Saturday Links

(New del.icio.us links appear in my sidebar daily, but I thought I’d round up the past week’s worth here in one post.)

• Children’s knitting group turfed from library under new craft ban – Sounds like Mary Gildersleeve’s book, Great Yarns for the Close-Knit Family, would be just the thing to solve the problem!

• Protect Our Kids from Preschool – WSJ.com – “Why don’t preschool gains stick? Possibly because the K-12 system is too dysfunctional to maintain them. More likely, because early education in general is not so crucial to the long-term intellectual growth of children. Finland offers strong evidence for this view. Its kids consistently outperform their global peers in reading, math and science on international assessments even though they don’t begin formal education until they are 7.”

• 6-Year-Old Stares Down Bottomless Abyss Of Formal Schooling | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source

• HOW TO trick your printer into using ALL its ink – Boing Boing

• In The ER, Unhealthy Premium On Insurance Data : NPR

• Don’t Get Too Comfortable, California « Just Enough, and Nothing More – Yup, I’ve been saying pretty much the same thing ever since the ruling came out.

• Tallest Skyscraper Photos Defy Belief: Tallest Skyscraper in the World Almost Completed, Defies Belief

• Truth About Wal-Mart Back to School Lists | Kelby Carr

• RPO — A Time-Line of Poetry in English – HT: Ambleside Online

• StudentNewsDaily.com – Make sense of current events! – Current events site for kids. HT Lindafay at Higher Up and Further In. Jane has been really enjoying reading the articles here and her visits to the site have sparked some great discussions.

• About That ADHD Serving a Purpose Thing – Throwing Marshmallows – Journal – Michael Phelps, ADHD, Homeschooling. HT: Chris O’Donnell.

• Irish Songs – Music, Lyrics and Midis for Traditional, Drinking and Folk Songs

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Comments

1. 

   Jennifer says:

   Great reading this morning – especially the preschool article. I was so berated by people for not sending my children to preschool. We didn’t attend preschool as children – why is it considered necessary lately? This bugs me to no end.

   On August 24, 2008 at 6:47 am

2. 

   Melissa Wiley says:

   I remember a very good insight Alice made long ago regarding the nursery school/preschool/kindergarten track: she wondered aloud why a child would need to spend as much time preparing for first grade as she had spent in law school! LOL.

   On August 24, 2008 at 6:57 am

3. 

   michelle waters says:

   That’s great – what Alice said about being ready for first grade. Our experience with preschool sent us right into home schooling and we haven’t looked back since. I love the six year old and his abysmal future link – too funny!

   On August 24, 2008 at 10:48 am

4. 

   Lindsay says:

   Great links.

   I have a question about Student News Daily. I’m having a hard time getting a read on it, and having difficulty not suspecting an underlying, rigid, right-wing radicalism. It sounds like a great way to get in some current events, but I’d like to have a better idea of their bias. What are your thoughts?

   Thanks

   On August 27, 2008 at 9:46 am

5. 

   Melissa Wiley says:

   Lindsay, funny you should mention it. Just yesterday I finally had a chance to spend some time at the SND site, and it did strike me that there is perhaps a bit of a slant to it…I know a few of the pieces I read would have small amounts of steam coming out Scott’s ears.

   I would prefer a more neutral tone (especially since I myself fall on the conservative side of some issues and the liberal side of others), but I can certainly say that the articles and political cartoons Jane has read there have sparked some excellent discussions.

   On August 27, 2008 at 12:37 pm