Learning and Life Skills

Great advice from Geekwire - 7 steps to raise a geek child

Is "geek" the new sexy?  Not sure about that assertion, but it is fun to think about the need and method for passing on the 'geek' culture to our children. Frank Catalano (Geekwire blogger) shares his 7 tips for raising 'geeklets' - children of geek parents. 

His top 7 tips:

1. Let your child fail.
2. Expose him/her to fine art.
3. Expose your child to Star Wars.
4. Let him/her see you reading for pleasure.
5. Encourage them to tinker/hack or excessively explore.
6. Volunteer in elementary school.
7. Promote face time.

While the premise is fun, the points are dead on.  Reader comments are worth examining, as well. 

Read the post here.

For our geeklet, our family time was playing multi-user Age of Empires games.  Unfortunately, he laughs at Star Wars preferring instead Matrix, and the most recently Inception.  Mindcraft has given way to League of Legions, and facetime is via Skype with individuals around the world.  Soon to head off to engineering school - wants to build 'stuff'.

 It is a new way of growing up and growing community.  It will be exciting to watch what these world-wide collaborators achieve in the next 25-50 years.  

Are you a parent of a geeklet?  What elements of geek culture/lifestyle are you passing on?  

Ways to Encourage Summer Learning

Well, this is good news - positive benefits for all that video game and strategy game time my son spends his time doing.  Just kidding... I've seen first-hand the kind of analysis and problem-solving that is an integral part of strategy games, and the roll-playing games involve tons of reading, communicating, debating, persuasion, arguing, community relations, etc.  Read on to gain some additional insights and suggestions for summer learning options for your family....

Students can forget as much as two months' worth of math and reading instruction over the summer, according to some reports. To keep their children on track, many parents have enrolled them in summer learning programs. But for students who are unable to attend one, playing certain video games or practicing skills around the house can help.

via www.usnews.com

Technology in the hands of every student, then why haven't we seen the gains?

"Educators are obsessed by hardware" says the author of an eSchoolNews commentary who compares the gains in industry from the use of technology, and the lack of associated gains in education, and asks why.  Jon Bower, President of it's learning, inc then discusses the lack of use of existing software tools by classroom teachers, and why he believes teachers aren't putting them to use... the distraction of too much hardware.  

Read the full article here at eSchool news .

What is your experience? Do you see the effective use of technology in your school? Or, is it another place where lots of school dollars are consumed with little to show for it?

Visit our online shopping center to learn more about software for learning at home and put your hardware investment to better use.