Clipmarks | phatmommy's 'children' clips

Educational Games to Teach Your Kids About Business

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:06:03 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: Great ideas for the holidays!

And I think it is critical that we find ways to teach our children the same - there is no way we can teach them to truly prepare for what they will face 10-15 years from now - but we can teach them to innovate, think for themselves, and give them the skills necessary to make a living no matter what the world is like in 2017.

So this holiday season, give your children a gift that will teach them a thing or two about business. I promise you they will love it if you find them one that fits their interests - my kids are particularly fond of Zoo Tycoon - see below!

Monopoly

KidsWealth Money Kit

The Sims 2: Open for Business

Stock Rush Game

Zoo Tycoon

Roller Coaster Tycoon

Fairy Godmother Tycoon

My Horse Farm

Restaurant Empire

Lemonade Tycoon 2

David Kirk’s Happy Giddy Lemonade Stand & Presto Homemade Electric Lemonade Maker

Learning Resources Pretend & Play Snack Shop

Learning Resources Supermarket Checkout & Pretend and Play Supermarket Set

Tags: education, games

Ultimate Principles for Inspiring Human Attitudes

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:46:47 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy

Clip Source: life.familyeducation.com

There are a few basic tenets and solid life principles that have lasted through the ages. In some shape or form, these principles appear in all cultures, religions, and civilizations. And the main thing they all have in common is not just preventing bad attitudes from happening and that brat factor from taking hold, but they cultivate a society whose children are not spoiled, selfish, defiant, and insensitive but rather selfless, compassionate, respectful, and empathic. In the end, they are the kinds of kids that we all hope and dream for.

The Ultimate Principles for Inspiring Human Attitudes

Be loving.

Be consistent.

Be a good example.

Be authentic.

Be present.

Be positive.

Be patient.

Be persistent.

Be selfless.

Be active.

Be simple.

Be believing.

Be open.

Be empathic.

Everything we do now is going to have an impact on our children and their world to come.

Tags: children, life skills, mommy, moms, parenting

The Fallacy of Public Schooling

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 03:03:22 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: Read this article!!

Clip Source: www.fee.org

When parents send a child to a tax-funded school, they sacrifice their autonomy to alien interests. The state has goals of its own that are distinct from those of parents. Parents are able to economize by availing themselves of a “free” school, but the bargain is Faustian. The child is subjected to indoctrination outside parental control. The price of tax-funded schooling is that parents give up their children to become instruments of the state.

Instead it is clear whose interests are being advanced. Fifty-four years ago the writer in Young America was moved to emphasize in italics that era’s apparently high tax rates. Since then the average tax burden has doubled. Yet, as one of my acquaintances has commented, “Americans today are in a stupor.” In other words, the tax-supported school system has triumphed. Americans are behaving exactly the way those who govern desire them to behave.

Tags: children, education, freedom, homeschooling, parenting, school

Too much praise for our children?

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 15:28:15 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: Teach your children to take responsibility for their efforts, instead of telling them they are inherently smart and special.

Clip Source: nymag.com

But a growing body of research—and a new study from the trenches of the New York public-school system—strongly suggests it might be the other way around. Giving kids the label of “smart” does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it.

Clip Source: nymag.com

“When we praise children for their intelligence,” Dweck wrote in her study summary, “we tell them that this is the name of the game: Look smart, don’t risk making mistakes.” And that’s what the fifth-graders had done: They’d chosen to look smart and avoid the risk of being embarrassed.

Dweck had suspected that praise could backfire, but even she was surprised by the magnitude of the effect. “Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control,” she explains. “They come to see themselves as in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child’s control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure.”

Tags: parenting, praise, children

Schools Smother the Learning Fire

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 12:18:54 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy

Clip Source: whyhomeschool.blogspot.com

People keep trying to tweak public education so it will be better. It isn’t working. I don’t think it will really improve as it is currently structured. After millions, or maybe billions, of man hours invested in trying to fix public schools, maybe it is time to think out of the box and acknowledge that we need something fundamentally different. Maybe it is vouchers, maybe it is charter schools, maybe something else. But public schools haven’t changed their basic nature in a long time. Every year hundreds of thousands of children graduate from high school who are functionally illiterate.

I don’t believe that public schools can nourish a love for learning. By the very nature of forcing children to learn with everyone else, each child’s fire is often being smothered.

Tags: education, homeschooling, school

DANGERS IN OUR SCHOOLS…EXPOSED

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:11:05 GMT

clipped by: dorine
clipper's remarks: TODAY ON MONTEL

Clip Source: montelshow.com

Everyday, parents all across America entrust teachers and school administrators with the well being of our children but just how safe are our schools? We will meet Stephanie, the mother of an autistic little boy named Ryan. Ryan was repeatedly tied to his chair at the wrists and ankles by his teacher. Stephanie recently won a civil suit against the public school district. Andrea claims her 12-year-old daughter was molested by her gym teacher. Jill claims her 9-year-old son was sexually abused and raped by older bullies in the school bathroom. Jill had to take her son out of school temporarily to deal with both the emotional and physical scars of this experience. Shanna claims her son was violently beaten up by a bully in a racially motivated attack. Gina’s son, Johnny was “paddled” so hard by his principal that he fell forward and broke his nose.

Tags: schools, danger, teachers, education, abuse, children, crime

Rethinking Homework

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 03:10:16 GMT

clipped by: showket

Clip Source: www.alfiekohn.org

Rethinking Homework

By Alfie Kohn

Daily homework is the rule in most schools. Why not make it the exception?

After spending most of the day in school, children are typically given additional assignments to be completed at home. This is a rather curious fact when you stop to think about it, but not as curious as the fact that few people ever stop to think about it.

It becomes even more curious, for that matter, in light of three other facts:

1. The negative effects of homework are well known. They include children’s frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities, and possible loss of interest in learning. Many parents lament the impact of homework on their relationship with their children; they may also resent having to play the role of enforcer and worry that they will be criticized either for not being involved enough with the homework or for becoming too involved.

Tags: school, homework, education