Overscheduled Children: How Big a Problem?

Published: October 11, 2013

“Spend time with no goal in mind,” he said. “That will communicate to your child that you love them. And if a child feels loved, life can present them with hardships, but these setbacks will never defeat them.”

The antidote to that problem, he said, is to make sure children have enough time with no activities, parents have enough time with no work and the two sides come together to create activities of their own.

Suniya Luthar, a psychology professor at Columbia, has done extensive studies on the role of extracurricular activities in children’s lives. She stressed that the number of activities is not the problem.

“It’s good for kids to be scheduled,” she said. “It’s good for them to have musical activities, sports or other things organized and supervised by an adult.”

Her research has shown that advantages include having well-rounded experiences outside of academics, the opportunities to hone skills and working together with other children. And, since most school districts fail to provide adequate after-school programs, she said, “there’s the big deal of giving parents a break.”

Problems arise, Dr. Luthar said, when parents overscrutinize their children’s performance in these activities.

“You don’t just play soccer for fun or play stickball in the cul-de-sac, you’re vying for the travel team by second grade,” she said. “The only place where I say stop is where the child starts to say his or her performance determines his or her self-worth: I am as I can perform.”

Polly Young-Eisendrath, a clinical psychologist and the author of “The Self-Esteem Trap,” was the one person I talked to who argued that too many activities may be a problem. She blamed a generation of parents who are too interested in the lives of their children, hanging on every word, coddling every need, communicating that parents are just audience members for their children’s accomplishments.

Before age 11 or 12, she said, when children begin to develop self-consciousness, activities risk distracting children from their natural development.

“Prior to then,” Dr. Young-Eisendrath said, “all these lessons and classes are about parents competing with other parents. Children really need that time to lie around, play more freely and have periods when they are side-by-side with their parents in the same room, being ‘alone together.’ ”

In the past, this was more possible, she said, “not just because there was a parent staying at home but because parents didn’t have this obsessive interest in children’s lives.”

Considering the differing views of the people I called, I was struck that at least one common theme emerged: I should worry less about the amount of time my children spent on activities and more about the messages I sent about those activities. So how do parents make sure they don’t cross the line?

First, know where the motivation is coming from, you or your child.

“Are you hearing laughter?” Dr. Thompson said. “Is the child giggling when you drop them off or pick them up? Or are they solemn and dragging their feet?”

Second, watch what you say. Dr. Luthar said parents should be in touch with their own feelings to ensure they are not communicating that exemplary performance is the only goal that matters. She warned against statements like, “Oops, you’re not starting again?” or “Oh, dear, you’re not chosen for all-county?”

“And if you’re having trouble identifying this tendency in yourself,” she said, “ask your spouse, your sibling or anybody you trust.”

Regardless of how many activities you schedule for your children, make sure you schedule time for yourself to be with them.

Dr. Rosenfeld said, “Your kids need to feel there is enough time when the computer is off, the cellphone is off and all you want to do is be together.”

It’s not just quality time, he said, it’s quantity, too.

“I always quote the Billy Joel song,” he said:No need for clever conversation, I’ll take you just the way you are. 

By: New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/fashion/over-scheduled-children-how-big-a-problem.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&adxnnl=1&ref=education&adxnnlx=1381967018-NhCFk%20Yro8tmyp80UwEaPg

Educating Through Technology

Once upon a time homeschoolers might have been considered old-fashioned. This is probably because of the stereotype that homeschoolers are generally homeschooling for religious reasons, sitting around a dining room table doing copy work from historical icons, and learning to read from old public school readers. Like all stereotypes there is probably some basis in truth but today’s homeschoolers are breaking out of that stereotype.

Today’s homeschoolers are often at least as technologically advanced as their traditionally educated counterparts. Part of the reason this is true is because homeschooled students are not sitting isolated in their homes poring over outdated textbooks but are studying the latest available material by means of technology. Many homeschooled students are taking part in distance learning, self-guided learning, and online curricula.

Distance learning

Distance learning or distance education is a method of presenting educational material through correspondence work, or lectures presented on the internet. It allows students to have access to professors and other specialists that might not be available locally. Students generally use the internet to attend classes and are not required to be present at the school at all.

There are many different variations of using technology for distance learning. Some courses are broadcast at a certain time on the internet and all students are expected to log in, similar to an online meeting site. This type of distance learning is called synchronous or live learning. Other courses are uploaded to the internet for the students to use when they have the time. This type of distance learning is sometimes called asynchronous distance education.

Self-guided Learning

Self-guided learning is similar to distance learning. Some universities offer free courses online. While the courses are usually offered not-for-credit, they still represent a large body of information. Most of these courses are online, free, and often contain both video and searchable lecture notes. An example of this type of educational material is MIT Open Courseware. By searching the internet for open course ware it is seen that a number of prestigious universities offer similar open course ware.

Another option for self-guided learning is Khan Academy. Courses available there are not offered for credit. In fact, it might even be considered free online tutoring as many complex topics in math and science are broken down into easily digestible, short lectures.

While this coursework is offered on the internet for free and is a great way for a student to gain knowledge, it is generally not offered for credit. However, there is no argument that this work is an attractive addition to homeschool transcripts and can be a great preparation for taking college entrance as well as CLEP tests.

Online Curriculum

Online curriculum for homeschool students is offered from Pre-K through 12th grade. Sometimes it is difficult to see the difference between distance learning and online curriculum. Probably the main difference is that with online curriculum most of the instruction is presented online as well as most of the coursework. This online curriculum type of learning generally does not have a “live” instructor that the student answers.

Much of the testing is done by the program in the form of multiple choice or fill in the blank answers though in higher grade there are often writing assignments that parents will have to grade for their for their homeschooled students. Online curricula can be used for core education as well as supplemental coursework. One example of an online curriculum is Time4Learning.

Other Options

There are many other opportunities for homeschooled students to take advantage of technology in their educational endeavors. The internet is, in some cases, taking the place of the library. Since many families no longer buy sets of encyclopedias the internet is a great research vehicle. There are many subject specific sites that provide instructional material as well as educational games. Homeschooled students often do not have access to the same textbooks that traditionally educated students do, so learning to use technology affords homeschooled students with opportunities to learn and expand their horizons that they might not have otherwise.

Taken From: http://www.edarticle.com/article.php?id=42357

Written By: Linda Warren 

Seek After School Care for Your Child Online

In today’s hectic, fast paced life, many parents are working due to which they do not get as much time to spend with their children or pay the required attention towards them. This is why most of the parents enroll their child into a kindergarten. After school care is an institute that provides proper education to your child during his early developmental years. They help your child grow, learn and play. Every parent wants their child to flourish with success and grow up to be a beautiful human being in all aspects of life. It is every child’s right to gain knowledge and to pursue education. Every child is beautiful and different in his own way. One cannot expect their child to be what they want since it is the child who has to do it at the end of the day. Children should be given freedom to make their own decisions under the guidance of their parents.

Toddler education is the best option in order to make your child’s life prosperous. Right education, if given at the right time, may prove to be beneficial in the later stages of life. Kids should be provided with appropriate academic training in order to let them perform to the best of their abilities. A few decades ago, there were no after school care available for kids and this is the main reason why many people have criticized such schools while some also suggest that it is not necessary. These individuals should realize that times have changed and to sustain in this competitive market, it is necessary for one to learn the rights and wrongs from a very young age. After school program helps your kid in learning every aspect of their life and also ensures holistic development to make him an achiever.

Knowledge and intelligence are the two main aspects of life which can never go to waste. It is very important that your kid gets his basics right from a very young age. Early childhood education system or programs help your child to grow up better and able enough to compete in a competitive market. After school care serves your child with the best art of teaching and learning. Learning is a technique and kids are not machines that can be programmed with different tools. Preschool trainers understand this and help your child understand the art of learning instead of programming or scheduling their lives.

In order to find the best after school program for your child you can browse online. Online you will come across many institutes that cater to child care. These institutes deal with kid with a lot of care and affection and they understand that education cannot be completed unless provided with proper attention and pampering. Before enrolling your child in any of the after school care institute, you need to make sure that they are licensed and government recognized institute. For any queries you can call the school on the number mentioned on the website and dispel all your doubts.

Taken From: http://www.edarticle.com/article.php?id=42390
Written By: Lenanne S Reagane 

Ways of choosing true learning Educational Toys for your kids

What will be your criteria to decide whether you are choosing a good educational toy after seeing one? Educational videos, software, Chemistry Kits, Telescope, flash- cards all are known to be the science toys, so which will work more appropriately for your child? According to the theoretical aspects followed by experts, the easiest way to know the solutions is to find out whether the toys are promoting any convergent or divergent thought process of the children? If you are not aware of the two terminologies, then let’s have a discussion for the same.

Convergent Thinking
Ability to tackle things having only one predefined answer by learning the facts and guidelines to move upon for reaching to that answer! This is to develop fundamentals of your child by making them learn the way of reaching to a unified solution, with the help of the given instructions. This will create opportunities related to education in children for giving their best performances in the tests and multiple choice exams.Some Examples can be given here for proving my point: Jigsaw puzzles are designed to have only one correct solution and that can be solved in one way only, mathematical flash- cards are defined to have one correct answer, coloring of the pink pig as seen in the pre schools educational videos is always shown to be pink, and many others.

Divergent Thinking
This defines the way of thinking in the sense of exploring more than one possible answers, creating newer conceptions, and solving conceptualized problems. This is actually the way of thinking of leading personalities in the fields of designing, engineering, and managing the similar operations. They are experts of their work because of the strong thought process habited by their minds, for thinking quietly out-of-the-box.Science toys used for the promotion of this type learning process includes arts-kits and crafts, scientific and musical conceptualized teaching toys, role-playing and different type of costumes, encouraging your child for developing the imagination and socializing skills.

Construction Educational Toys
Best option for the promotion of Both Convergent and Divergent Thinking Process.
For simultaneous setting of the platform for creativity of both convergent and divergent thinking, with the help of the guidelines follow-ups written on the box of the game to reach the making of the modeled sample by the children, constructional toys are the best option. With the follow-ups of the instructions, the required expertise can be acquired with the help of construction-pieces.A pride and enjoyable feeling gets developed in the child with the accomplishment of the challenging-tasks, just like after completing the LEGO-model building or completion of a puzzle. All of the ideas are for harnessing the emotional energies and moving the kids to THINK!

 Written By: Laura
 Taken From: http://www.edarticle.com/article.php?id=42277

How To Stop Toxic Test Anxiety: A 4 Step Approach To Raise Test Scores And Grades In College

One problem that college students frequently face when they are in college is test anxiety. All students experience at least some nervousness as they take tests, but some students become so worried about preparing for tests, reviewing for tests, and taking tests that it greatly affects their performance in studying for an exam and test taking. Test anxiety causes many to ‘blank out,’ become unable to think clearly or remember the correct answers to test questions. That’s even when they’ve properly prepared for their university exam.

Symptoms of anxiety before a university examination can include sleeplessness, irritability, and loss of appetite. While taking a practice exam or during the test itself you might feel confused and panicked with rapid breathing, perspiration, chills, and numbness. After the test you may get feelings of hopelessness, indifference, anger, and guilt. You may look to blame something or someone else for your difficulties (Bourne, 2005).

Anxiety is created in part by genetic predispositions, but it is also brought on by situations that create stress. It is important to realize that anxiety is not only a negative emotion. Anxiety is important for doing well on exams. Too little anxiety results in a lack of motivation. But too high anxiety negatively effects focus, memory, and concentration (Wine, 1971) in review of test preparation materials.

Psychologists and educators have proposed a number of test prep techniques that you can use to cope with your anxiety (Cornell, 2013). In this article we will give you a particular technique for dealing with the test anxiety you are experiencing as a college student.The approach that you will use to cope with your anxiety is called Positive Thoughts and Behaviors (PTB). The technique works by replacing anxious and fearful thoughts about exams with positive thoughts and behaviors. The approach will help you get more correct answers on your exams. And even if you are not currently experiencing test anxiety, these techniques can nevertheless be used to help you maintain your resiliency to stress.

A Simple, But ‘Little Known’ Way To Combat Your Text Anxiety
To successfully work against your test anxiety you must use the PTB technique to practice controlling your thoughts and replacing your negative thoughts with positive ones and by relaxing your body to reduce anxiety. You must carefully monitor your thoughts and feelings as you prepare for and as you take the test. The PTB technique involves using each of four different approaches. Use each of the approaches if you are feeling anxious as you are studying for and when you are taking the exam:

1. Slow your thoughts down. To do this, focus your attention on a specific object such as the top of your desk or the color of the walls in the room. Focusing on one object will help clear your thoughts. Keep focusing on the object until you feel calmer.
   

1. Imagine yourself in a safe and enjoyable place and practice going there. Perhaps you can imagine a mountain scene or a calm and sunny seashore. Imagine how relaxed you feel at that place. Think about the specific positive feelings you have in that place. Create a detailed picture and stay in the place until you feel calmer.
   

1. Increase your oxygen flow by breathing deeply through your nose and filling your lungs with air. Then release the air. Do this for a couple of minutes. The oxygen will help reduce your anxiety.
   

1. Focus your attention on the feelings of your body. Tighten and then release any part of your body that feels tense. For instance, if your shoulders are tense, pull them back and then relax them.You can use the same process with your hands, your face, your legs and your stomach. Try clenching your fists, tightening your jaw, straightening your legs, and tensing your stomach all at once. Then relax your body. Do this a couple of times until you feel more relaxed.
   
   Written By: Nancy Thomason
   Taken From: http://www.edarticle.com/article.php?id=42279
   
   
   
   
   

Classroom assistants used as teachers, claims union

Classroom support staff say they are increasingly being asked to stand in for fully qualified teachers, a union is claiming.

A third (32%) of support staff in UK state schools polled by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said they took classes for absent teachers.

Over a fifth (22%) said they took more classes in 2012-13 than in 2011-12.
A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: "The rules are clear - they should not be teaching."
The DfE said teaching assistants and other classroom support staff played a vital role in the classroom, short of teaching whole classes of children.

Staff expertise
"The government's recent review of school efficiency showed that, when properly trained and deployed, teaching assistants play an important role in helping to improve learning," the spokeswoman said.
"It is for school leaders to use the expertise of all staff to ensure any disruption to pupils is minimal and that taxpayers get value for money."

The ATL polled more than 1,400 of its members working as support staff in state schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A spokeswoman for the union said the rules allow classroom assistants to teach small groups of children under the supervision of a qualified teacher, but they should not teach whole classes or prepare teaching material.

Higher level teaching assistants may contribute to lesson planning and deliver lessons to whole classes to assist an assigned teacher, while cover supervisors are employed to supervise classes while pupils complete work set by a teacher.

A quarter (25.4%) of the teaching assistants and learning support workers surveyed and almost half (49.1%) of higher level teaching assistants said they were asked to cover lessons.

Of the 400 who said they stood in for the regular class teacher, 60% said they did the same work as fully qualified teachers, claims the union, while a third (31%) of these staff said they had been used to take classes for three or more consecutive days.

The union quotes a higher level teaching assistant at a secondary school in England: "I prepare, teach and mark at least four lessons for two year-7, bottom-set classes, and a year-8 set for at least three hours a week. It is teaching on the cheap."

'Cheap option'
A cover supervisor said: "I have even been asked to give copies of lessons I have prepared to members of teaching staff."

A primary school teaching assistant added: "It is unfair that many teaching assistants are teaching classes in the absence of a teacher, and doing the same job as a teacher for much less money."

ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: "Schools are selling children short by using teaching assistants to teach classes when the regular teacher is unavailable.

"We are totally opposed to this exploitation of support staff who are being used as a cheap option to teachers.

"It is grossly unfair on them and on the children and their parents who rightly expect their children to be taught by qualified teachers."

 Written By Judith Burns BBC News education reporter 
 Taken from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24429466

E-readers 'more effective' for some dyslexic readers

Short lines of text on electronic devices may help some dyslexic readers increase their reading speed and comprehension, research suggests.

US scientists studied 100 pupils reading on paper and e-readers.
On the device, those who struggled most with sight-word reading read faster and those with limited visual attention spans had better comprehension.

The ability to display text in short lines with fewer words helped pupils focus on each word, they told Plos One.

Lead researcher Dr Matthew Schneps, from the Science Education Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told BBC News: "The key factor that's important in the effect being helpful is that there's a few words per line.


"We think that could apply on paper, the blackboard or on any device."
He said dyslexia came in many varieties, but some people may be helped by adjustments to the text that were visual in nature.

"If people are struggling to read they may want to try to simply blow the text up in their small computer-like device to see if having fewer words helps," he said.

Commenting on the study, the British Dyslexia Association said e-book formats and readers were more accessible as they had a large range of font, size, spacing and colour options.

"They can also instantly provide definitions of words from built-in dictionaries," a representative said.

"Additional text-to-speech software can make them even more accessible and ensure that reading is less challenging and remove the stigma that is so often associated for those who can't read."

Taken From:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24144078

Some Tips on How to Teach English

Teaching anyone a foreign language can be pretty hard. It is really hard for many people to understand how to teach English.

Teaching anyone a foreign language can be pretty hard. It is really hard for many people to understand how to teach English. If this is your job, there are many ways to make your learners to gain the right skills once their course is complete. As their teacher, you have to also dedicate your time to learn about the things that you can do to make it easier to teach this subject. If you are teaching English as a second language, your learners will be looking up to you to acquire their first language skills. This is why you have to give the English language learners the right information at the very beginning.

First of all, you need to understand that teaching this language does not involve showing your students how to memorize some common English words and phrases and teaching them a little bit of grammar. Some of the core elements of English teaching are listening and pronunciation. For your students to gain some listening skills in English, you can ask them to speak English and then record their speeches. Ask the English language learners to compare the way they speak English with the native speakers’ speech. Practicing this activity will help them to improve on their listening and pronunciation.

Your students also need to learn how to speak the language. This can be done through face to face teaching whereby the English teacher selects a suitable topic for the students. In such a case, one of the mistakes that should be avoided completely is interrupting students when they are speaking. You shouldn’t try and correct the students’ errors as they speak. This will lower your students’ morale and prevent them from engaging in any public speaking.

You also need to teach your students how to read English. Your students need to recognize the right vocabularies. You can help them to be confident when reading English by using a number of teaching activities like scanning and skimming. You should also think of investing in a number of text books which are available to help ESL teachers boost their student’s reading skills. Other than the text books, there is also the option of online software that can be a helpful resource for those who want to get intensive reading courses for English language learners. When teaching your students how to write English, you need to consider their age and their main purpose of learning the language. Other areas like punctuation and grammar can also be improved.

As an English teacher, you might also need a course outline and lesson plan when teaching this language. The course outline is usually given by the school because it helps the student to get an overview of what the ESL course will cover. Most teachers who need a lesson plan have a number of other lessons to teach in a day. They need the lesson plan to help organize well. This plan should be properly written in a concise manner. If you are an English teacher, there are a number of online resources where you can get critical information on how to teach this language. Get online to find out more.

Written by: Dr. Algirdas Makarevicius 

Taken from: http://www.edarticle.com/article.php?id=40677

13 June 2013 Last updated at 12:00

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Many internet service providers (ISPs) provide parental control software - most of which includes content filters which can block offensive content such as pornography.

The four big ISPs - BT, Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk - provide it free of charge (as part of their package), and give new customers a prompt so that they have to make a decision as to whether they want to use it or not.

Continue reading the main story

Take a look at the parental controls section of the UK Safer Internet Centre website (there's a link to it at the end of this guide). It has more information about the software offered by the four big ISPs. There are four short videos which explain where you can find the parental controls, what they do, and how you can set them up.

UK mobile operators also provide free parental control software. Some of this is set up by default, but if you are not sure then contact your mobile operator and ask them.

There are parental controls available on a wide range of devices. Whether your child is using a games console, a tablet or a smartphone, it is likely that there are controls available for parents to use.

Content filters

Content filters are a key tool typically included in parental control software. They can help to reduce the chances of children coming across inappropriate content, such as pornographic and violent material.

Some filters allow parents to set different profiles for different children - so mums and dads can offer a more protective experience for younger children.

It's worth knowing that content filters can sometimes 'over-block', which means they can prevent access to content that is suitable for your child to see. Likewise, they can 'under-block' - allowing some inappropriate content to slip through the filter.

If you want to give your child access to a site that has been blocked, most filters will let you unblock a particular site. And filters can also allow you to add sites that were not previously on the blocked list.

Timed access, monitors and locks

Parental tools offer more than just filtering. If you've installed parental control software, you may find a range of tools on offer.

Some tools allow parents to set time limits to online activities. This allows the parent to restrict access to the internet, or to certain types of websites at certain times - for example to block social networking during homework time.

Other tools let you monitor your child's online activity - so, for example, you can see which websites they have been viewing and how long they were online for. Some more advanced parental control software even provides parents with reports on their child's social networking activity.

On-demand services - such as BBC iPlayer, 4oD Player, ITV Player and Demand 5 - offer a password-protected parental lock which can help protect children from viewing more challenging, grown-up content.

Take responsibility

It is important to note that parental tools are there to help - they don't provide a fail-safe solution to keeping children safe online.

For instance, content filters are better at blocking pornographic material than some other potentially offensive content. And, in any case, some of the risks facing children online are as a result of their own or other people's behaviour, such as cyber bullying or over-sharing information.

The best outcomes for children come from parental engagement and support.

Mums and dads need to talk to their children and make sure they know how to stay safe online. If their children are older, it's important for parents to talk to their children about acting responsibly online and being respectful to others.

Remember - the kind of parental tools outlined in this guide can be a very helpful resource, but they are not a substitute for knowing what your children are doing online and being there for them when they need you.

Children can learn a lot more than schools are teaching

When you study education, one of the most depressing revelations is the extent to which the Education Establishment has abandoned its main responsibility.

Our elite educators come up with one pretext after another for not doing much in the way of education. Finally, you have this vast landscape full of almost nothing, at least nothing academic, intellectual, or scholarly.

This is wildly counterintuitive. You don’t expect to look across the educational landscape and see an empty wasteland, although a famous professor did write a book in 1953 with that exact title, “Educational Wastelands--the Retreat from Learning in our Public Schools.”

How do they justify this retreat? Basically, they throw out one basic lie: “Our children can’t handle that.” Sometimes they say, “Our children don’t need that.” The constant theme is that children are limited, unable to learn anything difficult, and lacking in intellectual curiosity.

Our Education Establishment justifies having dumb schools by insisting that the children themselves are dumb.
Our top educators seem to think that kids are born ignorant, and we shouldn’t disturb the natural order of things. Obviously, this is a self-serving cop-out by people more interested in social engineering than in educating anyone.

The problem now is that these silly sophistries have permeated every corner of the country. Adults look at children and think, they’re just kids, we can’t expect much.

We need to turn this thing around 180°. Start with the premise that children can learn far more than now, probably ten times more.

Let’s do a blue-sky exploration of what is possible. Pick any three serious subjects at random. Here are the three that first came to my mind: steam engines, the Olympics, nuclear physics.

Children could and should learn about these things. But it’s safe to predict that if you dared to suggest this to our top educators, they would faint from the impossibility of teaching such substantial information to a child. They haven’t tried in many decades, therefore it can’t be done.

I submit that it’s feasible (maybe easy given the power of Google) for any serious teacher to assemble 1000 facts, quotations, photographs, videos, Hollywood film clips, maps and other engaging material on each subject. During a typical class, the teacher would discuss the most interesting 30-40 of these items to the children. Explain and connect. In a month the teacher would cover the thousand pieces of information. At that point the children would be brainiacs on the subject.

 Does someone object you couldn’t find 1000 interesting bits about steam engines? Nonsense. You could find 1000 bits about a single steam engine now operating. What a fascinating subject. How do they work? When did they first show up? How are they used in trains, ships, cars, and even toys? You can teach history through the development and spread of the steam engine and the steam locomotive. (I think Google Images has something like 500 pictures just under the search term "train wrecks.")

The Olympics? There are no doubt 1000 hours of film available from the last 20 Olympics. Probably a million photographs. Probably a billion words. If you can’t make the Olympics interesting, quit. (Did you know, for example, that every four years the best design companies in the world compete to create entirely new graphics and signage for the next Olympics?)

Nuclear energy? You can show pictures of nuclear facilities around the planet, interiors and exteriors. Why are they so huge? What are the scientists doing there? We can show nuclear explosions, gas chamber experiments, famous people who worked on this. You skip the math and show everything else. Even for younger kids, you could talk about the atom, nuclear reactions, radiation, and what happened to that reactor in Japan.

My thesis is you can teach anything to anybody. You teach it at whatever level the class can handle, perhaps a little higher but never lower. Let’s think of the spectators at a football game, that is, average adults. It would be possible to engage and inform them on almost any subject. Whatever you can teach to them, you can teach to children. Who wouldn’t enjoy learning interesting things about nuclear energy, the Olympics, and steam engines?

Everything I’ve said is obvious. The only reason it sounds ambitious is that the Education Establishment shut down all rational thought on the subject years ago. They start from the quackery that zero is normal: zero facts, zero teaching, zero learning. Zero is normal for them.

It’s not normal for human beings at any point in their growth. What’s normal is that the brain focuses on interesting things and wants to learn more about them.

Written by: BruceDPrice 
Taken from: http://www.edarticle.com/article.php?id=41118