Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post

Lauxa · 06-28-2009, 07:55 PM

Hi WordKeeper,

I was swinging by today to start a topic on almost the very same subject! My kids are 5 and 3 and I'm very concerned about the current state of the American educational "system".

First, I think it is hugely inefficient for teachers to keep recreating the same lectures over and over again. I mean, there are hundreds of thousands of teachers giving lectures on nearly identical topics at schools all throughout the country. I think it would be better to produce a handful of really, really good lectures on that topic and then reuse them for all students.

I think you might be interested in this website for math:
Khan Academy

Here's one for health:
KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about children's health

Check out the Periodic Table of Videos on YouTube for learning about the elements:
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

As for experiments, there's the "hovercraft" made from a CD and a balloon (YouTube - Make Toy CD Hovercraft). I managed the electric pickle (YouTube - Dr. Bittner and The Electric Pickle 2). Also demonstrating surface tension with food coloring and milk (YouTube - Magic Milk - Amazing Trick!!!). Mr. Wizard would probably be a good resource for all sorts of experiments, including ones you could not realistically do in your own home.

06-28-2009, 07:55 PM	#11 (permalink)
Lauxa Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,362	Hi WordKeeper, I was swinging by today to start a topic on almost the very same subject! My kids are 5 and 3 and I'm very concerned about the current state of the American educational "system". First, I think it is hugely inefficient for teachers to keep recreating the same lectures over and over again. I mean, there are hundreds of thousands of teachers giving lectures on nearly identical topics at schools all throughout the country. I think it would be better to produce a handful of really, really good lectures on that topic and then reuse them for all students. I think you might be interested in this website for math: Khan Academy Here's one for health: KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about children's health Check out the Periodic Table of Videos on YouTube for learning about the elements: YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. As for experiments, there's the "hovercraft" made from a CD and a balloon (YouTube - Make Toy CD Hovercraft). I managed the electric pickle (YouTube - Dr. Bittner and The Electric Pickle 2). Also demonstrating surface tension with food coloring and milk (YouTube - Magic Milk - Amazing Trick!!!). Mr. Wizard would probably be a good resource for all sorts of experiments, including ones you could not realistically do in your own home. __________________ ~Lauxa~