Why Rituals Work. Think about the last time you were about to interview for a job, speak in front of an audience, or go on a first date. To quell your nerves, chances are you spent time preparing – reading up on the company, reviewing your slides, practicing your charming patter. People facing situations that induce anxiety typically take comfort in engaging in preparatory activities, inducing a feeling of being back in control and reducing uncertainty. While a little extra preparation seems perfectly reasonable, people also engage in seemingly less logical behaviors in such situations. Here’s one person’s description from our research: I pound my feet strongly on the ground several times, I take several deep breaths, and I "shake" my body to remove any negative energies.
I do this often before going to work, going into meetings, and at the front door before entering my house after a long day. Recent research suggests that rituals may be more rational than they appear. Step 1. Home Schooling Guidebook - What Parents Need to Know. Is Homeschooling The Right Choice For Your Family? Studies show that the average homeschooled 8th grader performs four grade levels above the national average... Is there a downside? Did you know that in 2007 about 1,508,000 students or 2.9% of school-age children were home schooled? (Source: National Center for Education Statistics) Homeschooling is not a new concept - Thomas Edison, Agatha Christie, Benjamin Franklin, and our Founding Fathers were educated at home.
Yet, the decision to homeschool your children can often be difficult. Although studies prove that the benefits of homeschooling far outweigh those of our private and public schools, only after pulling together information that paints a complete picture can you decide if homeschooling is right for you. My wife and I are the proud parents of two boys, ages 7 and 4. And just as most parents (after progressing from diapers to the potty) we were faced with an important decision about our boys' education. We went to forums. 1. 2. 3. How to Teach a Child Math - Part 1. Raising Refounders! EDC. Why Facts No Longer Matter In The Media Discourse. How should we understand this latest and most troubling insight into the reality of our media ecology? In the aftermath of the resolution of the Great Birther bash-up, even as President Obama tried to lay the issue at rest by producing the document that showed, proved, verified, documented, and validated his birth in one of the great states of our disunion, it was said that its release would only fuel more debate, and convince no one.
In other words, in the end, this long debated fact didn’t matter. Facts no longer seem to matter on other issues, too, as articulated in the now infamous memo issued by retiring Senator Jon Kyle whose office, when confronted with evidence that he misspoke on the matter of how much money Planned Parenthood spent on abortions—he claimed 90%, the truth was but 3%—issued an advisory that said, “The statement was not meant to be factual.” It doesn’t change the minds of those whose minds are made up. Writes Edward Song on Huffington Post,