It's official--Klaus has his driver's license. He's had his temps for more than a year but with the huge mess with school last fall, didn't really start practicing driving until this spring. Although he tells me that 60% of teens fail their first driving test, he passed first time with only two mistakes.
In the last 48 hours, I think he's driven down to the movie store (a whole mile away) 4-5 times on various pretexts. Wolfie and Xavier love it, though, because if they want a snack or a trip to Dairy Queen, Klaus is more than happy to take them, where Mom and Dad would not.
So congratulations to Klaus!! We're very proud of you!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Punished by Curriculum That's Too Broad?
I just read this 1987 Boston Globe article by Alfie Kohn. Professor Kohn is the author of Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise and Other Bribes in which he argues that all the praising and rewarding we do as parents and teachers in hopes of positive behavior modification is actually making kids' behavior worse, instead of better.
This Boston Globe article is twenty years old, but parts of it are ringing recognition bells for me. For example, Kohn writes:
"A related series of studies shows that intrinsic interest in a task — the sense that something is worth doing for its own sake — typically declines when someone is rewarded for doing it."
This directly relates to the problem we've had with "turning everything into school." Our virtual school is very forgiving and just about everything we do can be written up and submitted for credit. Great, right? Nope. The more I suggest applying for credit for things the boys are already doing, the more I get sour looks and dragging feet.
Most recently DH has insisted the boys clean their rooms thoroughly before summer starts, including sorting through old books left on bookshelves. Coincidentally, I found a story in the local newspaper about a couple in town who is collecting kids' books to send to English language learners in Congo. "Great!" I thought. "We can clean our bookshelves and do serving learning at the same time." Thinking this would make the onerous cleaning task worthwhile, I broke the good news to the boys. Xavier slumped like I had dropped the weight of the world on his shoulders. And he has stopped room-cleaning altogether.
Ditto Wolfie writing book reports on the books he's been reading this year. He's reading Don Quixote for fun, dangit. Thinking about it in terms of school would ruin it. And heaven forbid we refer to anything as a "project." "Project" = school = all the fun has been sucked right out of it. As Kohn says, "If a reward — money, awards, praise, or winning a contest — comes to be seen as the reason one is engaging in an activity, that activity will be viewed as less enjoyable in its own right." No wonder Xavier refused to participate in the Handwriting Contest as part of his art class!
I fear they may have gotten their contrariness from me. Kohn notes: "The key, then, lies in how a reward is experienced. If we come to view ourselves as working to get something, we will no longer find that activity worth doing in its own right." This plays right into whether or not I'm sticking to my diet. If I'm trying to "be good" because it's just time, I have no problems. If it's for any other reason--I'm trying to keep up with DH or impress the Class of '84 or change myself to fit my clothes--the cravings are unbearable and my general mood is crabby and deprived.
When my sister was 8, she told a school psychologist that she was "so stubborn even I can't make myself do things." I guess it runs in the family, huh? At least, now that I know what the issue is. No more turning things into school for me.
This Boston Globe article is twenty years old, but parts of it are ringing recognition bells for me. For example, Kohn writes:
"A related series of studies shows that intrinsic interest in a task — the sense that something is worth doing for its own sake — typically declines when someone is rewarded for doing it."
This directly relates to the problem we've had with "turning everything into school." Our virtual school is very forgiving and just about everything we do can be written up and submitted for credit. Great, right? Nope. The more I suggest applying for credit for things the boys are already doing, the more I get sour looks and dragging feet.
Most recently DH has insisted the boys clean their rooms thoroughly before summer starts, including sorting through old books left on bookshelves. Coincidentally, I found a story in the local newspaper about a couple in town who is collecting kids' books to send to English language learners in Congo. "Great!" I thought. "We can clean our bookshelves and do serving learning at the same time." Thinking this would make the onerous cleaning task worthwhile, I broke the good news to the boys. Xavier slumped like I had dropped the weight of the world on his shoulders. And he has stopped room-cleaning altogether.
Ditto Wolfie writing book reports on the books he's been reading this year. He's reading Don Quixote for fun, dangit. Thinking about it in terms of school would ruin it. And heaven forbid we refer to anything as a "project." "Project" = school = all the fun has been sucked right out of it. As Kohn says, "If a reward — money, awards, praise, or winning a contest — comes to be seen as the reason one is engaging in an activity, that activity will be viewed as less enjoyable in its own right." No wonder Xavier refused to participate in the Handwriting Contest as part of his art class!
I fear they may have gotten their contrariness from me. Kohn notes: "The key, then, lies in how a reward is experienced. If we come to view ourselves as working to get something, we will no longer find that activity worth doing in its own right." This plays right into whether or not I'm sticking to my diet. If I'm trying to "be good" because it's just time, I have no problems. If it's for any other reason--I'm trying to keep up with DH or impress the Class of '84 or change myself to fit my clothes--the cravings are unbearable and my general mood is crabby and deprived.
When my sister was 8, she told a school psychologist that she was "so stubborn even I can't make myself do things." I guess it runs in the family, huh? At least, now that I know what the issue is. No more turning things into school for me.
Gifted Education Articles at BellaOnline
A woman I know from the Bright Kids list (sign up through the link at the right) has become the new gifted education editor at BellaOnline, an online community for women (it looks similar to iVillage). Check our her articles here, in particular the one on finding a mentor for your gifted child. They also have a number of homeschooling links.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Free Gifted Education Quarterly
I just received the following email from Maurice Fisher at Gifted Education Press:
"We are offering a complimentary copy of Gifted Education Press Quarterly Online. They would need to email me directly to receive our Twentieth Anniversary SUMMER 2007 Online issue. My email address is: gifted@giftededpress.com"
GEPQ skews toward the scholarly with research results and the like, but I've found it very interesting from a parents' point-of-view. It's delivered to your email box every quarter in pdf format, so it's easy to scroll through and just print out the article of particular interest to you. Take advantage of this great offer!
"We are offering a complimentary copy of Gifted Education Press Quarterly Online. They would need to email me directly to receive our Twentieth Anniversary SUMMER 2007 Online issue. My email address is: gifted@giftededpress.com"
GEPQ skews toward the scholarly with research results and the like, but I've found it very interesting from a parents' point-of-view. It's delivered to your email box every quarter in pdf format, so it's easy to scroll through and just print out the article of particular interest to you. Take advantage of this great offer!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Party Like It's A.D. 79!
Once again, Pompeii brings ancient Roman life to life. I found this 2005 article on Pompeii on LiveScience: "Researchers have tried to bring back to life the city's food chain by replanting, in the restaurant's garden and in other open spaces throughout the city's ruins, the fruits and vegetables that were part of the Roman diet -- figs and olives, plums and grapes, as well as broom, bramble, poppy and mallow."
The really groovy part? They have recipes for a peach and cumin appetizer/dessert, roasted celery dessert (?!), and a sort of Roman Pork Wellington with ricotta side dish. Yum yum! Perfect for unit studies on the Romans or anyone else who is gastronomically adventurous. Buon Appetito!
The really groovy part? They have recipes for a peach and cumin appetizer/dessert, roasted celery dessert (?!), and a sort of Roman Pork Wellington with ricotta side dish. Yum yum! Perfect for unit studies on the Romans or anyone else who is gastronomically adventurous. Buon Appetito!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Then It Rained on Our Parade
Promoting 4-H is part of each individual clubmember's obligation to the club, and each club's obligation to the national organization. As part of fulfulling this obligation, our club decided we would build a float for the Memorial Day parade here in town--throw some candy, pass out some flyers, advertise Kid's Day at the county fair. We decided on the theme: "4-H: It's Not Just for Farmers Anymore," decorated the float with some of the different projects members can do, and each of the kid's dressed up to represent one of their projects. Xavier wore his Dracula costume from the Drama Fest. Wolfie's been participating in the Dog project, so he brought the dog. We had woodworkers, bug hunters, photographers, a chef and one boy dressed up as a beekeeper.
The Memorial day parade was a smashing success so we decided we'd do a second parade today in a nearby small town. Despite the town's size, this parade was a big deal. I've never seen so many beauty queens in my life--at least, not in person. The Shriners were there, of course, and the local high school band, plus local businesses, Brownies, the fire department, all the things that make a small town parade perfect.
You may have guessed from the title what happened next. The parade started at 1:30, so did the rain. The dark clouds on the horizon moved away from us, but the lighter the sky got, the more it rained. We sheltered under a tent until it was our turn to go (we were towards the end) but were still soaked before we even got onto the parade route. Most of the beauty queens sat in their convertibles and waved through the rain, just like they were supposed to, although I'm pretty sure the Cranberry Queen just left. Lots of the spectators were leaving, too.
And 4-H? The show must go on! We rode through the storm while the paper letters on the float crumpled and tore, threw candy in the rain-swollen gutters, waved (goodbye) to the spectators and came up with a bunch of new slogans:
"Join 4-H: I've never been so wet!"
"I think my toes are pruning: Join 4-H!"
"You should see how much fun we have when we're dry!"
"Thank you for sticking around!"
And the kicker? You already know: by the time we had walked the mile and a half back to our car, the rain had stopped. Next time we build a float with a roof!
The Memorial day parade was a smashing success so we decided we'd do a second parade today in a nearby small town. Despite the town's size, this parade was a big deal. I've never seen so many beauty queens in my life--at least, not in person. The Shriners were there, of course, and the local high school band, plus local businesses, Brownies, the fire department, all the things that make a small town parade perfect.
You may have guessed from the title what happened next. The parade started at 1:30, so did the rain. The dark clouds on the horizon moved away from us, but the lighter the sky got, the more it rained. We sheltered under a tent until it was our turn to go (we were towards the end) but were still soaked before we even got onto the parade route. Most of the beauty queens sat in their convertibles and waved through the rain, just like they were supposed to, although I'm pretty sure the Cranberry Queen just left. Lots of the spectators were leaving, too.
And 4-H? The show must go on! We rode through the storm while the paper letters on the float crumpled and tore, threw candy in the rain-swollen gutters, waved (goodbye) to the spectators and came up with a bunch of new slogans:
"Join 4-H: I've never been so wet!"
"I think my toes are pruning: Join 4-H!"
"You should see how much fun we have when we're dry!"
"Thank you for sticking around!"
And the kicker? You already know: by the time we had walked the mile and a half back to our car, the rain had stopped. Next time we build a float with a roof!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Hoist the Colours, Me Hearties!
We're flying the Jolly Roger today because Pirates of the Caribbean opens tonight. Granted the second installment, Dead Man's Chest, was a disappointment, but Pirates 3: At World's End is just as epic and just as witty at the first one. Just what you need to tide you over until National Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept. 19).
Sunday, May 20, 2007
5000 Darwin letters go online!
From their press release:
"Welcome to the Darwin Correspondence Project’s new web site. The main feature of the site is an Online Database with the complete, searchable, texts of around 5,000 letters written by and to Charles Darwin up to the year 1865. This includes all the surviving letters from the Beagle voyage - online for the first time - and all the letters from the years around the publication of Origin of species in 1859.
The letter texts, and the contextual notes which help make them accessible, are taken from the first thirteen volumes of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin (Burkhardt et al., Cambridge University Press 1985-). Letters from later volumes will be added on a rolling programme following behind publication of the print edition. Volumes 14 (1866) and 15 (1867) are already published and Volume 16 will be published in 2008.
The database also includes summaries of a further 9,000 letters still to be published. There will be 30 volumes of the print edition in total. Previously unknown letters continue to come to light.
Darwin’s letters are a rich source of information on many aspects of 19th century science and history; they are also very readable, and we hope they will be used and enjoyed by a wide audience."
Find out more about the letters and Darwin's correspondents here.
"Welcome to the Darwin Correspondence Project’s new web site. The main feature of the site is an Online Database with the complete, searchable, texts of around 5,000 letters written by and to Charles Darwin up to the year 1865. This includes all the surviving letters from the Beagle voyage - online for the first time - and all the letters from the years around the publication of Origin of species in 1859.
The letter texts, and the contextual notes which help make them accessible, are taken from the first thirteen volumes of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin (Burkhardt et al., Cambridge University Press 1985-). Letters from later volumes will be added on a rolling programme following behind publication of the print edition. Volumes 14 (1866) and 15 (1867) are already published and Volume 16 will be published in 2008.
The database also includes summaries of a further 9,000 letters still to be published. There will be 30 volumes of the print edition in total. Previously unknown letters continue to come to light.
Darwin’s letters are a rich source of information on many aspects of 19th century science and history; they are also very readable, and we hope they will be used and enjoyed by a wide audience."
Find out more about the letters and Darwin's correspondents here.
Parent Survey on Acceleration from the Belin-Blank Center
"A Survey of the Prevalence and Practices of Acceleration in Schools
Conducted by the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA)
Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development
The University of Iowa
We invite you to participate in a research study being conducted by investigators from the University of Iowa.
In 2004, The John Templeton Foundation sponsored a report titled A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students. This report highlighted the disparity between the research on acceleration and educational beliefs and practices that often run contrary to the research.
An outcome of the report A Nation Deceived was the establishment of the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA) at the University of Iowa’s Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education. The purpose of IRPA is to provide educators, parents, and the general public with current information on the many aspects of acceleration. In addition, IRPA conducts research studies on acceleration and provides consultation on policy issues for schools.
The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of acceleration in our nation’s schools and to gather information on the attitudes of parents, policy makers, and educators toward acceleration as a curriculum intervention for gifted students."
The study takes about five minutes. To participate, click here.
Conducted by the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA)
Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development
The University of Iowa
We invite you to participate in a research study being conducted by investigators from the University of Iowa.
In 2004, The John Templeton Foundation sponsored a report titled A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students. This report highlighted the disparity between the research on acceleration and educational beliefs and practices that often run contrary to the research.
An outcome of the report A Nation Deceived was the establishment of the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA) at the University of Iowa’s Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education. The purpose of IRPA is to provide educators, parents, and the general public with current information on the many aspects of acceleration. In addition, IRPA conducts research studies on acceleration and provides consultation on policy issues for schools.
The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of acceleration in our nation’s schools and to gather information on the attitudes of parents, policy makers, and educators toward acceleration as a curriculum intervention for gifted students."
The study takes about five minutes. To participate, click here.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Summer Scholarship Opportunity, due June 1
Board of Trustees Scholarships Fund from the National Society for the Gifted and Talented
Program Year 2007
2 Scholarships totaling $1100 ($550 each)
NSGT scholarships are awarded to NSGT members to support their academic, intellectual, and cognitive development. Funds can be used to help pay tuition for various academic programs, such as after-school, weekend, summer, and distance learning. Funds can also be used to support independent projects, paying for equipment, supplies, and mentors. The funds may be used for up to one year.
Students need to complete the one-page application. Call 800-572-6748 to request a form. In addition, students need to submit a detailed description (one page) of how they propose to use the funding. This description should include:
The purpose of the program or project
A description of the program or project
The expected outcome
How the program or project will be evaluated
What resources will be used
A budget
Beside the description, applicants need to submit one letter of recommendation from a teacher or administrator. If the project includes a mentor, that person must also submit a letter of support and agreement to participate in the project.
Students may submit additional materials to support their application, such as school projects or papers, listings of honors or awards won, or any other evidence of their academic creativity and success.
A team of educators in the field of gifted education will review the applications and choose the scholarship winners.
Deadline for applications is June 1st, 2007.
Winners will be notified by June 20th, 2007.
Program Year 2007
2 Scholarships totaling $1100 ($550 each)
NSGT scholarships are awarded to NSGT members to support their academic, intellectual, and cognitive development. Funds can be used to help pay tuition for various academic programs, such as after-school, weekend, summer, and distance learning. Funds can also be used to support independent projects, paying for equipment, supplies, and mentors. The funds may be used for up to one year.
Students need to complete the one-page application. Call 800-572-6748 to request a form. In addition, students need to submit a detailed description (one page) of how they propose to use the funding. This description should include:
The purpose of the program or project
A description of the program or project
The expected outcome
How the program or project will be evaluated
What resources will be used
A budget
Beside the description, applicants need to submit one letter of recommendation from a teacher or administrator. If the project includes a mentor, that person must also submit a letter of support and agreement to participate in the project.
Students may submit additional materials to support their application, such as school projects or papers, listings of honors or awards won, or any other evidence of their academic creativity and success.
A team of educators in the field of gifted education will review the applications and choose the scholarship winners.
Deadline for applications is June 1st, 2007.
Winners will be notified by June 20th, 2007.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Intelligent Life in the Classroom
A review from Teacher Magazine written by David Lee Carlson:
Intelligent Life in the Classroom: Smart Kids & Their Teachers
by Karen Isaacson and Tamara Fisher
(Great Potential, 213 pages, $16.95)
"As schools scramble to meet the standards associated with No Child Left Behind, it’s good to know there are still individuals who take the time to appreciate the qualities of accomplished students. The authors of Intelligent Life use anecdotes of their own and others’ interactions with gifted children to illustrate these characteristics.
The stories in the book give clear examples of each gifted-child trait. As the pair points out, a student may be intense, creative, and curious in one subject or on one assignment, but not another. Gifted children are not “better” than other students, but they learn differently, (“faster,” according to the authors), and they “like to learn more about things.” They’re caring, curious, intense, persistent, and sensitive, to name a few characteristics—sometimes in ways that can both please and annoy teachers. ..."
Intelligent Life in the Classroom: Smart Kids & Their Teachers
by Karen Isaacson and Tamara Fisher
(Great Potential, 213 pages, $16.95)
"As schools scramble to meet the standards associated with No Child Left Behind, it’s good to know there are still individuals who take the time to appreciate the qualities of accomplished students. The authors of Intelligent Life use anecdotes of their own and others’ interactions with gifted children to illustrate these characteristics.
The stories in the book give clear examples of each gifted-child trait. As the pair points out, a student may be intense, creative, and curious in one subject or on one assignment, but not another. Gifted children are not “better” than other students, but they learn differently, (“faster,” according to the authors), and they “like to learn more about things.” They’re caring, curious, intense, persistent, and sensitive, to name a few characteristics—sometimes in ways that can both please and annoy teachers. ..."
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Size Does Matter
Many people are contemplating early kindergarten entrance for their gifted and/or late-birthday children. Conventional wisdom seems to be that leaving these kids back a year has no down-side. "Give them another year to just be a kid!" they say. "Boys mature socially/emotionally more slowly than girls, anyway. If he can't sit still, they'll give him Ritalin!" "He'll be bigger and stronger than all the other children, so they'll look up to him!"
Klaus has an early October birthday, so missed the kindergarten cutoff by a couple weeks. We decided to leave him back a year for all of the above reasons, plus the fact that he was in a good preschool situation that would grow with him. But there is a downside to red-shirting kindergarteners.
Size does matter. Yes, your son will be bigger and stronger than all the other children. Remember those older, bigger kids when you were in school? Were they the smart ones? Or the ones called "Moose" who may have been left back a year? Being older and bigger isn't a ticket to popularity. For gifted kids who may already have trouble relating to their agemates, being physically as well as intellectually different only compounds the socialization issue.
Klaus has an early October birthday, so missed the kindergarten cutoff by a couple weeks. We decided to leave him back a year for all of the above reasons, plus the fact that he was in a good preschool situation that would grow with him. But there is a downside to red-shirting kindergarteners.
Size does matter. Yes, your son will be bigger and stronger than all the other children. Remember those older, bigger kids when you were in school? Were they the smart ones? Or the ones called "Moose" who may have been left back a year? Being older and bigger isn't a ticket to popularity. For gifted kids who may already have trouble relating to their agemates, being physically as well as intellectually different only compounds the socialization issue.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
I Can Read This, So I Thank My Mother
Normally I'm not a big fan of the Dobsons, but Linda Dobson has a great Mother's Day column in this month's Home Education Magazine:
I Can Read This, So I Thank My Mother
I Can Read This, So I Thank My Mother
An Oldie but a Goodie
Purely by coincidence, both Wolfie and Xavier are studying plants in science at the moment. (Xavier's still whizzing through 7th grade science but he's at least interested enough to try some of the activities--I hesitate to call them "experiments--which is more than I could say about 6th grade science.)
Anyway, yesterday's activity required an emergency trip to the store for celery, so he could put a stalk in colored water to watch it to "demonstrate how water is transported to the leaves," (read: "To watch it change color"). A classic elementary school project, although we always did it with carnations. Celery is cheaper, I suppose. I now have a stalk of celery that is both green and a disgusting shade of purple.
I ordinarily wouldn't consider this blog-worthy, but the boys got all excited about the purple celery and decided to extend the experiment. We now have three carnations--white, yellow and pink--in three vases of water in the front window. They're trying to see if the already colored carnations will take up the color in the water and whether the color will mix, i.e. will the yellow carnation in the blue water turn green or yellow with blue edges? Will the dyed pink carnation take up the blue water and turn purple?
The second and third experiments are with houseplants. Will watering a plant with colored water make variegated leaves or white flowers turn color? We're using a diffenbachia and a Japanese peace lily for this experiment. Xavier is watering the diffenbachia with purple water and Wolfie is watering the lily with pink/red water. This is clearly a longer term experiment and we may end up testing different strengths of color as well (stronger color = more likely to be taken up into the leaves?) Stay tuned...
I'm excited about this mostly because I hope this means we're beginning to revive their love of learning. Maybe "projects" is no longer a dirty word. I'd been disappointed lately because they had zero interest in developing 4H projects to enter in the county fair. Not that they're not participating in 4H and enjoying it, just that they refuse to compete. And in the meantime, we're looking at scholarships and college apps for Klaus and they all want to know "when have you competed?" and "did you win?" One step at a time.
If anyone else tries these experiments at home, let me know how they go? Maybe we can compare results.
Anyway, yesterday's activity required an emergency trip to the store for celery, so he could put a stalk in colored water to watch it to "demonstrate how water is transported to the leaves," (read: "To watch it change color"). A classic elementary school project, although we always did it with carnations. Celery is cheaper, I suppose. I now have a stalk of celery that is both green and a disgusting shade of purple.
I ordinarily wouldn't consider this blog-worthy, but the boys got all excited about the purple celery and decided to extend the experiment. We now have three carnations--white, yellow and pink--in three vases of water in the front window. They're trying to see if the already colored carnations will take up the color in the water and whether the color will mix, i.e. will the yellow carnation in the blue water turn green or yellow with blue edges? Will the dyed pink carnation take up the blue water and turn purple?
The second and third experiments are with houseplants. Will watering a plant with colored water make variegated leaves or white flowers turn color? We're using a diffenbachia and a Japanese peace lily for this experiment. Xavier is watering the diffenbachia with purple water and Wolfie is watering the lily with pink/red water. This is clearly a longer term experiment and we may end up testing different strengths of color as well (stronger color = more likely to be taken up into the leaves?) Stay tuned...
I'm excited about this mostly because I hope this means we're beginning to revive their love of learning. Maybe "projects" is no longer a dirty word. I'd been disappointed lately because they had zero interest in developing 4H projects to enter in the county fair. Not that they're not participating in 4H and enjoying it, just that they refuse to compete. And in the meantime, we're looking at scholarships and college apps for Klaus and they all want to know "when have you competed?" and "did you win?"
If anyone else tries these experiments at home, let me know how they go? Maybe we can compare results.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
UNO Attack - Chemistry Style
I wrote a year ago about Chemistry Trumps, a set of playing cards from England that allowed you to have fun while learning about the periodic table of elements. My only complaint was that there were only 28 cards.
Never fear, American Science and Surplus has found double decks of Elemental Cards. Like Chemistry Trumps, the cards are printed with boiling point, melting point, atomic number, (approximate) atomic weight, series, standard state and abbreviation. Unlike Chemistry Trumps, they are also printed with the standard suits and numbers of regular playing cards. There are two decks, so 104 elements are represented instead of only 28.
What we did this morning was load the element cards into our UNO Attack card shooter. Oh, so much fun! The rules are still evolving, but we've decided cards can be matched by elemental series (transition metal, lanthanide, halogen, noble gas, etc.) or by suit (hearts, spades, clubs or diamonds). Radioactive elements can also be matched to each other. We tried matching by standard state, but there were too many solids.
If chemistry is not your thing, I'd still recommend UNO Attack as the best way to play UNO. :D
Never fear, American Science and Surplus has found double decks of Elemental Cards. Like Chemistry Trumps, the cards are printed with boiling point, melting point, atomic number, (approximate) atomic weight, series, standard state and abbreviation. Unlike Chemistry Trumps, they are also printed with the standard suits and numbers of regular playing cards. There are two decks, so 104 elements are represented instead of only 28.
What we did this morning was load the element cards into our UNO Attack card shooter. Oh, so much fun! The rules are still evolving, but we've decided cards can be matched by elemental series (transition metal, lanthanide, halogen, noble gas, etc.) or by suit (hearts, spades, clubs or diamonds). Radioactive elements can also be matched to each other. We tried matching by standard state, but there were too many solids.
If chemistry is not your thing, I'd still recommend UNO Attack as the best way to play UNO. :D
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Merlin Science: For the Alchemist in You
Thanks to my friend, Gina, for posting this link! Merlin Science offers distance learning classes in Alchemy (Chemistry), Astronomy, and Genetics. The program consists of a hypertextbook (you read it off the screen) with a notes section, question & answer section and an online quiz at the end of each unit. The really cool part is that the textbook covers high school and beginning college level chemistry in dialogue format, so it's much more interesting to read than your average textbook.
I think this is a terrific resource, mostly because it mimics exactly how I teach. ;-) I prefer to tell stories rather than give lectures. DH teaches science by asking probing, open-ended questions. And we teach for mastery--if the boys don't do so well on the text, we teach them again until they've mastered everything. Merlin does all these things. The Q&A questions are open-ended, requiring critical thought, and answers are fully explained. The quiz questions give you instant feedback (correct or incorrect) and explain the questions you've missed. Once you've gotten a perfect score, you get a certificate of completion for that section.
The Merlin curricula are not accredited, so not eligible for high school credit except through homeschooling, or perhaps through the SAT II subject test. Some schools do use the Merlin program to help prepare for AP tests (genetics for AP Bio, for example. I ran it the introductions section by Xavier this morning and he was suitably impressed, so I guess we're not going to run out of science for him to do when he finished 8th grade sci next year, after all. Yay!
I think this is a terrific resource, mostly because it mimics exactly how I teach. ;-) I prefer to tell stories rather than give lectures. DH teaches science by asking probing, open-ended questions. And we teach for mastery--if the boys don't do so well on the text, we teach them again until they've mastered everything. Merlin does all these things. The Q&A questions are open-ended, requiring critical thought, and answers are fully explained. The quiz questions give you instant feedback (correct or incorrect) and explain the questions you've missed. Once you've gotten a perfect score, you get a certificate of completion for that section.
The Merlin curricula are not accredited, so not eligible for high school credit except through homeschooling, or perhaps through the SAT II subject test. Some schools do use the Merlin program to help prepare for AP tests (genetics for AP Bio, for example. I ran it the introductions section by Xavier this morning and he was suitably impressed, so I guess we're not going to run out of science for him to do when he finished 8th grade sci next year, after all. Yay!
It's the Cheesiest!
Got some time on your hands? So does this cheese. The link takes you to Cheddarvision.tv, where you can watch a cheese wheel ripen in real time! Wow!
Okay, even in America's Dairyland, we don't think this is very exciting. It is an interesting example of guerilla/internet marketing, however. Click on "the red button" and you're taken to an "About us" screen about the cheesemakers and how to buy their products. According to the New York Times (registration required), they've had 900,000 hits so far (presumably more since the NYT article came out). Also check out the time-lapse video on You-Tube, where you can watch the label fall off and be replaced several times.
This cracks me up!
Okay, even in America's Dairyland, we don't think this is very exciting. It is an interesting example of guerilla/internet marketing, however. Click on "the red button" and you're taken to an "About us" screen about the cheesemakers and how to buy their products. According to the New York Times (registration required), they've had 900,000 hits so far (presumably more since the NYT article came out). Also check out the time-lapse video on You-Tube, where you can watch the label fall off and be replaced several times.
This cracks me up!
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
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Let's Abolish High School
Interesting commentary in EdWeek questioning the need for high school by Robert Epstein, a former editor in chief of Psychology Today, a contributing editor for Scientific American Mind, a visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego, and the host of “Psyched!” on Sirius Satellite Radio. His latest book, The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen, was published last week by Quill Driver Books.
He concludes:
"A careful look at these issues yields startling conclusions: The social-emotional turmoil experienced by many young people in the United States is entirely a creation of modern culture. We produce such turmoil by infantilizing our young and isolating them from adults. Modern schooling and restrictions on youth labor are remnants of the Industrial Revolution that are no longer appropriate for today’s world; the exploitative factories are long gone, and we have the ability now to provide mass education on an individual basis.
Teenagers are inherently highly capable young adults; to undo the damage we have done, we need to establish competency-based systems that give these young people opportunities and incentives to join the adult world as rapidly as possible."
[EdWeek is having an "open house" until April 15, 2007, so anyone can read this online through that date.]
He concludes:
"A careful look at these issues yields startling conclusions: The social-emotional turmoil experienced by many young people in the United States is entirely a creation of modern culture. We produce such turmoil by infantilizing our young and isolating them from adults. Modern schooling and restrictions on youth labor are remnants of the Industrial Revolution that are no longer appropriate for today’s world; the exploitative factories are long gone, and we have the ability now to provide mass education on an individual basis.
Teenagers are inherently highly capable young adults; to undo the damage we have done, we need to establish competency-based systems that give these young people opportunities and incentives to join the adult world as rapidly as possible."
[EdWeek is having an "open house" until April 15, 2007, so anyone can read this online through that date.]
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