more information on Terry Deary's Horrible Histories in my What Guys Read post from last June. With the bulk discount, he sells the books for about $7.50, plus $7 shipping no matter how many books you buy, which is a better deal than you'll get on Amazon or eBay. These particular books are beloved by kids everywhere. At first glance, the boys found 28 books they wanted. Even Klaus was excited when our summer order came, and Klaus hates everything! To participate, place you order with Ray by 11/1/06 at www.horriblebooks.com. Thanks, Ray!
Monday, August 14, 2006
What Guys Read (And Girls, too!), Part III
Apparently, boys and girls read for different reasons. "According to Eden Ross Lipson, the author of The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children, boys read on a need-to-know basis: To generalize wildly, "They don't set out looking for story and relationship. They set out looking for information." (quoted in Why Boys Like Girl Books at Slate.com)
Okay, as mind-blowing as this observation isn't, there is value in oversimplifying. Take, for example, the stack of "Horrible" books on my kitchen counter. I mentioned last time this wonderful series of British books, starting with Terry Deary's Horrible Histories. I like them because they read like a story--the narration is conversational and proceeds logically from one topic to another, for the most part. (I still don't like having to read-aloud the cartoon chapters. I also have some issues with the way they mucked about the Twisted Tales series, but I'll save that for another day.)
On the other hand, they are completely non-fiction (except the Twisted Tales) and somewhat interactive with quizzes, the aforementioned cartoons, lists, etc., hence "boy books." Mom (that would be me) loves them because Xavier has actually turned off the endless reruns of "Ned's Declassified" and read a book, without me having the slightest idea what he was doing, much less prompting, nagging or otherwise forcing him to do it. Yay!
Within ten minutes of unpacking the order, Klaus was reading aloud to his brothers from "Rotten Romans." Much giggling ensued, if it's fair to accuse teen and pre-teen boys of giggling. Klaus has told me repeatedly how much he likes the Horrible Histories and we will be ordering more when the time comes.
The books are only sporadically published here (by Scholastic, who doesn't seem to realize they've got another Harry Potter juggernaut on their hands here). You can find them on ebay, though they are quite expensive, and Amazon UK, where they are horribly expensive (sorry, couldn't resist the pun). I ordered mine through a homeschooling dad in California, who sells books on the side, for about $8 per book, including shipping (15 book minimum). He's going to put together another bulk order in October/November for holiday delivery and I have cleared with him letting you all in on the next order. I will give you all the details on the next ordering opportunity as soon as I get them. Watch this space!
Okay, as mind-blowing as this observation isn't, there is value in oversimplifying. Take, for example, the stack of "Horrible" books on my kitchen counter. I mentioned last time this wonderful series of British books, starting with Terry Deary's Horrible Histories. I like them because they read like a story--the narration is conversational and proceeds logically from one topic to another, for the most part. (I still don't like having to read-aloud the cartoon chapters. I also have some issues with the way they mucked about the Twisted Tales series, but I'll save that for another day.)
On the other hand, they are completely non-fiction (except the Twisted Tales) and somewhat interactive with quizzes, the aforementioned cartoons, lists, etc., hence "boy books." Mom (that would be me) loves them because Xavier has actually turned off the endless reruns of "Ned's Declassified" and read a book, without me having the slightest idea what he was doing, much less prompting, nagging or otherwise forcing him to do it. Yay!
Within ten minutes of unpacking the order, Klaus was reading aloud to his brothers from "Rotten Romans." Much giggling ensued, if it's fair to accuse teen and pre-teen boys of giggling. Klaus has told me repeatedly how much he likes the Horrible Histories and we will be ordering more when the time comes.
The books are only sporadically published here (by Scholastic, who doesn't seem to realize they've got another Harry Potter juggernaut on their hands here). You can find them on ebay, though they are quite expensive, and Amazon UK, where they are horribly expensive (sorry, couldn't resist the pun). I ordered mine through a homeschooling dad in California, who sells books on the side, for about $8 per book, including shipping (15 book minimum). He's going to put together another bulk order in October/November for holiday delivery and I have cleared with him letting you all in on the next order. I will give you all the details on the next ordering opportunity as soon as I get them. Watch this space!
Sunday, August 06, 2006
No Child Left Offline
Is there a better way to spend all the NCLB money the government is currently funnelling to testing companies? A recent study published by the American Psychological Association (APA) Online suggests that putting a computer and free Internet service in the home increases GPA and reading test scores for low income students:
"Does Internet use affect children's academic outcomes?
A considerable body of research has examined the effects of computer use on academic outcomes. However, reviews of this literature typically conclude that the results are inconclusive (e.g., NSF Report, 2001; Roschelle, Pea, Hoadley, Gordon, & Means, 2000; Subrahmanyam et al., 2000). Although benefits of computer use have been observed, they typically depend on a variety of factors (e.g., subject matter). The only cognitive outcome for which benefits have been consistently observed is visual-spatial skills. Computer gaming contributes to visual-spatial skills, at least when these skills are assessed immediately following the computer activity (Subrahmanyam, Greenfield, Kraut, & Gross, 2001).
In the HomeNetToo project we obtained children's grade point averages (GPAs) and scores on standardized tests of reading and math. We then examined whether Internet use during the preceding time period predicted these academic outcomes. It did. Children who used the Internet more showed greater gains in GPA and reading test scores -- but not math test scores -- than did children who used it less (Jackson, von Eye, Biocca, Barbatsis, Zhao, & Fitzgerald, 2003a). Latent linear growth curve analysis supported the conclusion that Internet use leads to improvements in academic performance.
There are important caveats in interpreting these findings. First, HomeNetToo children were performing below average at the start of the project. Mean GPA was about 2.0, and mean percentile ranks on standardized tests of reading and math were about 30%. Whether similar benefits of Internet use will obtain for children performing at or above average is a question for future research. Second, the gains we observed, though statistically significant, were modest in magnitude. Mean GPAs and standardized test scores were still below average at the end of the project. However, even modest gains are encouraging, particularly in light of the fact that HomeNetToo children were not required to use the Internet in order for their families to participate in the project.
Why might using the Internet lead to improvements in GPAs and reading test scores? One explanation lies in how HomeNetToo children used the Internet. Recall that Internet use was primarily Web use, not e-mail use or use of other communication tools. The Web is primarily text. Thus, more time on the Web means more time spent reading, which may explain the increase in GPAs, which depend heavily on reading skills, and in standardized tests scores in reading."
"Does Internet use affect children's academic outcomes?
A considerable body of research has examined the effects of computer use on academic outcomes. However, reviews of this literature typically conclude that the results are inconclusive (e.g., NSF Report, 2001; Roschelle, Pea, Hoadley, Gordon, & Means, 2000; Subrahmanyam et al., 2000). Although benefits of computer use have been observed, they typically depend on a variety of factors (e.g., subject matter). The only cognitive outcome for which benefits have been consistently observed is visual-spatial skills. Computer gaming contributes to visual-spatial skills, at least when these skills are assessed immediately following the computer activity (Subrahmanyam, Greenfield, Kraut, & Gross, 2001).
In the HomeNetToo project we obtained children's grade point averages (GPAs) and scores on standardized tests of reading and math. We then examined whether Internet use during the preceding time period predicted these academic outcomes. It did. Children who used the Internet more showed greater gains in GPA and reading test scores -- but not math test scores -- than did children who used it less (Jackson, von Eye, Biocca, Barbatsis, Zhao, & Fitzgerald, 2003a). Latent linear growth curve analysis supported the conclusion that Internet use leads to improvements in academic performance.
There are important caveats in interpreting these findings. First, HomeNetToo children were performing below average at the start of the project. Mean GPA was about 2.0, and mean percentile ranks on standardized tests of reading and math were about 30%. Whether similar benefits of Internet use will obtain for children performing at or above average is a question for future research. Second, the gains we observed, though statistically significant, were modest in magnitude. Mean GPAs and standardized test scores were still below average at the end of the project. However, even modest gains are encouraging, particularly in light of the fact that HomeNetToo children were not required to use the Internet in order for their families to participate in the project.
Why might using the Internet lead to improvements in GPAs and reading test scores? One explanation lies in how HomeNetToo children used the Internet. Recall that Internet use was primarily Web use, not e-mail use or use of other communication tools. The Web is primarily text. Thus, more time on the Web means more time spent reading, which may explain the increase in GPAs, which depend heavily on reading skills, and in standardized tests scores in reading."
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
World eBook Fair
Now through August 4, you can download thousands of copywritten books from Project Gutenberg though the World eBook Fair. Books are text-searchable and free to the public for this limited time only. From their website:
"Welcome to the home of the World eBook Fair, the largest showcase for eBooks, eBook publishers, editors, and others working in the new world of eBooks.
July 4th to August 4, 2006 marks a month long celebration of the 35th anniversary of the first step taken towards today's eBooks, when the United States Declaration of Independence was the first file placed online for downloading in what was destined to be an electronic library of the Internet. Today's eBook library has a total of over 100 languages represented.
The World eBook Fair welcomes you to absolutely free access to a variety of eBook unparalleled by any other source. 1/3 million eBooks await you for personal use, all free of charge for the month from July 4 - August 4, 2006, and then 1/2 million eBooks in 2007, 3/4 million in 2008, and ONE million in 2009.
Ten times as many eBooks are available from private eBook sources, without the media circus that comes with 100 billion dollar media mavens such as Google. The World eBook Fair has created a library of wide ranging samples of these eBooks, totaling 1/3 million. Here are eBooks from nearly every classic author on the varieties of subjects previously only available through the largest library collections in the world. Now these books are yours for personal use, free of charge, to keep for the rest of your lives.
This event is brought to you by the oldest and largest free eBook source on the Internet, Project Gutenberg, with the assistance of the World eBook Library, the providers of the largest collection, and a number of other eBook efforts around the world. The World eBook Library normally charges $8.95 per year for online access, and allows unlimited personal downloading. During The World eBook Fair all these books are available free of charge through a gateway at http://www.gutenberg.org and http://WorldeBookFair.com."
"Welcome to the home of the World eBook Fair, the largest showcase for eBooks, eBook publishers, editors, and others working in the new world of eBooks.
July 4th to August 4, 2006 marks a month long celebration of the 35th anniversary of the first step taken towards today's eBooks, when the United States Declaration of Independence was the first file placed online for downloading in what was destined to be an electronic library of the Internet. Today's eBook library has a total of over 100 languages represented.
The World eBook Fair welcomes you to absolutely free access to a variety of eBook unparalleled by any other source. 1/3 million eBooks await you for personal use, all free of charge for the month from July 4 - August 4, 2006, and then 1/2 million eBooks in 2007, 3/4 million in 2008, and ONE million in 2009.
Ten times as many eBooks are available from private eBook sources, without the media circus that comes with 100 billion dollar media mavens such as Google. The World eBook Fair has created a library of wide ranging samples of these eBooks, totaling 1/3 million. Here are eBooks from nearly every classic author on the varieties of subjects previously only available through the largest library collections in the world. Now these books are yours for personal use, free of charge, to keep for the rest of your lives.
This event is brought to you by the oldest and largest free eBook source on the Internet, Project Gutenberg, with the assistance of the World eBook Library, the providers of the largest collection, and a number of other eBook efforts around the world. The World eBook Library normally charges $8.95 per year for online access, and allows unlimited personal downloading. During The World eBook Fair all these books are available free of charge through a gateway at http://www.gutenberg.org and http://WorldeBookFair.com."
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
What Guys Read, Part II (And Girls, too!)
No reading list for elementary school kids is complete without Terry Deary's Horrible Histories, Horrible Science, Dead Famous (biographies), Murderous Maths, Wild Lives, The Knowledge, Twisted Tales and Horrible Geography series. Around 100 in all, each approximately 200 pg paperback explores a single subject in all its grisy, squishy, exciting glory, with funny illustrations and light, irreverent prose. They're pitched at age 8 and up but entertaining enough for older kids and accessible for anyone reading chapter books. I should mention the books are well-researched, in the "You can't make this stuff up" vein. The Cut-Throat Celts, for example, includes quotes from Roman historians and so could qualify as educational reading. ;-)
I'd brought home the Cut-Throat Celts and the Blitzed Brits from my last trip to London, and handed one to Xavier yesterday to see if he'd like to get some more. (Always looking for something Xavier will read.) He got to the second page before chortling, "Oh, yeah!" Celtic history's not his thing, even with the human sacrifice left in, but he picked out several Horrible Science and The Knowledge books.
For a complete list of titles, consult Hoagies. These books are published in England, but some can be found on Amazon and quite a number on ebay. Watch out for shipping charges from the UK--they'll significantly increase the price of the book, particularly since the dollar is so weak against the pound right now. One ebay seller offered a book for a penny but shipping was $14. Amazon.UK wanted $12.85 to ship one book, plus an additional $5.50 shipping per additional book in the order. Since the books themselves only cost $9, not to mention being quite thin and paperback, I didn't think this was much of a deal.
What Guys Read
I'd brought home the Cut-Throat Celts and the Blitzed Brits from my last trip to London, and handed one to Xavier yesterday to see if he'd like to get some more. (Always looking for something Xavier will read.) He got to the second page before chortling, "Oh, yeah!" Celtic history's not his thing, even with the human sacrifice left in, but he picked out several Horrible Science and The Knowledge books.
For a complete list of titles, consult Hoagies. These books are published in England, but some can be found on Amazon and quite a number on ebay. Watch out for shipping charges from the UK--they'll significantly increase the price of the book, particularly since the dollar is so weak against the pound right now. One ebay seller offered a book for a penny but shipping was $14. Amazon.UK wanted $12.85 to ship one book, plus an additional $5.50 shipping per additional book in the order. Since the books themselves only cost $9, not to mention being quite thin and paperback, I didn't think this was much of a deal.
What Guys Read
Monday, May 08, 2006
Looking for Something to Do this Summer?
Our summer is pretty much taken up with summer band/orchestra and various camps (Xavier is spending three weeks at three different camps over the course of the summer. Yikes!) But if your kids are likely to be hanging around bored and need some intellectual stimulation, check out the Ten Terrific Weeks series from Usborne Books at Home. Subjects include:
Preschool/Lower Elementary
Adventures of Fairy Princesses
Adventures of the Human Body – sample week available on website
NEW Adventures at Apple Tree Farm
NEW Adventures at Sea
Upper Elementary
Adventures in Ancient Egypt
NEW Adventures Around the World
Adventures in the Arts
Adventures in Creativity
Adventures of the Human Body
Adventures of Knighthood – sample week available on website
Adventures in Literature
Adventures in Space
The curriculum alone costs $6.95. Complete sets with assignments, projects, etc. run between $50 and $75 dollars. I haven't used these myself--we're in need of some serious de-schooling--but they might be a nice bridge from one grade level to the next (if you're doing the school/grade level thing) or for homeschoolers who want to keep up skills but slow the pace down for the summer. I like Usborne books because they're visually interesting (lots of pictures) and they have internet links for more information. Click the Ten Terrific Weeks link to learn about the kits or the Usborne books link to purchase.
Preschool/Lower Elementary
Adventures of Fairy Princesses
Adventures of the Human Body – sample week available on website
NEW Adventures at Apple Tree Farm
NEW Adventures at Sea
Upper Elementary
Adventures in Ancient Egypt
NEW Adventures Around the World
Adventures in the Arts
Adventures in Creativity
Adventures of the Human Body
Adventures of Knighthood – sample week available on website
Adventures in Literature
Adventures in Space
The curriculum alone costs $6.95. Complete sets with assignments, projects, etc. run between $50 and $75 dollars. I haven't used these myself--we're in need of some serious de-schooling--but they might be a nice bridge from one grade level to the next (if you're doing the school/grade level thing) or for homeschoolers who want to keep up skills but slow the pace down for the summer. I like Usborne books because they're visually interesting (lots of pictures) and they have internet links for more information. Click the Ten Terrific Weeks link to learn about the kits or the Usborne books link to purchase.
Monday, May 01, 2006
The Point is Moot
Fabulous game for logophiles, vocabulary mavens and others (including homeschoolers and students looking forward to the SATs), Moot, billed as The World's Toughest Language Game, is Sudoku or Trivial Pursuit for those who read the dictionary for fun. The game is for multiples of two players (we usually play as one parent/one child teams). You advance your token around a cribbage-type board by rolling the 12-sided die and answered vocabulary questions at one of four difficulties. The question difficulty depends on what number you roll: 1-3 red; 4-6 green, 7-9 yellow, 10-12 blue.
Some sample questions, picked at random from the stacks and stacks of cards:
Q. Red (easy): If your toes are in a coma, are they comatose? (Get it? Coma-toes?)
A. Yes
Q. Green (hard): Which could be healthy: lasciviousness or prurience?
A. Lasciviousness: To be lustful is to be lascivious, whereas to have an unhealthy obsession with sex is to be prurient.
Q. Yellow (harder): What cooking term means "to soak in seawater" in Latin?
A. Marinate: The word marinate derives from the Latin mare, sea; it denotes "the soaking of meat or fish to enhance flavour." (Spelling variation due to the game being Canadian.)
Q. Blue (nearly impossible): What word was coined to describe the easy-going pace of pilgrims riding to Thomas Becket's tomb?
A. Canter: The word canter was coined by contracting the phrase Canterbury pace, the easy-going pace of the pilgrims riding to the tomb of St. Thomas A' Becket in Canterbury.
Loads of brain-stretching fun (and lots of smacks to the head when you hear the answers)! You can order the game or look at more questions by clicking on the link above.
Some sample questions, picked at random from the stacks and stacks of cards:
Q. Red (easy): If your toes are in a coma, are they comatose? (Get it? Coma-toes?)
A. Yes
Q. Green (hard): Which could be healthy: lasciviousness or prurience?
A. Lasciviousness: To be lustful is to be lascivious, whereas to have an unhealthy obsession with sex is to be prurient.
Q. Yellow (harder): What cooking term means "to soak in seawater" in Latin?
A. Marinate: The word marinate derives from the Latin mare, sea; it denotes "the soaking of meat or fish to enhance flavour." (Spelling variation due to the game being Canadian.)
Q. Blue (nearly impossible): What word was coined to describe the easy-going pace of pilgrims riding to Thomas Becket's tomb?
A. Canter: The word canter was coined by contracting the phrase Canterbury pace, the easy-going pace of the pilgrims riding to the tomb of St. Thomas A' Becket in Canterbury.
Loads of brain-stretching fun (and lots of smacks to the head when you hear the answers)! You can order the game or look at more questions by clicking on the link above.
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