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Staying with
Law of Intensity for a few more moments, think about many schools in this country that remain segregated. While war rages on in this country regarding legalities of segregation in our school systems, many children attend schools each and every day where they have little exposure beyond television to peers from different cultures and backgrounds. Their teachers who are certainly figures of authority are their most vivid, and perhaps their only, link to other cultures. Websites such as Academy of Achievement featuring diverse faces from different walks of life and Get Smarter providing children with opportunity to interact with young people of different cultures are additional learning resources. While certainly not substitutes for eye-to-eye interaction, these types of websites provide additional opportunities for young people to interact with peers from other cultures and backgrounds.
Knowledge 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 ?—The 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 and have potential to help other children to do same.
A.R. Linder is the editor of SisterPlay.com--a 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 more than 15 years of experience in training and workforce development.
