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Schools and Cell Phones: A Hidden Connection
2009-02-02 16:54:00
As we all know, school budgets are shrinking. In an effort to deal with the shortfall, schools are going down a controversial, but little known, path. They are getting money from cell phone tower installations.
More About: News , Cell Phones , Phones , Schools , Connection

Exercising the Brain?A Collosal Effect
2009-01-23 21:49:00
Years ago, I had the good fortune to study at Cambridge University. Living on student stipends did not afford me much opportunity to take taxis on my ventures into London. But one time, when I was late for an important meeting, I frantically hailed a taxi and told the driver my predicament. He calmly replied, ?Don?t worry, luv?I?ll get you there.? And he sure did. In the process, I stared in amazement as he negotiated the unbelievable maze of streets with skill that can only be described as phenomenal.
More About: Achievement , Effect , Brain , The Brain , Exercising

Media: The Most Dominant Force in Children?s Lives
2009-01-15 18:39:00
Several decades back, Dr. David Hamburg, an astute psychiatrist, gave a talk on the new health problems that our nation was starting to face. In contrast to the problems that earlier generations had to deal with (such as infectious epidemics), he pointed out that the new health problems were the result of ?having too much??too much food, too much alcohol, too much stimulation. Now a detailed study of 173 research efforts carried out by the National Institutes of Health and Yale University shows how on target he was.
More About: Media , Children , Tips , Force , Lives

Want to Find Some Good Books?
2009-01-13 14:11:00
Parents often ask me to suggest books for their children to read--both for school assignments and for pleasure. When you are faced with those sorts of decisions, you can get lots of help, information and advice at http://www.kidspoint.org/good_reading/ind ex.asp. It's an excellent resource--offering reviews, finding books that match the ones your child likes, offering stories your child can watch, telling the stories of the lives of authors and on and on. It's the sort of site many kids can navigate easily on their own--so that they can be active partners in the selection process.
More About: Books , Tips , Find , Good

Literacy in the U.S. A. One in Seven Can't Read
2009-01-10 22:07:00
A new federal study has reported that an estimated 32 million adults in the USA ? about one in seven ? are saddled with very low literacy skills. Operationally, that means they find it challenging to read anything more than a children's picture book.
More About: Reading , Literacy , Read

Want To Live Among People Who Like to Read?
2008-12-24 21:07:00
Every year, there is a study of which cities (with populations over 250,000) offer the best "culture and resources for reading." Once again, just as they have done for the past several years, Minneapolis and Seattle top the list.
More About: News , People , Read , Live

U.S. Children--Why Do They Receive So Much More Medication?
2008-12-18 02:42:00
A recent study in the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health reported that children in the US are about three times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medications such as antidepressants than children in Europe.
More About: News , Children , Medication

A Precedent from the President
2008-12-16 16:31:00
Andy Borowitz, a comedian and writer, recently wrote an article titled "Obama's Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy." It starts: "Since the election, President -elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say." It then goes on:
More About: The President

Writing: It Can Be Done But It Has to Be Done Differently
2008-12-07 23:39:00
Reading, and reading problems, get lots of attention. Not so with writing, and writing problems which receive far less time and effort. The consequences of this neglect are serious?as many discover once they leave college and try to move up the career ladder. Skilled writing is an enormous advantage for both academic and job success. In the desert landscape of writing instruction in schools, one form stands out. It goes by the name of ?journal writing.?
More About: Writing

So That's What Vocabulary Is Like
2008-12-04 03:50:00
Want to get a feel for what kids experience when they have to learn "vocabulary" in school--when they have to memorize new meanings, when they have write sentences for each new and unfamiliar word? You can get a sense by tackling this list of 20 unusual English words. Not only do they have pronunciation rules that are even stranger than the ones we typically have to deal with, but their meanings are far from familiar. If you want the experience to be a more "genuine," you can try "writing three sentences for each word." 1. Erinaceous Like a hedgehog 2. Lamprophony Loudness and clarity of voice
More About: Vocabulary

Brain Food
2008-11-13 15:43:00
When I was a child, the "elders" in my family always advised eating fish, saying it was "brain food." Not caring much for fish in those days, I brushed their comments aside. But, as with so much, they were on the right track. Each year, more and more information appears-- confirming the importance of diet in the way we think and feel. Its effects are far greater than one might imagine. They even extend to the reduction of aggression.
More About: Food , Tips , Brain

Twins: Forever Fascinating
2008-11-10 13:27:00
Twins have long been known to have special psychic connections. Now through a strange adoption experience, there is a new intriguing tale for us to ponder. It concerns a particular set of twins who were given up for adoption at birth--each going to a different family. Further, neither of the adoptive parents were told that their child had an identical twin.
More About: Twins , Forever

High School Graduation: The Rates are Declining!
2008-10-24 18:48:00
The Education Trust, a children's advocacy group, has conducted a study showing that, relative to their parents, children today are less likely to graduate from high school. In fact, the United States is now the only industrialized country where young people are less likely than their parents to earn a diploma.The drop out rates have been, and continue to be, staggering.
More About: News , School , High School , Graduation , High

Banning Books: It's Scary But Things Are Improving
2008-10-23 15:48:00
We are all used to reading lists from schools--which cite the books that students are expected to read. But many of those same books are on other lists as well. Every years, public libraries see hundreds of requests to ban books
More About: News , Books , Scary , Things

No Schools Are Spared as 'No Child? Wreaks Its Havoc
2008-10-13 15:21:00
Today, on its front page, the New York Times had a story about a school in Sacramento California that has, until now, not missed a testing target since the federal No Child Left Behind law took effect in 2002. The law requires every American school to bring all students to proficiency in reading and math by 2014. The school contains a wide array of students ? Hispanics, blacks, Asians, whites, American Indians, Filipinos, Pacific Islanders, English learners, the disabled. Over all, the number of its students passing tough statewide tests had increased by more than three percentage points annually, a solid record. But this year, California schools were required to make what experts call a gigantic leap. They had to increase the students proficient in every group by 11 percentage points. For the first time, this school fell short. They are, by no means, alone. This year, about half the state?s 9,800 schools fell short. The failure results in probation and, unless reversed, federal ...
More About: News , Schools , Havoc

Story Smarts: A New Program for Reading Comprehension
2008-09-25 15:55:00
I am delighted to be able to tell you that, in collaboration with my long time colleague Dr. Laura Berlin, I have developed a new reading program titled "Story Smarts ." It is a 30 story, full color program that teaches children the essential skill of "telling stories" and it is available online.You can purchase the complete program for less than $50 or you can purchase sets of five stories for less than $2 a story. Parents often tell me, "The teacher says my child is having troubling telling stories." "Whenever I ask my son what he has done in school that day, he never answers." "My daughter dreads having to write her daily journal entry." Story Smarts is designed to handle those problems. But there is more.
More About: Reading , Program , Reading Comprehension

Standing Up to the Demands of the Classroom
2008-09-22 16:07:00
A teacher in the mid-West realized the obvious: that telling kids to ?sit still and quit fidgeting? did not do much good. So, like bookkeepers in the era of Charles Dickins, she has the students using new, adjustable-height stand-up desks that don?t ever require them to sit still.
More About: News , Demands , Standing

Dealing with Handwriting Problems? Turn to qwertyuiop
2008-09-21 21:27:00
In case you don?t find yourself seated in front of a computer on a regular basis, the sequence ?qwertyuiop? may seem a bit odd. Should that be the case, you are probably equally unfamiliar with its neighbors-- ?asdfghjkl? and ?zxcvbnm.? In combination, these represent the three main rows of letters on a keyboard. They came to the fore recently when I was reading an article about Philip Roth, the novelist. Talking about Roth?s drive, passion and/or obsession with writing, it said ?Never a day passes when he does not stare at those three hateful words: qwertyuiop, asdfghjkl, and zxcvbnm.?
More About: Writing , Problems , Handwriting , Turn

A Recipe for Success?
2008-09-11 16:33:00
The BBC in England recently announced that 11-year-olds in schools around Britain will receive free cookbooks. The goal is to help tackle the obesity epidemic that, just as in our country, is overtaking the youth there. The head of schools in the government said that the goal is to have everyone be able to prepare basic, nutritious dishes from scratch--in contrast to the current pride that exists in not being able to cook properly.
More About: News , Recipe , Success

Bad Handwriting? If It's Any Comfort, The USA Is Not Alone
2008-09-07 19:42:00
When I was a child, several of my older relatives were illiterate (no small factor in my going into the line of work that I chose). And I recall that when they had to write a letter, they went to a "scribe" --one of the more learned people in the neighborhood. There, they would dictate what they had to say and he (it always seemed to be a "he") would put their words on paper. Then the letter would sent on its way. It's been a long time since I heard the word "scribe" but I came across it recently in a British newspaper, The Independent, which reported that thousands of teenagers need "scribes" to help them write their exams because they are incapable of answering questions in longhand themselves.
More About: News , Handwriting , Comfort

Did You Know that Lobsters, Birds, Cats and Dogs Can Do Math?
2008-09-05 15:35:00
Math is, unfortunately, one of the least liked subjects in school. For many children, it is just a series of painful memorization of tables, lots of tedious calculations and nothing much in the way of being interesting. if you want your youngster, or yourself, to see math from a new and somewhat amazing perspective, get hold of the book by Kevlin Devin titled The Math Instinct: Why You're a Mathematical Genius. http://www.amazon.com/Math-Instinct-Mathe matical-Genius-Lobsters/dp/1560256729
More About: Dogs , Cats , Math , Birds , Achievement

Michael Phelps: A Golden Example
2008-08-21 14:37:00
A while back, in one of the blog entries, I wrote about the fact, that despite the pessimistic predictions, children with ADD often turn into successful adults. Now we could not have a clearer example of this brighter picture--Michael Phelps. Diagnosed at age 9 with ADD, he now is the Olympic champion with eight gold medals.
More About: Achievement , Golden

Congress Gives Boost to High Tech Learning in the Classroom
2008-08-20 15:54:00
Congress has given the go-ahead for a new center to explore ways advanced computer and communications technologies can improve learning. It is called the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Tech nologies and it will focus on "bringing education into the 21st century."
More About: News , Congress , High Tech , Learning

Can One Person Make a Difference?
2008-08-15 23:10:00
The new film Swing Vote is designed to spread the optimistic message that "one person can make a difference." But we don't have to go along with the rather far-fetched story line to see that this message has validity. In a recent biography of Shakespeare, Bill Bryson tells us that if we use the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations as a guide, then we find that Shakespeare produced roughly one-tenth of all the most quotable utterances written or spoken in English since its inception." Imagine, a single individual is responsible for roughly 10% of the most quotable things ever said. it is, as Bryson says, "clearly remarkable."
More About: Make , Person , Difference

Dyslexia: Making a Change
2008-08-07 15:47:00
Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh recently announced some interesting results of a brain imaging study of dyslexic students and other poor readers. They showed that with intensive remedial instruction, the brain can permanently rewire itself and overcome reading deficits.
More About: Reading , Change , Dyslexia

Educational Software--A Neglected Realm of the Digital Age
2008-08-06 15:35:00
Some years ago, a colleague--Laura Berlin--and I were attracted by the wealth of educational software programs that were appearing on the scene. To help parents make decisions in this area that was so new and unfamiliar, we wrote (for Microsoft), a book titled Parent's Guide to Educational Software . We were certain that this would be the beginning of burgeoning field.
More About: Achievement , Realm , Digital

Books Enter a New (Digital) Age
2008-08-03 15:18:00
If you've picked up a student's backpack recently, its weight may well have surprised you. Those books can be incredibly heavy. Now, through the rise of e-textbook sales, that may change--lightening both the backpacks and the strain on pocketbooks. Sales of digital books for college students jumped almost 30% from 2006 to 2007.
More About: Books , Reading , Digital , Enter , Digital Age

One Thing on the Rise--A Need for Teachers of Chinese
2008-07-25 18:25:00
With cuts all around us in education, it's interesting to see one field taking off. It is the hiring of teachers who know Chinese . Recognizing the growing power of China on the world stage, schools around the country and seeking to expand their programs, particularly in Mandarin, the main Chinese dialect. But, they are not finding it easy to create these programs.There simply are not enough competent teachers around to teach the language.
More About: News , Rise , Thing , Teachers

Funds To Be Cut for Reading Education
2008-07-23 15:51:00
Last month. both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees approved versions of an appropriations bill which funds federal education programs. Both versions end funding for Reading First, the program which supports a set of reading efforts in grades K-3. If the bill passes in its current form, Congress will have cut funding for PK-3 literacy by $1 billion over two years.
More About: News , Education , Funds

The Amazing Power of Music
2008-07-21 21:36:00
Our usual view of academic success is limited to the "three R's"--reading, 'writing, 'rithmetic." But we would do well to think of adding music to that list. This year, touring the United States, is a dynamic, highly skilled, youth orchestra from Venezuela. It was started many decades ago by Dr.José Antonio, an economist, trained musician, and social reformer who believed that poor, dreadfully poor, Venezuelan kids would find a path out of poverty via classical music. His view has proven to be totally on target.
More About: Music , Power , Amazing , Achievement