Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Google Sites
I'm not sure how I managed not to know about this for so long, but I've recently discovered the wonder that is Google Sites. I have set up a site for Big Brother and Little Sister so that they can find links to all the interesting things I'd like them to discover on the internet right there on their home page when they start the computer. And more importantly I can do it from my own computer whenever I happen to discover them, quickly and easily. Yay!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Conversation with a Two Year Old
Little Sister pooed on the grass today. ick.
This evening we were talking about it.
Me: where should you put your poos.
LS: my put my poos on da lawn.
Me: yes, you did. That was yucky. Where should you put your poos?
LS: in da toilet.
Me: that's right. Only dogs poo on the grass. Girls poo in the toilet.
LS: (after giving this some thought) and penguins poo in da water!
Do you think she got the message? I sure hope so!
This evening we were talking about it.
Me: where should you put your poos.
LS: my put my poos on da lawn.
Me: yes, you did. That was yucky. Where should you put your poos?
LS: in da toilet.
Me: that's right. Only dogs poo on the grass. Girls poo in the toilet.
LS: (after giving this some thought) and penguins poo in da water!
Do you think she got the message? I sure hope so!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Acids and Bases
Big Brother has been asking to try this ever since he saw it on Suzy's World (more than two and a half years, oops!)
One purple cabbage, chopped up and soaked in boiling water.
Strain - voila, indicator!
One purple cabbage, chopped up and soaked in boiling water.
Strain - voila, indicator!
Mummy may like to over organise things a little... but it looks pretty :-)
Add kids, mix and enjoy!
Ranking the results:
Big Brother wanted to test some more things too, so we added toothpaste, hand soap, milk, apple juice, mandarin juice and yoghurt.
On discovering that coke, apple juice and mandarins are all acidic, but toothpaste is slightly alkaline, Big Brother thought of a reason why cleaning his teeth is a good idea.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Creatures Under the Floorboards
Daddy had to do some work under the house so Big Brother and Little Sister wanted to have a look too. After lots of exploring and much giggling and playing with torches this is what emerged.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Decision Time
I wanted to share this because it expresses a lot of what we're trying to figure out for Big Brother at the moment... can we even begin to make same age classes work for him? Or maybe more importantly, should we try?
Blogs | TalentIgniter
Blogs | TalentIgniter
School is Not Real Life, Part 2
SAME-AGED CLASSROOMS
By Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D.Everyone knows that the reason we put children in school by age for their instruction is that there are centuries of excellent research that proves this is the most effective way for children to learn, right? Well, no, actually, there is no such research at all. I think it had something to do with following the Henry Ford factory efficiency model and no one ever seemed to think of questioning its validity for the schooling of generations of children around the world.In the "olden days" of mass public education, we had the one room schoolhouse. It worked quite well. Students proceeded through the curriculum at their own pace and worked with anyone else, of any age, who was ready for the same material and production. My goal is not to give a history lesson here but to point out that we no longer do this in schools. Whether you are ready for more or not, it is not allowed because the student will get ahead and, "What will we do with her next year?"Here is a little IQ lesson, though. Whether or not you approve of the concept of IQs or IQ testing, the research shows that IQ results correlate with all kinds of real-life outcomes. The average IQ in the US is 100 and regular standardized tests that most people take in school (or when they enter the military) all start as low as around 50 IQ and as high as about 150 IQ. Yes, there are some other kinds of tests that have different scales, but that's not what I'm talking about now.The average IQ difference between people who choose to marry each other is 12 points. Basically, they get each other's jokes. That old magic feeling of someone thinking we're amusing! The genetic mingling of the parents' genes gives them children who will usually be within 15 points higher or lower to their parental average. Same with siblings- only 15 points between them on average. Most people know that there is a bell curve shape for most human qualities, and IQ is no exception. There are more average people than there are very low or very high IQ people.American school classrooms are set up by age. Kindergarten screening tells the schools which children are most ahead and most behind others their age. The principal stacks the kids by ability and then considers gender, behavior, ethnicity, and socio- economic background, and then deals the kids out to the four different kindergarten classrooms so that every class has the same number of each kind of kid. This means that the four most advanced children will all be in different classrooms. No one will get their jokes except maybe the teacher! The typical IQ range in such a classroom is 70 to 80 IQ points, but we are generally comfortable with and drawn to people who are within about 12 points of us. Then we tell the kids that they need to learn to get along with their "peers." But peers might not be age-mates unless they--by some stroke of luck--are fairly close to us in intellect and get our jokes, get us.School is not a very happy time or place for many, many bright children.
SAME-AGED CLASSROOMS
By Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D.
By Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D.
Everyone knows that the reason we put children in school by age for their instruction is that there are centuries of excellent research that proves this is the most effective way for children to learn, right? Well, no, actually, there is no such research at all. I think it had something to do with following the Henry Ford factory efficiency model and no one ever seemed to think of questioning its validity for the schooling of generations of children around the world.
In the "olden days" of mass public education, we had the one room schoolhouse. It worked quite well. Students proceeded through the curriculum at their own pace and worked with anyone else, of any age, who was ready for the same material and production. My goal is not to give a history lesson here but to point out that we no longer do this in schools. Whether you are ready for more or not, it is not allowed because the student will get ahead and, "What will we do with her next year?"
Here is a little IQ lesson, though. Whether or not you approve of the concept of IQs or IQ testing, the research shows that IQ results correlate with all kinds of real-life outcomes. The average IQ in the US is 100 and regular standardized tests that most people take in school (or when they enter the military) all start as low as around 50 IQ and as high as about 150 IQ. Yes, there are some other kinds of tests that have different scales, but that's not what I'm talking about now.
The average IQ difference between people who choose to marry each other is 12 points. Basically, they get each other's jokes. That old magic feeling of someone thinking we're amusing! The genetic mingling of the parents' genes gives them children who will usually be within 15 points higher or lower to their parental average. Same with siblings- only 15 points between them on average. Most people know that there is a bell curve shape for most human qualities, and IQ is no exception. There are more average people than there are very low or very high IQ people.
American school classrooms are set up by age. Kindergarten screening tells the schools which children are most ahead and most behind others their age. The principal stacks the kids by ability and then considers gender, behavior, ethnicity, and socio- economic background, and then deals the kids out to the four different kindergarten classrooms so that every class has the same number of each kind of kid. This means that the four most advanced children will all be in different classrooms. No one will get their jokes except maybe the teacher! The typical IQ range in such a classroom is 70 to 80 IQ points, but we are generally comfortable with and drawn to people who are within about 12 points of us. Then we tell the kids that they need to learn to get along with their "peers." But peers might not be age-mates unless they--by some stroke of luck--are fairly close to us in intellect and get our jokes, get us.
School is not a very happy time or place for many, many bright children.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
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