Clipmarks | phatmommy's 'education' 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

Find Tons of Info in the EDU Underground

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 21:34:02 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: Useful info, especially when applied to homeschooling.

Clip Source: lifehacker.com

Little appreciated outside the world of academia, there are literally thousands of .edu sites bursting with incredibly useful and interesting information and resources. Most of these sites won't pop up to the surface of the average search engine quest, and so they wait, neglected and underused...until now.

In addition to all these rich resources, you can mine the web for much, MUCH more simply by using this search string in Google: site:.edu "insert subject here". Just tweak that as needed and you'll be able to find a ton more than I could ever have time to write here.

Tags: education, web search, homeschooling

27 Skills Your Child Needs to Know That She's Not Getting in School

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:07:35 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: Excellent article from Zen Habits!

Clip Source: zenhabits.net

When you got out of high school, did you know everything you needed in order to survive in life, let alone succeed?

That’s a part of life, you might say, learning these lessons. But it’s also possible to prepare your child a bit before they go out on their own, and if we can’t get the schools to teach these skills, then let’s do it ourselves.

What follows is a basic curriculum in life that a child should know before reaching adulthood. There will probably be other skills you can add to this list, but at least it’s a starting point.

Tags: children, education, homeschooling, learning, mommy, parenting, life skills

Our Public Schooling System is Antiquated

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:43:36 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy

Clip Source: www.steve-olson.com

But why do we need to keep this system? Our current government schooling system causes this problem. It’s designed so 20% rise to the top and the rest fall out to the factory floor. We have an antiquated system designed to supply labor to an industrial economy that doesn’t exist anymore.

Test taking is the most valuable skill you can posses in school

The most valuable skill you can possess is the ability to acquire useful knowledge and apply it to solve real problems. Once you own this skill, you have all the education you’ll ever need.

Tags: education, freedom, homeschooling, learning, school

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

Socialization?

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 04:58:52 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: This is a great comment to a super post. When people ask homeschoolers about "socialization," they may not realize that school socialization is really indoctrination. Homeschoolers have no problem learning to be sociable (interacting with other people), but they often do not fit the "mold" of good little cogs of the state. This trait may make them seem like misfits. But the issue is not that they are socially inept, it's that they are individuals.

Clip Source: gottsegnet.blogspot.com

All that said, I see a quantum shift approaching in education.. with such easy access to information today, institutional schooling is quietly shifting from government-provided education, to government-sponsored day care with educational activities provided. But if you want to be the best of the best, you'll still need to resource yourself through tutors, family, and para-school activities. If you can't afford those privileges, you're stuck in the big warm safety-net of indoctrination.

Tags: education, freedom, school, homeschooling

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

Toontown Promotes Cooperation

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:25:50 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: My son and I are addicted to Disney's Toontown.com game. I find the game to be brilliantly designed to promote cooperation and team-building skills.

Clip Source: www.eslteachersboard.com

In the midst of any battle – players typically fight higher-level Cogs in groups of four – a player can choose, rather than to throw a gag at the Cogs, to instead give his or her fellow players additional “laff points” (i.e. health). Doing this helps prevent them from “dying” and dropping out of the battle. One skill typically gained from frequent play is knowing when to help your teammates versus when to attack the Cogs. This is not trivial. One adult player described her first battle with ultra-high-level Cogs as “extremely nerve wracking,” and characterized the strategies she had to employ to work successfully with the other players as “the most emotional experience I’ve ever had in a game.” And this is the version for kids!

Tags: education, online gaming, learning

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

Imagine the benefits of privatizing schooling!

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:10:28 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: When discussing separation of school and state, many argue, "What about the poor?" The poor, in fact, would benefit the MOST from privatizing education.

Clip Source: www.honestedu.org

Imagine the possibilities of returning $316 billion to taxpayers as part of separating school and state! Currently only 12 percent of America's school-aged children attend independent, parochial, or home schools.[8] Making this market eight times larger would spur educational innovation as entrepreneurs chased those dollars. Educational opportunities would expand tremendously for everyone — especially the poor. The quantity and quality of educational opportunities would increase dramatically.

Tags: education, freedom, school

Separate School and State

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:37:58 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: I think this is the only true answer to education reform.

Clip Source: jewishworldreview.com

Once Americans may have agreed on what children should be taught, but that day is long gone. On any number of fundamental issues, parents today are sharply divided, and there is no way a government-run, one-curriculum-fits-all education system can satisfy all sides. The only way to end the political battles over schooling is to depoliticize the schools. And the only way to do that is to separate school and state.

Tags: education, school, freedom