Recent content by novasparker

There have been plenty of studies that cite the mental and physical health benefits of music. Music helps alleviate stress, which lowers blood pressure and reduces your chances of having a heart attack or stroke. The reduction of stress will also help alleviate the symptoms of some mental...

I don't think that any instrument is better than any other. Simply taking lessons and learning how to play an instrument is a good thing, regardless of which one it is. Learning how to play an instrument gives kids an outlet and keeps them busy and out of trouble. Plus, the experts say tht...

As soon as they show an interest. I think that music lessons, like many other lessons should be started early, but made to be fun so that the child doesn't lose interest too soon. Music is an important part of any well rounded education and if you can get them immersed early, the more benefit...

Totally loved biology. I loved learning about living organisms, how they reacted with the world around them. I love genetics and learning how individuals are "made". It makes me have a deeper appreciation for the miracle of life. I loved the labs as well as the lectures. totally miss school...

The advancements in computer technology, and technology in general, has been explosive. Having all of this technology has given us the opportunity to put knowledge at the fingertips of our children, which is incredible, but has it made them lazier? There has been an increase in the demand for...

This is actually a great idea, actually. I think that large number are just a series of numbers until someone can put some perspective on them in terms of quantifying them. The money thing is actually really important seeing how so many kids never actually get to see cash physically...only as...

I often used blocks when demonstrating certain math concepts to my daughter and my son when they were growing up in elementary school. Being able to visualize fractions, placeholders and more was instrumental to their grasping the concepts easily and more fully than by just drawing squares or...

at the end of the day, I was always taught that there is more than one way to skin a cat. This means that while there might be a couple of different ways to come to the answer, if both methods work reliably, then I don't see why the teacher would count the problem as wrong. I get the point...

I don't blog about math, but it's because math isn't a strong suit of mine. I think that a lot of people, especially those like me, who aren't strong in math and who have to help the kids do homework would benefit from subscribing to a math blog. It might give new ideas on how to help kids...

I never got the hang of these, but I know that they have taught my son to use these in math and he has found them to be very useful. as a matter of fact, i think that they make the concept of place value very easy to comprehend, wllowing him to pick on the concept quickly and move on to...

These are truly incredible. I always wished I could draw, but alas, that particular skill has escaped me. My daughter, on the otherhand, is very gifted with the pencil. She does faces. She actually drew one of the lead singer of a band and was able to get him to autograph it at a meet and...

Oh wow. Thanks so much for posting these. I passed this information along to my brother. My nephew is 5 and is in the process of learning a lot of this stuff. I think that there is a lot of value in learning to read phonetically...it's how I read today. These resources are invaluable...

I enjoyed biology the most, though I can't say that I didn't enjoy chemistry lab. I wasn't as fond of chemistry lectures, though. Too much math for me. But I loved the study of living organisms, genetics and the like. I think it's truly fascinating. I have passed this interest down to my...

I know that I can manipulate my emotional moods by listening to certain types of music so it stands to reason that listening to music can have health benefits. People who suffer from chronic pain conditions, heart and circulation related ailments and anxiety can benefit from relaxing with...

There is a lot of emphasis placed on Geography in the school system where my children are enrolled, but I often wonder why there is a lot of emphasis put on it. I think it's important to know where things are in the world, but is it important enough to require a student to take an entire...