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The Law of Intensity deals with
vividness of learning experience. If I take my child to zoo to learn about animals, he or she will learn more than if I just explain animals. One of my favorite sites for young kids is Switchzoo.com. My younger nieces and nephews are fascinated with animals they are familiar with, but just spillover with excitement as they manipulate animals to make new ones. I think that my daughter and I are really supposed to be a little old for activity, but in all truthfulness we have a great time with it too. There are so many places out there that I neither have time nor money to take my child. The Internet has been especially useful in getting my child to those places. At our fingertips we have Virtual Smithsonian Institute and National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. At GreatPlaces.org we have in living color enjoyed films and photos of Madagascar, Tibet, Amazon and several other far away places. Through gateway of MuseumStuff.com, we have viewed museums all over world including my personal favorite web only exhibits of our National Museum of Air and Space in Washington DC. And let’s not forget brick and mortar library. Before computers library is how my parents took me to far away places. It still works and every library that we have visited recently also has wonderful computer resources as well. So, if you don’t have a computer at home, that is certainly no excuse for not spending some time with your child using this wonderful technology. And I still buy books for presents—wonderful, exciting, colorful books.
What is learned most recently is remembered best is essence of Thorndike’s Law of Recency. And that is why those reviews right before test are so very important. We have also found hundreds of little quizzes on Internet to be helpful in this area, for instance Geography.miningco.com quizzes on U.S. States and rivers and more, Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) writing exercises, and Who Wants to Win $1,000,000 ?—Science Game.
Thorndike’s laws are by no means last word in education of children, and because of that I spend a lot of time at sites such as The Education Place and Education World-- The Educator's Best Friend. These sites and many others like them, including my own website www.YouthPlay.org featuring websites I have used in educating my child, keep us updated on newest and best resources in education and help us in making decisions regarding our children’s education.
We have heard it time and time again—whether we believe it or not. There is just not enough time in school day for your child to learn all things he or she needs to learn. I have found it to be equally case that there is also little time after school for me to dedicate to my child’s learning. It seems after career, housework and business of running a household, time I want to spend with my child is not teaching time but chill out time.
But be that as it may, I have tried hard to make time for teaching as well. And resources on Internet have definitely helped. While I’m doing some of those household duties, I can park my child right in front of that computer at a website that I have reviewed. And then we can get together afterward and talk about site as well as rest of our day. These sites have also helped with budget because free resources are definitely cheaper than a lot of software out there—although I have definitely invested in that for Christmas and birthdays.
If you think that I have developed a computer geek, you are wholly wrong—although I don’t think this would necessarily be a bad thing. This a child who in addition to Honor Roll, is a member of school basketball team, several clubs and organizations, a team leader for Odyssey of Mind competition, first runner-up for her school pageant and a social butterfly.
I truly believe that resources of Internet have helped my daughter to tap into all of her talents.
A.R. Linder is the editor of SisterPlay.com compilation of websites showcasing Southwest Georgia. A cornerstone of the website is a wonderful area called YouthPlay.org --a collection of many of the websites she has used in educating herself and her child. Ms. Linder is a graduate of the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL. She has over 15 years of experience in training and workforce development.
