100 Engineering Projects For Kids | The Homeschool Scientist. Move Over Standing Desks: Kids Learn Better with Pedal Desks. The pedal desk is a novel idea because it allows a child to fidget without creating a distraction. "In the past, when your teacher told you to sit still, stop fidgeting, and do your arithmetic, it was simply the way we all did it,” Lease says. "What your teacher should have said was ‘Let’s all get up, move around, and solve that division problem.’ What the research shows is that movement in the classroom enhances cognitive learning. " RELATED: Specialized Has a New Foundation for Kids with ADHD We already knew that cycling is good for the brain, and KidsFit has more research to back it up.
“Cycling anchors learning when more of the senses are involved to increase the executive function of the frontal lobe,” says Lease. For children with attention disorders, cycling helps to put the brain and body back into hormonal balance, which also regulates mood and behavior. Intrigued? 31 Things You Can Make With A Cardboard Box That Will Blow Your Kids' Minds. What If Everything You Knew About Disciplining Kids Was Wrong? International Children's Digital Library Offers Tons of Free eBooks for Kids. June 11, 2015International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL) is an iPad app that offers a plethora of free books specifically selected for kids and young learners. The app is a fruit of the partnership between the University of Maryland's Human-Computer Interaction Lab and the International Children's Digital Library Foundation. ICDL features a large collection of children’s books from over 60 countries and in different languages.
The books are provided in highly readable format with beautiful illustrations and graphics. The purpose behind this project is to “to excite and inspire young readers to become better world citizens by leveraging technology to reach underserved children who have little access to libraries. The ICDL is offered free of charge to everyone, everywhere with no advertising.” Some of the features ICDL offers to its users include: Kids can rule in code-writing world if given right tools.
Writing her own script: Anvitha Vijay, 8, from Melbourne. Photo: Eddie Jim There aren't many eight-year-olds who get excited by household chores. When her mother set her tasks to do around the house, year 3 student Anvitha Vijay, from Wheelers Hill in Melbourne, didn't complain, she used it as inspiration to code an app to make tracking her chores simpler. According to Anvitha, the earlier you start learning computer code, the easier it is to pick up.
Children and teenagers can create apps that adults cannot ... mainly due to the limitations that adults possess in living in a technological world. Noelene Callaghan "Just like handwriting or maths or English," she says. Viney Kumar, 16, from Sydney, has written his own app. She started learning how to code when she was seven, using XCode, Objective-C and Swift through YouTube videos and tutorials on Google. The idea that computer programming can be done by children who are as tall as the computer chair they sit on is no longer far-fetched. Let Kids Fidget in Class: Why It Can Be Good For Those with ADHD. Are you a pen-clicker? A hair-twirler? A knee-bouncer? Did you ever get in trouble for fidgeting in class? Don’t hang your head in shame. All that movement may be helping you think. A new study suggests that for children with attention disorders, hyperactive movements meant better performance on a task that requires concentration.
For the subjects diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, moving and spinning in the chair were correlated with better performance. Dustin Sarver at the University of Mississippi Medical Center is the lead author of this study. “We think that part of the reason is that when they’re moving more they’re increasing their alertness.” That’s right — increasing. However, he explains, alertness occurs on a “rainbow curve.” Lots of popular classroom-management advice focuses on controlling students’ postures and movements, on the theory that sitting still is synonymous with thinking well. Copyright 2015 NPR. Do Your Kids Need to Learn to Code? YES! But Not for the Reasons You Think.
Grant Hosford Coding is having its 15 minutes of fame. Journalists regularly quote facts about the shortage of computer programmers in the US, entrepreneurs fund coding camps for low opportunity kids and even the President has given learning to code a thumbs up. For many parents and teachers this new focus on learning to code feels like an overhyped fad that will be replaced any day now by “learning particle physics” or “learning solar energy storage.” And does anyone really believe that turning a whole generation of kids into programmers would be a good outcome for society? Why is coding so darn important!? The answer starts with the fact that, love it or hate it, we live in an increasingly digital world. So, when my daughter Naomi begged to take a LEGO robotics class at her elementary school two years ago I said yes because it sounded like a door to the future.
For more than 40 years computer science has been taught in roughly the same way. Free, Online, Creative Platform For Kids. TurtleDiary: Kids Educational Computer Games, Online For A Variety Of Topics. Forbes Welcome. Code Kingdoms: Online Gaming Site That Teaches Kids To Code. Do Kids Really Learn From Playing Educational Games on Tablets? Last night while helping my 8-year-old son do his weekly spelling homework, my 5-year-old, always looking to divert attention his way, told me he'd learnt how to write the letters A and Z while playing an alphabet and phonics learning game on my tablet. "Would you like me to write the big or little A for you? " he asked grinning with self pride.
Until recently, there has been little empirical evidence to answer the question everyone's asking about whether these educational Apps kids love playing really do teach them anything. But now there is hard evidence they do. A recent study conducted by New York University shows that a reading and phonics learning App had a measurable impact on the literacy of children. Professor Susan Neuman, an NYU Professor of early education and former US Secretary of Education, led a randomised six-week study of 95 disadvantaged students across seven different Head Start classrooms in Brooklyn in the US and divided the students into small groups.
How to Keep Kids Safe Online - AO Life. It’s Safer Internet Day 2015 on Tuesday 10th February and so our new contributor, Henry, takes us through his top tips for keeping kids safe online. Whilst there’s no denying that the internet is an amazing resource, which has both brought us closer together and made the entire world available at the click of a button, it can also be a scary place. If you’re the parent of a little one, you’ll know how digital-savvy our kids are growing up to be in 2015. As a parent of 2 boys (3 and 6), I’m stunned at how things that took me years to learn are now second-nature to them – which is both a blessing and a curse to a parent. Inevitably, your child will be using devices which are connected to the internet – whether smart phones, tablet or PC, they all present possible dangers if you aren’t aware of the risks.
But that needn’t scare you off – all you need to do is ensure you put the right controls and restrictions in place. Here are my 8 tips for keeping your child safe online: #1. . #2. . #3. . #4. . #5. Best Handwriting Learning Tools for Kids (Who are still learning handwriting) Since kids spending more time on tablets, I have the concern that they are going the lose handwriting practice time, which I still think is necessary and important, even with all the tablets and computers. I started by searching for the right stylus for kids so kids can practice handwriting old fashion way on iPad.
Now I found some really good handwriting practice tools that kids can practice penmanship on tablets. As handwriting is not just on tablets, and in fact most times people write on paper, so we also include some handwriting practice resources and tools that you can use off tablets. This is part of our Best Learning Tools for Kids on iPad series. For the whole list of the series, please visit Free Essential Learning Tools for Kids on iPad and Other Tablets. Handwriting Practice Tools Available on Tablets Handwriting without Tear is a very well designed handwriting learning system for kids. Letter School is a fun app for kids to learn handwriting.
Smartphones and Tablets are King with Kids. More kids are putting down their video game handhelds for tablets and smartphones, according to a new survey. Children ages 4 to 14 are using smartphones and tablets more than all other electronic devices, a recent report from The NPD Group indicates. The report, Kids and CE: 2014, showed that the number of children in that age group who use smartphones has risen sharply.
In 2012, respondents in 21 percent of homes with children surveyed said the child used a smartphone. In 2014, that number has jumped to 35 percent. The growth has been attributed to competitive pricing of the devices, a factor that was particularly important for consumers who purchased smartphones and tablets from large retail chains, according to NPD. “Technology devices are as much staples for American families as traditional toys, perhaps more so considering their ability to engage with almost any member of the family,” Juli Lennett, president of NPD Group's toys division, said in a news release.
Parenting in the Digital Era | Suren Ramasubbu. No other topic in the world could raise a tsunami of opinions, judgements, beliefs and arguments as parenting. From whether or not to have a scheduled C-section, breastfeed or use pacifiers, parenting involves mental and moral acrobatics that strain the human fabric to the extreme. Add technology into the mix and we have opened Pandora's box. Today's child is a digital native, the umbilical cord being replaced by the gadget power cord. A recent study conducted by the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) and Hart Research - "Parenting in the Digital Age" -- reveals some interesting statistics. The challenges in digital parenting arise from the general belief that now is probably the only time ever in human history that the child knows more than the parent.
A digitally illiterate parent poses a clear risk to the privacy and safety of children. Digital literacy also entails making informed decisions and knowing and enforcing limits. Seven Steps to Good Digital Parenting. 5 Games That Teach You How to Code. By Jacob Gube These Web games will give you a fun and engaging introduction to the world of programming.
CodeCombat CodeCombat is an HTML5 role-playing game (RPG) that teaches you fundamental programming concepts. In CodeCombat, you play a hero adventuring through the game’s levels. The first level is Kithard Dungeon, which covers basic programming concepts. You’re faced with coding challenges throughout your journey, and if you overcome them, you’ll unlock the next level and earn experience points (XP) that you can use to improve your hero. CodeCombat is appealing to young, aspiring programmers. CodeCombat supports five programming languages: JavaScript, CoffeeScript, Lua, and Python. Code Hunt Code Hunt is a Sci-Fi-themed HTML5 game developed by Microsoft Research. In this game, you play as a code hunter tasked with repairing code so that it returns the expected result. Code Hunt supports either Java or C#.
CodinGame CodinGame is a huge suite of challenging games for programmers. Screeps. Teacher-tested Games to Try with Your Students. 10 Must-Have Books For Sci-Fi And Fantasy Artists. Researching artists and taking inspiration from previous masters is essential to your own progress as a creative. To help inspire your imagination, we have compiled the best of the last year's artistic book releases to bring you our top 10 sci-fi and fantasy texts you need to grab for your bookshelf. 01. The Art of John Harris: Beyond the Horizon Growing up with books by Arthur C Clarke, Alfred Bester and Isaac Asimov, John Harris was inspired to enter the realm of science fiction. Harris has been creating stunning imagery in this genre since the mid-70's, everything from vast landscapes and towering cities to floating worlds, this stunning hardback compiles four decades worth of illustratings. Mainly working with watercolour, Harris also dabbled inacrylics and the book also showcaces pencil sketches capturing his surreal take on out-of-this-world scenery. 02.
Tolkein's world has been inspiring art for the past 60 years and it continues to produce eye-catching visual adaptations. 03. 04. Got a Minute? One Sure Fire Way to Get Students to Read. For the past 3 years I have avidly shared my reading life. Students always know the book I am reading, they know the titles I am excited about it, I have shown them pictures of my ever growing TBR (to be read) pile at my house and every week I am lucky enough to bring in new books for my students. I place them on the shelves, the ledges, the window sill. I place them on their desks and I place them into their hands. And yet, something was definitely missing. Students were reading sure, I see them with the books in their hands, but for some reason my excitement was not carrying over.
Those books I had loved that were given 5 stars on my “Read” poster were still staring at me from the shelves. Got a minute? For a little more than a week, I have started every class with a book talk. The result has been palpable. The best part though is that a book talk doesn’t just end with the one reader that gets the book. Like this: Like Loading... Excellent Educational Games for Students.