Browsing all posts in "school".
A Critical Thinking Experiment in Real Time
I’ve been talking a lot lately about teaching kids critical thinking. I’ve been pretty hard on the schools, for stressing memorization and regurgitation, and ignoring the process. Monday, April 26, we all have a chance to strike a blow for critical thinking on a global scale. Let me explain. Over the past six months or [...]
A or F?
Last week, a fascinating study came out: Students taking an exam were given a test paper that had either an ‘A’ or an ‘F’ marked on the top of the paper (a control group had a non-significant letter at the top of the paper –like ‘J’). They were asked to copy this “exam code” onto [...]
To Science, or Not to Science
I ran across this study this weekend. A bunch of kids in 7th grade (11 and 12) were polled about future career choices. The results were tabulated against parents’ careers, and the student’s own later education. The results show that kids in the 11 and 12 year age range have a pretty good idea of [...]
And You Wonder Why I’m Hypertensive
For eight years, I have had kids in our local high school. Eight years. For eight years, if I had to take the kid out for an appointment, I sent a note. No problem. Three weeks ago, the Goth tore up his leg. Six hours in the ER. I sent a note. No problem. Two [...]
There are Some Things Kids Should Just Know
The words to the national anthem, that’s one. There is no scenario possible in which a home grown American boy should not be able to come up with the words. If he’s a singer, he has double indemnity. In light of Jesse McCartney’s historic meltdown over the weekend, The Mother has been pondering what, exactly, [...]
Why I Love Homeschooling
Last week’s post, I realized (after hubby pointed it out), was a bit of a bummer. You are probably asking yourselves why I do it at all, given the requisite addiction to Pepcid and Hyzaar (anti-hypertensive, for those of you who don’t speak medical). So, why I love homeschooling: 1) Field trips. I get to [...]
We Interrupt This Program…
Your scheduled dose of the follies of medicine past has been temporarily interrupted by the follies of medicine present. The Goth fell off his bike on the way to school today. He and the bike have a contentious relationship, starting the day he gave himself a tib-fib fracture when Stretch pushed him into a door [...]
The ABCs of Homeschooling, or Why I Have an Ulcer
By popular request, I will now expound on secular homeschooling. The short answer: DON’T, unless you really like Pepcid, have a burning desire to have your kids hate you for four hours a day, and LOVE to spend every evening pouring through physics and pre-cal textbooks. The long answer: It is the hardest, most rewarding [...]
Not An Auspicious Beginning
Stretch’s first vocabulary word of the school year: “Auspicious”: 1) promising success; favorable. 2) fortunate, prosperous. I’m thinking not so much. The Goth got himself up this morning and left for the bus a full twenty minutes early. Ten minutes after the bus was supposed to arrive, he calls me on his cell to get [...]
The Mother’s 12 Step, Back to School Program
The summer took a lot out of us moms. The kids are about to go back to school. That’s good, right? Wrong. Back to school can be equally stressful. But if you follow The Mother’s 12 step, back to school program, you will at least not cave under the pressure. Step #1: Refill the kid’s [...]
