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Those who know me will attest to the fact that I have my fair share of feminist sensibilities; defending a woman's place in corporate America, standing firm about equal pay for equal work and especially touting the important role mothers play in a child's life. Blogher is a community for women and celebrates women bloggers. I have recently been linked from that site back to our little Math Monkey blog community. Check it out...
A staggering 9 out of 10 Americans polled by the Associated Press, agreed that the quality of a country's education has a direct impact on the prosperity of that country. Even more staggering is the belief, by nearly half of those polled, that American test scores are the same or better than those from other industrialized nations. Well, think again! The truth is that the U.S. ranks near the bottom of all other industrialized nations in mathematics. This disparity between perception and reality is frightening. Also frightening is the trend for parents to believe that their child's school is fine and that it's the "other schools" that are bringing down the nation.
As a parent myself, I find these Associated Press results eye-opening. Am I among the American parents who believe my child's school is doing a good job; it must be the other schools that are bringing us down? I have to admit, there is a certain egotistical part of me that is among that group. After all, I have put so much effort into picking the right schools for my kids; hours of research, endless interviews with school administrators, staying on top of the curriculum that is being followed, conferences with teachers... the list goes on. Therefore, it MUST be other schools. But I know it is not. We are failing our kids all around.
What my kids have is the best of our community, not the best in the world. On the whole, American schools don't measure up to schools around the globe. There are as many reasons for this as there are theories on what and how we should be teaching our kids. One of the biggest issues I see with the American mentality toward education is the atmosphere of natural ability vs. hard work.
Our educational culture is at odds with our national culture. While it is widely acknowledged that hard work will reap societal benefits here in the U.S., we don't place that same value on the education of our kids. In school kids are rewarded simply for being "smart". So much emphasis is placed on "natural ability" and not enough emphasis on working hard and proving yourself.
My family has experienced this weakness first hand. Last year as we moved from a private school to a new school district and public school, I worked for weeks navigating the system trying to figure out how to get the three of them into the best, most challenging programs available. The most expeditious way of doing this was to have them take an educational psychological test with a private psychologist. Since they are indeed "naturally gifted", according to IQ testing, they were easily admitted into the "Gifted Program". During registration no one asked for past school records to prove they could handle the accelerated programs or to prove they had the work ethic necessary to succeed in the fast-paced environment and no one interviewed them to assess their maturity and attitude toward learning and school. They were admitted. Simple.
I'm not complaining, because I know they received the best, most experienced teachers and were in class with other "gifted" students who are all on a path to higher education. It does cause me to question though, whether there are other kids who work hard and put forth maximum effort who are being left out of the specialized programs offered in American schools simply because they don't test into them. I also question how this is ultimately a disservice to my kids too, who may think they don't really have to try very hard because they are "smart".
It is time for us as a nation to realign our educational system with our national work ethic. After all, 9 out of 10 of us agree that strong education will directly affect our nation's prosperity. Strong education begins with hard work.
Great news from Malaysia!
Ms. Foong and her amazing team have just been awarded Winner of the 7th Asia Pacific International Entrepreneur Excellence Award 2008 under the category of Emerging Entrepreneur. We are so proud of their hard work and dedication to expanding Math Monkey internationally.
Congratulations Math Monkey of Malaysia!
Summer is a wonderful time to do all the things we seem to get too busy for during the school year. Things like horseback riding, swimming, building that model airplane, experimenting with household items (under the safe supervision of a parent, of course) and so much more. These activities are important and lend themselves to creating the well-rounded kids we all want. However don't let this summer become a brain drain for your child's academic pursuits. There is learning in everything we do, but take a little time to incorporate some formal learning into your child's week. Some of the readers of this blog have asked me what my kids are doing this summer, so here is a sampling:
1. Reading enrichment offered through the University of Miami. This is a great program that keeps kids of all ages reading over the summer. Molly, who is going into fourth grade, is honing her reading fluency and learning how to pace herself when a reading assignment is given. Sam, 2008-2009 sixth grader, is practicing reading for academic purposes and learning the hard to grasp art of taking notes on what you read.
2. Math practice. We are working through part A of the Singapore Math program for grade 4 and grade 6, respectively. We are also practicing mental math techniques EVERYDAY, using what they have learned at Math Monkey.
3. Creative writing exercises. Sam and Molly are each working on a different creative writing activity each week. They can be a lot of fun, but are challenging at the same time. Today Sam started a new prompt that asked, "What could go wrong if a tree had magical powers?" His first draft amazed me with its creativity. I am looking forward to the final version.
4. Horseback riding day camp. 3 or 4 times a week, they spend their day riding horses at a local horse ranch. They come home smelling pretty foul and looking even worse, but the experience is priceless. Between the morning and afternoon rides, they care for the horses, learn about the horses in detail and make new friends. Most people know about Sam's love of animals, but Molly is beginning to rival his passion since spending so much time with the beautiful creatures.
5. Swimming and Guitar. Molly is working her way onto the Weston Swim team with twice weekly practice sessions with the pre-team, while Sam strums away at his guitar. He is learning lots of new songs. It's a little hard sometimes to catch the songs he's playing, but every once in a while a chord sounds familiar.
6. Apple Camp. Next month they will spend a week (formally) learning all the cool things they can do on their Macs. Like most kids, just put them in front of a computer and they will figure it out. But Apple Camp will hopefully provide the guidance they need to really learn how to edit their photos, make movies using mixed media, enhance their presentation skills utilizing Keynote and make music with Garage Band that can be played on different devices.
7. Haylee, my soon to be junior in high school, is enrolled in two online classes in math and English. The format is easy to follow and the courses are really very thorough. Distance education is proving to be a very easy way of learning.
8. Baby sign language is the goal for Haim. Even at barely 8 months old, he is actively included in the atmosphere of learning in our family this summer. We, and I mean WE as in everyone who has any interaction with him, are teaching him baby signs. This has proven to be a successful technique for giving young babies communication skills before they are physically capable of spoken words. I didn't know about baby signs with Haylee, but both Sam and Molly were taught to "talk" using signs and this led to early language acquisition that created intellectually curious toddlers. Haim seems to be following suit and he loves the signs.
All this and I'm working too. Life is busy, but I am not sure I could live it any other way.
This is a subject I have previously written about, yet I find myself so annoyed by it lately that I am writing about it once again. The subject is zoning out. Well, to be more exact, it is the way we are teaching our children to zone out.
Last Friday I was out to dinner with my family when a couple with a child around the age of 3 sat next to us. As they were being seated, the mother promptly took out a portable DVD player from her bag and "set up" her son for dinner. I was so appalled! Perhaps I'm being a bit old fashioned, but what ever happened to the sacred act of eating with the people you love and enjoying their company? We are all so zoned out these days and we are creating a new generation of zoned out kids with their DVD players… at dinner no less, and in a restaurant!
Today I was food shopping and not one, but two different sets of kids were walking around the store with portable video game players. Again... APPALLED! For those who know me well, you know I have a bad Whole Foods habit and I am a bit of a snob about the type of food I buy and let my kids eat. Todd, my husband, is a total foodie and a fabulous cook, so between the two of us not just mealtime is sacred, but the act of picking out the food is sacred too. Maybe I'm crazy, but there is so much for kids to learn in the grocery store; why on earth would you anesthetize the experience by shoving a Game Boy in your child's face?
This is just a sampling of the teachable moments while shopping with your kids:
1. Teach them about the various fruits and vegetables. The difference between organic and conventional, the different names for everything. For young kids: the different colors, sizes, and shapes. For older kids: weight and price per pound. Teach them how to pick out fruit and veggies and then show them you trust them by giving them a produce bag and letting them get to work.
2. Food groups. Get familiar with the government mandated "food groups". Talk about the importance of the various groups with younger children and have them monitor how “balanced” the cart is.
3. Add as you go. Let your child keep a running tab on what is being bought. If you have more than one child with you, let it be a competition to see who comes closest without going over. This is great mental math.
4. Take notice of patterns and store layout. Ever wonder why the fruits and veggies are the first thing you shop for in some supermarkets, with the heavy laundry detergent, etc. being the last? Let your kids come up with a more logical layout for the store, so that when you are shopping, the fruits and veggies don't look so sad by the time you check out.
Is it possible that we are so zoned out as parents that it is just easier to keep our kids in the same place? I suggest that life is too short and our children too important to let precious moments pass us by with the ether of a television screen occupying our time.
Talk to your kids at dinner. Ask them how their day was. Let them hear you and your significant other talking to each other. Debate politics, policies, and ideas. Discuss books, movies, art and philosophy. Take time to listen. In the absence of a DVD playing, your children might actually have something interesting to say. Don't miss it! Don't zone out! Don't let them zone out!
Now that we are in full summer swing, what are you doing to make sure your kid's minds don't turn to mush? Yes, the summer is a time for fun and games, but don't let that stop you from honing important skills in reading, writing and math. Make sure your children are reading EVERY day. Let them tell you about the stories they read. Have them write about the stories they read. If they go to camp, ask them to write about what they like about camp. Provide some creative writing prompts so they can practice putting together ideas, as well as practice sentence structure and proper grammar.
Regardless of how old your child is, let them practice the four mathematical operations, these are invaluable at all stages of math understanding. Find a workbook or online resource for continued practice of the skills they learned last school year. Challenge them daily with word problems taken from real life situations. An example of this is the rising price of fuel. If fuel is $4.50 per gallon and our car has a 20-gallon tank, how much will it cost me to fill it up? What if the cost of fuel goes up $.50 per gallon? What is the difference between the two? What percentage does that $.50 increase represent? As you can see, this can go on and on.
Wouldn't it be great if everyone your child will be in class with next year does the same thing? The first 6 to 12 weeks wouldn't be spent "reviewing". Start a trend among the families who go to your school by creating learning communities over the summer. These communities can share in ideas and support of continuing to work at academic pursuits over the summer. By doing so, you can collectively vote against spending so much precious time in the fall getting everyone back up to speed.
If you are lucky enough to live near a Math Monkey Knowledge Center, we have lots of great ways to have fun this summer and learn math at the same time.
When you have children or are involved in education, this time of year signifies the end. The end of the year. The end of a class. The end of a grade. The end of a group. Unlike the first of January, it is the end but not quite the beginning yet. The next twelve weeks are a sort of holding period, a time to recharge. When I was teaching I always found this time bitter sweet as I would take out the writing samples from orientation, nine months earlier, and compare them to the beautiful examples the children were now capable of producing. I always shed a tear (or a few hundred) as I hugged each student for what seemed like the last time and told their parents how special each of them was. I still cherish every card I received thanking me for being a teacher. I especially love the ones that have a picture of me with the student who gave it to me in or on it. The end of the year is a time of pride for both teacher and parent. Today was a day of pride for me as a parent.
As school comes to a close I say to myself "Another year gone, where did it go?" Samuel, my 11 year old, graduated from 5th grade today. I was so proud of him as I watched him walk into the cafeteria with all the other fifth graders to the sound of Pomp and Circumstance. He has so much potential and I am excited for his life. It is hard to imagine that in just a few years he will be planning for college and leaving the nest. First stop: Middle School.
Haylee protested the war in Iraq today. Go figure! She and a group of friends rallied on a busy intersection this afternoon with homemade posters displaying their outrage at the U.S. presence in Iraq. Passersby honked for peace and some shook their heads in displeasure. Since we were celebrating Sam's graduation with a dinner with all the grandparents, I needed to pick her up before the protest ended. As I pulled up to where nearly 40 high school students stood shouting and dancing on the street, I felt a wave of pride wash over me because I know my daughter is growing up and finding her own way. I also know, a little bit of me has worn off on her. With any luck, the good I carry will make its way into her being and the rest she'll figure out on her own.
Then there's Molly, stuck somewhere in the middle, not quite old enough to be celebrating a life cycle event like a graduation, but not quite young enough to be "oh so cute" like her younger brother Haim. But she is growing up too. Every night for nearly 9 years, my little girl has given me a good night kiss. Tonight I circled the house after putting the baby to sleep to find Molly in her bed, reading independently. She apologized for not "remembering" to say to good night. I didn't know if I should smile or cry. Is this the same girl who woke me in the middle of the night for years, "just to say I love you mommy"? Now she doesn't even need to say goodnight? I'm not sure I'm ready to let go so easily.
Well here we go... into the summer. I have lots of plans for making this a productive summer for this clan of mine because another year has gone, but we need to prepare for a new one. The kids keep getting older; please tell me it's only them!
My daughter Molly gave this to me the other day and I thought it was kind of cute. Take a look to find out if you are one of the 55?
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.
This morning I took Haim, 6 months old, out for a very long walk. It was hot and sticky and we both looked like we had been swimming by the time we got home, but it was a phenomenal way to start my mother's day and I am sure he enjoyed it just the same. My children and the role I play in their lives have defined my life. Being a daughter of the feminist movement, this hasn't always been an easy thing to admit. But it is nonetheless true.
Each of them has touched me in profound ways and forced me to step up my game as they entered my world. Haylee has been my purpose and focus for nearly 17 years now. She is an amazing young woman who will undoubtedly write her own rules as she ventures out on her own. Samuel is compassionate, funny and extremely bright. Not a day goes by where he doesn't make me laugh. His ability to take himself lightly while contemplating serious things is the spirit in which I try to live my own life now. Molly can brighten any room with her happiness and love. She is my snuggler, always good for a hug. She is beginning to try to define herself and figure out who she wants to be. She asks questions about things she reads or observes in her friends and looks to me for answers about issues that confuse her. Haim is a complete joy. If I had known child number four was going to be such a pleasure, I would have started out with three kids. I've loved all my babies, but Haim has the benefit of my not caring what "experts" say or even what my friends and family say. I am just parenting from the heart and doing whatever makes sense at the moment. He is definitely getting the best of me, strong and confident, patient and calm.
My own life has been rife with happiness and sadness, triumphs and disappointments, but motherhood has been the true test of my strength as a woman. I have learned from the best. My mom was an excellent role model, giving me the guidance I needed and the space to blossom.
For all the women who have come before and all the women who share the title Mom, Happy Mother's Day. Let us remember that we shape the world with the work we do. We are the ultimate Human Resources Directors, directing the next generation of world citizens. What will we teach them? Who do we want them to be?
Math Monkey in Colorado just received this honor:
And the winner is . . .
Math Monkey in the Best Tutoring Classes Category
More than 200,000+ votes were cast in “Kids' Pages Best Places for Families 2008” competition, and Math Monkey has been chosen by our readers as one of the top three winners in the Best Tutoring Classes Category.
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