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Strollerderby
"I'm going to whip this at your head if you don't bring back gym class!"
Kids who are active do better in school, reports TIME Magazine. Researchers in the Netherlands reviewed 14 studies, and the overwhelming conclusion was that the more physical activity a child has, the better he or she will do, in terms of both standardized tests and grade point average. The higher scores were particularly reflected in math, English, and reading.
The study review’s author, Amika Singh, said that being active may increase blood flow to the brain, providing more oxygen to cells involved in learning and attention.
What does this mean for schools?
Mandy Gingerich, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Butler University has been giving her students an interesting test that’s not part of the curriculum. For the past three semesters, she’s conducted a little experiment of her own. Students in her Cognitive Processes class are divided into two groups. One group is assigned to listen to her lecture about time management. The other group is directed to text message while listening to her lecture. Both groups are warned that there will be a test after the lecture. The non-texting students averaged 84.7 percent on the quiz, while the kids who texted during the lecture averaged 59.3 percent. In terms of grades, that’s a B and an F, respectively. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that the group who listened with undivided attention achieved higher test scores. What surprised me, however, is that this teacher still isn’t sure whether texting should be allowed in class or not.
Acing the ACT
The school year has barely begun, but my stepson is already in a panic. Not about his grades, which will doubtless be as stellar this year as they were last. He’s fussing about taking the ACT.
The ACT is a standardized test, like the SAT, and it’s scores are used to place college applicants. ACT scores are completely different: a 36 is a perfect score.
Students are finding out today how they did on last year’s test. For those still prepping, or prepping to take it again, here’s some advice on how to ace the ACT, from students who did it.
Does IVF Make Kids Smart?
A new research study found that children conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) scored higher than other kids on reading, language, math and vocabulary tests. How is that possible? Continue reading »
A controversial plan in one of the nation’s school districts will pay parents for helping their kids succeed in school.
At 25 low-ranking Houston Independent School District (ISD) schools , fifth-grade students will get paid several hundred dollars this year for passing math tests. What’s more unusual is that their parents will get paid too, according to The Houston Chronicle.
The $1.5 million program, funded by the Dallas-based Liemandt Foundation, was approved yesterday by the Houston school board. Already, there has been an outcry among some in the larger Houston community who are outraged that parents are getting paid for something they should do for free. Continue reading »
Let the daycare battle begin…again.
The latest report from the long-running U.S. National Institutes of Health study about the affect of daycare on kids is sure to add fuel to the so-called Mommy Wars.
Depending on how you spin it, the study, which was published in the journal Child Development, is either good news or bad news for working parents with kids in daycare.
Reuters emphasizes the upside of daycare: children in high-quality childcare scored slightly higher on measures of academic and cognitive achievement years later as teenagers.
But the Los Angeles Times highlights the fact that at age 15, the kids who spent long hours in day care as preschoolers are more impulsive and more prone to take risks than teens whose toddler years were spent largely at home. Continue reading »
Your second grader probably doesn’t know – or care – who Socrates was. Ditto Descartes. But your kid is curious about a lot of the same questions that keep philosophers awake at night. They want to know how the world works. How do people work? What is right and what is wrong?
Some teachers and college students in Massachusetts are working to give kids philosophical tools to grapple with those questions.
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
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