E Daily | Education Daily: the latest education trends, news, and views

Reading Rainbow on YouTube

Revisit childhood favorites for free!

Today’s children’s shows and movies are so violent and filled with action-packed, nonstop movement that it’s no wonder kids can’t sit still for five minutes, have trouble concentrating, and constantly need more stimulation. Fight scene! Car chase! Battle again! Monster fight! There are no pauses between this constant action—yet parents allow their children to sit through this mind-numbing sequence over and over again, then choose to medicate said children when they’re not getting this constant stimulation and are unable to focus.

Couple this with the unnatural setting of school, where kids must sit still for hours on end and receive very little physical play and outdoor movement—things that all mammals need to learn and grow—and you’ve got some pretty unhappy, even harmful, childhoods on your hands.

You can argue that children received these same things since the dawn of time and storytellers (think Beowulf and fairytales with their grisly endings), but those were not images—they were stories that allowed them to use their imaginations. They are two completely different entities.

With this in mind, I have been searching for some gentler, yet engaging shows for my daughter when she wants to watch media. I don’t think it’s good for children to watch more than half an hour of programming a day, no matter what it is (they often get that or more in school as it is; I remember one science class where we watched videos for weeks!), so something that’s about half an hour, or even forty-five minutes, would be ideal.

So far I’ve rediscovered some of my own gentle childhood favorites online that she’s really enjoying. One of these is David the Gnome, a fabulous cartoon about a gnome who tended to forest animals who were hurt; another is Reading Rainbow, an award-winning television show in which you learn about a theme, read a book together, and hear from other children about other books that they enjoy. Both of these programs can be found on YouTube for free!

I would suggest watching these films all of the way through before showing them to your children, if only for the fact that sometimes people upload offensive content under the guise of something intended for children. You can also determine if the quality is good or not. Then just blow the video up to the full screen and voila—instant classic, gentle entertainment for your family to enjoy.

Don’t Say Dinosaur

It’s considered a loaded word in New York schools!

You thought don’t say gay was pretty stupid, right? Most of us do. And even though people like to claim that we have a democracy (we don’t—at least, not a direct democracy) and that our voices and opinions matter (they obviously don’t, or it would be legal for gays to not only be spoken of, but be married, in every state by now), schools are still banning words like gay left and right.

Of course, the word gay isn’t alone in its banishment. Plenty of other so-called loaded words are being banned from schools or tests across the nation as well, and I don’t just mean the banned book lists that we’re all familiar with, featuring hit novels like the Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games books. No, I am talking about those words that every parent fears that their kids will hear and repeat, like the D-word, the C-word, the B-word.

You know. Dinosaur. Christmas. Birthdays.

These are apparently identified as loaded words, and New York schools want to remove them from all of their tests. (Here’s an idea from an unschooler: get rid of the TESTS themselves and talk to the little whippersnappers once in a while; you might just be able to figure out what they’re learning!) Other loaded words include Halloween, divorce, television, and around fifty others. Where is George Carlin when you need him, folks?

Apparently avoiding certain words on tests is pretty commonplace, as Florida bans words like “hurricane” while California bans the word “weed,” which is sort of ironic, since that’s probably the best state to get any of it. The entire situation is extremely ironic, when you think about it, since schools are supposed to be the places where you learn more, not less—where you are educated, not kept safe from. Wow, I thought that was only a stereotype we homeschoolers are supposed to be doing—not the public schools! You can bet my kid reads, writes, and does activities regarding Christmas, Halloween, and hurricanes. She’s only six and we haven’t yet had reason to discuss weed or divorce, but when they come up they will be met with the same openness and frank discussion that any other topic that we talk about does.

I guess I’d rather her talk with me about such holidays and drugs rather than learn about them at school, but it’s not like we get to really pick and choose. But dinosaurs? Really?

Home Schooled Children and Foreign Languages

Your child can learn a foreign language through the library through free programs.

If you’re a home-schooling parent looking for an inexpensive way to introduce your child to a variety of foreign languages, check out your local library’s website. Some public libraries offer free foreign language programs on their websites, with the opportunity for you to learn everything from Spanish to Irish and even Tagalog!

My city’s library offers a great program called Mango, which is free to access if you have a library card. Each language has several options: a Basic course, one or two comprehensive courses to give an in-depth knowledge of the language, and a course designed for children up to age 6.

If you want to learn Russian, the program will first introduce you to the most basic words, such as good, hello, evening, and time. Each word is accompanied by the Russian spelling and an audio pronunciation that allows you to go at your own pace. By the end of Chapter 1, you should have a basic understanding of how to greet others and say basic phrases like, “good evening” and “good day.” By the end of the last chapter, the student should have enough understanding of the sentence structure and word meaning to carry on a simple conversation with a native Russian speaker.

This program is one of the best ways I can think of to introduce your home-schooled child to different languages without shelling out a lot of money. Mango gives you a chance to try out nearly 40 languages. Then, if your children decide to move forward in one or more languages, you won’t feel so wary about investing in a more in-depth language program because your child will already be familiar with it.

And here’s a bit of a whimsical information: if your student (or you) love pirate movies, Mango offers a fun little course on proper pirate speak. For example, if you wanted to say “Great, my friend! You’re a fine pirate!” you’d say (with a thick brogue, of course), “Arr, me hearty! A fine gentleman o’ fortune be ye!” You’ll even learn the origin of the phrase, “Blow me down!” and other fun historical facts.

Check with your local library to see if yours offers Mango or another comparable language education program. You can usually find this program in 'research tools' or a similar search of your library's website. If you’re unable to find one, your librarian will definitely know. And if your library doesn’t offer it, you can purchase a full program for about $80 at the Mango website.

Don't Expect Your Child to be Perfect

You have to allow failure to happen if you want to raise a successful adult.

The pressure to be perfect corrals kids these days into a tiny little space with no wiggle room. I see parents on the playground disallowing their children from playing on certain types of equipment because they're worried they'll fall and hurt themselves. I constantly hear about parents who practically steer their children's education because they want to increase the chances for a prestigious college admission.

I was born nearly 43 years ago. I never felt the enormous pressure to succeed. And if I was told not to do something because I might hurt myself, it's exactly what I did. I remember climbing a tree when I was six years old during a church outing. I saw other kids climbing up to a low-hanging branch and jumping off of it, giggling in delight.

I decided I wanted to jump off that branch, too. So I climbed up that tree, stood on that branch, and jumped. And jumped, and jumped. My mother stood there watching me, admonishing me to be careful. On the last jump, I landed on the ground too low. My knee hit my chin, forcing my mouth shut, and my teeth collided. One of my bottom teeth was already loose, but that knee into my chin knocked it out, and I instinctively swallowed it.

I remember how it felt, swallowing that tooth. The hard, scratchy edges inched down my throat, and I panicked. I wasn't in any physical pain, although I'm sure I was bleeding. My biggest worry was that the tooth fairly wouldn't know I'd lost a tooth because I had nothing to put under my pillow. The next morning, I was delighted to discover two shiny quarters under my pillow. Instead of nothing, I got double what I was expecting! Looking back, I think my parents felt a little bad, and maybe my dad was proud his little girl wasn't afraid to be a bit adventurous.

Looking forward, I think about what I want for my own daughter. Do I want to be a helicopter parent, refusing to allow my child to do certain things for fear of failure? Or, do I want to stand by and watch as she tries new things, ready to comfort her when she does fail?

I choose the latter.

Kids need to learn how to fail in order to succeed. Otherwise, they go through life believing that taking the safest route, the route of least resistance, will lead them to success. Instead, doing so only leads to a life of mediocrity and a lifetime of unfulfilled wishes. They might make a lot of money, and they might live in nice houses, but they might also be left wondering, 'what if?'

I'm not saying you should let your three-year-old jump out of planes or anything, but if your child wants to take an advanced class, or try a different subject in school because it interests him, why not? If he fails, or doesn't do as well as he'd hoped, he can at least say he tried. And when he fills out that college admissions application, he can say he knows what it means to succeed because he's learned how to fail.

Eleven Dallas Schools to Close

Board of Trustees votes to close without listening to citizen concerns.

Dallas schools are feeling the financial squeeze of the state's budget cuts. The school board recently announced that, due to budge constraints, they'll have to close 11 schools, consolidating children into other campuses.

When I watched the news and read more about the public meeting that had occurred, I became angry. I'm not a parent with a child in the DISD, but what I learned had me seeing red. Sure, they had to find a way to save money, and yes I understand that those schools marked for closure had low enrollments, but that wasn't what made me angry. It was the way the board of trustees treated those parents and teachers in attendance who protested the closings.

Several children went to the microphone to speak before the board, to tell them how they felt about the prospect of their school closing. By the time the last child was done speaking, several trustees weren't even in the room anymore. And when another parent began speaking angrily, instead of responding with kindness and understanding, the board had her thrown out.

Of course, the meeting ended up getting chaotic, and so instead of trying to calm the situation and continue the meeting in the public forum, they retreated to a room down the hall, away from the angry masses.

This is how Dallas Independent School District treats their students and parents. With disdain and a heavy hand. In the end, they voted 6-2 to close the schools, many of which were exemplary and recognized campuses. This move will lay off 64 teachers and 113 other district employees.

I noticed one thing about all of these schools: Most of them were within close proximity of downtown and in low socio-economic areas. It makes me wonder if the school board would have been so dismissive with angry parents had they considered closing schools in more wealthy districts.

They're closing schools in areas where they are needed the most. People with little money have fewer opportunities to get the kind of education they need to get ahead. And now these children will be stuffed into schools, possibly creating overcrowding, which will only aggravate the entire situation. Clearly, the DISD Board of Trustees were not thinking about the implications of this move.

I understand the district needs to save money. I don't blame the board of trustees for looking for ways to cut their budget. Texas' governor, Rick Perry, has been holding on tight to a rainy day fund meant for budget emergencies. Texas schools are in the middle of a horrible finance emergency, and yet he's clinging tightly to that money, refusing to allow schools to use it. And closures, lay-offs, and angry families are the result.

It's a shame that those in charge are forced to think more about saving money than educating the kids they're charged with making ready for the future.

Teachers Making Students a Part of Classroom Planning

When I think about conventional classrooms, I envision rows and rows of desks facing a chalk board. The teacher, chalk in hand, drones on and on to a bored class about the topic at hand. In my day, the teacher's rule was an unbendable law. It's so different nowadays. Teachers so often are reviled, disrespected, and have overcrowded classrooms with kids who are often difficult to control. School budgets are shrinking, and getting lessons across to the bored masses is a Herculean challenge. What makes a good teacher great, then? What can a truly dedicated teacher do to get her class to really pay attention and get excited about the subject?

I was reading about current trends in education and came across some information that made a lot of sense to me. This article talked about giving kids a voice in their education. Not in the lesson plans, but in how they learn. Teachers are now giving kids the choice in how they learn. Even young children can point the way to how teachers can best serve the class by following their cues. It is probably difficult to do with larger classroom sizes but it is possible.

Does your child learn with hands-on experience? Does she prefer to read or write about her favorite subject? Or, does she learn best through musical means? A child who writes a song for a multiplcation table is more likely to remember how to multiply. A child who enjoys writing stories might benefit from creating a short story about her favorite historical character.

Kids who feel valued tend to be more enthusiastic to learn and be helpful. already my daughter, who is only two, enjoys learning because her father and I pay attention to the manner in which she learns best. Some kids do best in solitary study, while others perform better in groups. The current trend of teachers giving their students the opportunity to show them how best they learn is a promising change in the educational system in America. With schools falling behind other countries in performance, we need to have our children excited about acquiring knowledge.

We need more teachers empowered with the ability to educate our children in the way that works for kids. If educators continue the trend of including children in lesson plans, then we will build a strong base of well-educated, enthusiastic students who can help our country become strong again.

Why I Will Home School My Daughter

My husband and I have decided to home school our daughter when she becomes school age in three years. We didn't make this decision for religious reasons. We made it for practical reasons. We both feel that the current state of the American education system will do nothing but inhibit her. It isn't because we think she's smarter than the average bear; she is. Even if we felt she was just average, or even slow, we'd probably feel the same way. Public education today has failed us.

Every day, I read about rich politicians making more cuts in public education and demanding more stringent standardized testing, while sending their own children to private schools that are exempt from these tests. More recently, I've read about school administrators cutting programs while their children go to neighboring districts that experience no such funding cuts. In Texas, I've read about parents who would rather keep the football program than "liberal arts," not realizing that these include mathematics, science, and other necessary subjects. It's truly sad when parents put more value on a sport than on education, which is why I feel it is important to home school my daughter, at least for the first five to seven years.

Already I'm starting to see kids who can't spell simple words, or tell the difference between "then" and "than," or "your" and "you're." The recent and blatant misspelling of the word "juiciest" by ABC is just a symptom in a bigger problem: people don't care anymore. They don't care about learning for the sake of learning. They don't have high standards anymore. Everyone is so used to text speak, that few people notice simple mistakes.

With all the advancements in technology, giving my daughter a head start in her education won't be difficult. I've begun to research home schooling options, including online schools and individual programs. The common argument against this method of education is "she'll be isolated," "she won't have a chance to make friends," and the whopper, "you're sheltering her!" Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. By home schooling, I will actually be opening doors for her. Many schools today can't afford field trips, and others are cutting arts and music programs. I can tailor her curriculum to fit her interests without having to work around the school's ability to accommodate her. To answer the socialization question, if I go the online school route, there's a built-in community where her "classmates" will have an opportunity to meet and make friends. If we go the individual curriculum route, we can find groups through online networking.

My Daughter and My Nook

Learning is fun and easy using inexpensive apps and games.

Last year, I got a Nook Color with the assumption that I would use it mainly for reading and doing some light web surfing when not at home. WiFi hot spots are plentiful, and in the beginning, that's exactly how I used it. Within a month of having it, though, I began to download free children's apps and helps my then 18-month-old use it. By the time she was 2 years old, she had figured out how to unlock it, swipe the screen, and select the icon of her favorite program.

Each morning, if I have my Nook on my night stand, she comes in while I'm still asleep, gets it, and turns it on to her favorite game or program. Currently, I have seven apps installed on the device specifically for her, and she uses about four of them on a regular basis. The ABC Animal Spin by developers Snowy Penguin is her favorite one, with Sounds for Kids by Agile Fusion coming in a close second. the Sounds for Kids app was one of the very first programs I installed for her to use and remains a favorite several months later.

As mentioned in a previous post, e-readers have the huge potential to take the place of school books, and I wholeheartedly agree with this. Already my daughter is recognizing words and phrases, partly because she has access to technology that wasn't available to me as a child. At the age of two, she already knows the words "cat," "dog," and "gap" (she reads the letters off my favorite sweatshirt). I didn't really learn to read until I was six, and here my two year old already understands the meaning of several written words.

She can play a virtual piano with the Piano for Kids app, or learn to count to 20 with Fun Counting. Already she is counting to 13, and has started to understand the basic concept "how many are there" in any given situation.

Computers, e-readers, iPods, and other pieces of technology are excellent supplements for helping kids learn. I've found that purchasing a 99-cent app is much cheaper than going to the store and buying a toy or game that can basically do the same thing. She seems to enjoy using the Nook, too. It's portable, easy to use, and it has everything we need all in one place. Once my daughter gets older, I will probably use my device to check out digital copies of books from my local library for her to read and enjoy.

But it hasn't become "her" toy. Not by a long shot. It's still Mommy's favorite gadget, and I use it to watch the Smithsonian Channel on WiFi, read current news, watch Netflix (yes, the Color now has the upgrade to watch Netflix and Hulu!), and read my favorite book whenever I feel so inclined. I've even got an app for local farmers' markets and organic food diet, which is incredibly helpful. I prop up my Nook and use it as a cook book when I'm testing a new recipe from my favorite cooking site, and store favorite videos and photos using the micro SD card I got for it.

E-readers are a great addition to your family, not just for reading purposes, but for all-around life enrichment. I still relish the feel and heft of a real book. Nothing will ever replace the smell of a newly-printed book, but e-readers have firmly embedded themselves in society, and, as noted above, the learning potential from apps and books is great. Not only that, fewer books printed means fewer trees destroyed.

Education Technology Trends for 2012

Technology continues to be an asset in the education community. By embracing the fact that many of today’s older kids and college students have a wide array of technology at their disposal, educators can take advantage of the situation and use this technology to further the learning opportunities they provide their students.

According to KQED.org, these 12 technology trends to watch for in 2012 will have a substantial impact on the way students learn in the new year.

1. Mobile Phones
2. Bring Your Own Device
3. Broadband Access
4. User Interface Expansion
5. HTML5 & Web Apps
6. Data & Analytical Tools
7. User-Targeted Learning
8. Privacy & Security
9. Open Licensing
10. Peer to Peer Social Learning
11. The Maker Movement – Hands-On Learning
12. Game-Based Education

From schools adopting more open policies when it comes to bringing devices such as iPads, e-readers and smartphones to school to implementing interactive gaming learning approaches, technology is playing an even greater part in the education of our students.

Even those who school at home can take advantage of technology for enhanced learning. Young children can get their start with smartphone apps designed to teach basic shapes, colors, numbers and letters, while older students can take advantage of mobile resources and research apps on tablet PCs, smartphones and e-readers.

Students today have much greater access to research tools and knowledge sources. With the proper implementation, this can help alleviate some of the hurdles kids face in reading, math and other skills that have been lacking in recent years.

Will e-Readers Soon Replace Textbooks?

When I first began hearing of Kindle and other e-readers, I was excited at the potential they had, both for personal users and the education industry. While it may seem a laughable matter, all those heavy books kids carry around have been proven to have ill effects on back and shoulders. When did our education system get so complicated that we have to risk our kids bodies to help enhance their minds?

Many textbooks have been published on Kindle, and more are coming each year. This is exciting because it allows our kids, particularly those in college, to ease the load of textbooks while at the same time drastically reduce paper waste.

If more schools and colleges were to adopt Kindle-ready textbooks, we could see huge implications in our environment and in the health of our kids. Imagine going to school with a single device that could hold all of the textbooks for the entire year and weigh in at less than a pound!

I have had a Kindle for about two years now, and it revolutionized the way I read. I went from maybe reading one book a year to one book a week, for a while at least. They are so easy to read from, so versatile, and so very portable.

When my kids are ready for school, the first thing they will get is their own Kindle to learn with. All of the information they need can be stored in that single device, and I hope schools and colleges will continue the trend of embracing this technology for all of the benefits it can offer.

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