Today's article comes from Emily Graham at Mightymoms.net (www.mightymoms.net) Working toward an online degree offers a unique blend of flexibility and opportunity, tailored for those aiming to balance academic aspirations with personal and professional commitments. If you’ve been contemplating whether to pursue an online degree, this guide, courtesy of Southwest Washington Education, offers practical advice and strategic insights to help you determine your next steps. Choose the Right Degree The landscape of online education encompasses a vast array of disciplines, enabling you to pursue undergraduate, graduate, and professional certifications across various fields. This diversity … [Read more...]
Homeschoolers May Need Less Instructional Time than Traditional School Students
HSLDA - Steven Duvall Summary A recent study by HSLDA’s Director of Research, Stephen Duvall, PhD, found that the efficiency of the homeschool environment can allow for more learning in less time. His findings suggest that 3rd and 4th grade homeschool students can spend as little as 2–3 hours daily in academic pursuits and make the same progress as public school students do in a full school day. Of course, every child is different, and some states have minimum hour requirements for homeschoolers. Many parents find homeschooling appealing because it gives them flexibility when designing their children’s learning experiences.[1] This often results in shortened school days, but … [Read more...]
Reading on a smartphone promotes over activity in the prefrontal cortex and lowers reading comprehension
Today we bring you a new article on the impact of "screen time" on learning. As you will note from some of our previous articles the more time children spend on e-devices (phone, tablet, computer) the less they learn and retain. The report comes to use from PsyPost written by Beth Elwood and titled: Reading on a smartphone promotes over activity in the prefrontal cortex and lowers reading comprehension. The original article can be read at: https://www.psypost.org/2022/04/reading-on-a-smartphone-promotes-overactivity-in-the-prefrontal-cortex-and-lowers-reading-comprehension-study-finds-62848?fbclid=IwAR0yJl0lXkWhsrbdkfUY-M5c5fQL1wkk6cKiDQkxKII09W22bUbMw6zI6EM Here's the article in its … [Read more...]
Hoosiers Score Benefits from Private School Choice
This is going to be the first in a series of articles looking at alternative choices to public schools and outcomes. Do students going to private schools or charter schools or who are home schooled do better, worse or the same as their counterparts in public schools? We know that public schools have become more expensive that charter or private or home schools. Locally to highest spend per student in a local public school district is over $21,000/student/year. Private schools are less than 1/2 of that. Without further ado let's take a look at an article originally published in Education Next written by Patrick J. Wolf This week the sporting world turns its attention to Indiana as … [Read more...]
More screen time = lower IQ?
We've been sharing our concerns about the growth in screen time. We've pointed out that as screen time increases social problems increase; suicide risk increases and we lose personal interactions. Today we add to that list of concerns...dropping IQ. The following article from Intellectual Takeout walks us through a new study covering 700,000+ men from Norway over 29 years. Schools continue to push more and more screen time on top of what happens outside school. Perhaps schools should focus on handwritten and reading basics? Some of our articles on-screen time: https://swweducation.org?cat=947&paged=2 Jeff Minik shares his thoughts with us today... Are we getting … [Read more...]
More Time Teens Spend On Phone, More Likely They’ll Attempt Suicide, Study Finds
If you're a regular reader you've seen articles we've shared about too much computer screen time having negative influences on children. Today we bring you a new study that provides further proof that too much computer time leads to increased contemplation of suicide in teenagers. As schools move more and more to electronics the amount of screen time goes up and up. This study says that at 5 hours/day or more nearly 50% of teenagers consider suicide. If this concerns you contact your local school district and ask them to reduce computer use and increase person-to-person time. The more time teens spend glued to their smartphones or other digital devices, the more likely they … [Read more...]
Delayed kindergarten dramatically reduces ADHD in children
From The Inquisitir - author is George Zapo Delaying kindergarten enrollment for one year shows significant mental health benefits for children, according to a recent study. Researchers found that a one-year delay in enrolling a child in kindergarten dramatically reduces inattention and hyperactivity at age seven. Researchers found that children who were held back from kindergarten for as little as one year showed a 73 percent reduction in inattentiveness and hyperactivity compared to children sent the year earlier, according to this new study on kindergarten and mental health. Stanford’s Graduate School of Education offered a news release about the new study published in the … [Read more...]
The steep cost of Common Core: The program has cost billions and left students unprepared
This was originally posted in The Washington Times: by Teresa Mull ANALYSIS/OPINION: Anew study reaffirms what conservatives have been saying about the Common Core State Standards all along: They’re a giant waste of taxpayers’ money. The study, titled “Smart Money? Philanthropic and Federal Funding for the Common Core,” was released in September by the Education Policy Analysis Archives. It concludes, “In essence, those who set directions for the Common Core and those who provided resources for its implementation have benefited, even as potential benefits to schools, educators, and students are elusive, and the entire claim may ultimately be empty.” None of this is news to … [Read more...]
Delayed Kindergarten enrollment reduces ADHD in children
From The Inqusitir ... Delaying kindergarten enrollment for one year shows significant mental health benefits for children, according to a recent study. Researchers found that a one-year delay in enrolling a child in kindergarten dramatically reduces inattention and hyperactivity at age seven. Researchers found that children who were held back from kindergarten for as little as one year showed a 73 percent reduction in inattentiveness and hyperactivity compared to children sent the year earlier, according to this new study on kindergarten and mental health. Stanford’s Graduate School of Education offered a news release about the new study published in the National Bureau of … [Read more...]
Common Core is a Racket
From Seekingredress .... In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education published a report titled A Nation At Risk and set in motion a series of education reform efforts that ushered in an ever-growing, insatiable industry for private education companies. Like so many things: healthcare, drug use, war, etc…education has become the target of, and is being driven by, greedy corporations seeking yet another avenue to increase profit. With A Nation At Risk, the Reagan administration had successfully conjured up a crisis in public education, one that was certain to destroy the nation due to failing schools and illiterate citizens. A crisis to which the inevitable solution would … [Read more...]