In The News September 2009 Vol. 12-9
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Well, having said that, I
am reminded of a conversation I had with a friend just this
morning. We were talking about the many And, adults need quiet
time, as well. Why is it, that if we spend a few This year we have welcomed
many new students from around the world. e-Tutor students can be
found in China, Japan, Australia, Finland, Costa Rica, Dominican
Republic, Canada, Mexico and Panama. Some of students have begun
communicating with one another. If your child would like to
email other e-Tutor students, please let us know. We will match
children by age group. Enjoy a beautiful beginning to the Fall season.
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Where
has the summer gone? The months and years seem to gallop
by. When looking back, much has been accomplished, but one needs
to hold onto the hat as it seems we are moving at the speed of
light. 
activities in which
children were involved. I probably screwed up my face, because
our children need to have quiet time....not music time or reading
time, just time to rest and think. We become concerned if our
children are not playing with friends or are not doing an activity or
going, going, going. Quiet time, thinking time gives a child the
opportunity to think about what he has learned, what the world is
about, what people are about and his place in the universe. So,
often we place our children where we want them to be, rather than
where they want to be. Quiet time gives the child the
opportunity to develop his own identity and personality. 
minutes in
contemplation, we tend to feel guilty? Of course, there is
always something to do. But, a period of solitude helps
us to be more creative and to balance the many things happening in our
lives. As hard as it is to let go of the work, the activities,
the family, we become better at handling all those forces when we take
the time for quiet. 
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Welcome
to new and returning e-Tutor students and their families! Guidelines and Expectations for Students
Join the e-Tutor
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In the last month we have welcomed many new writers to the Writer's Circle. Writers are encouraged to submit lesson modules throughout the school year. A small stipend is paid for each accepted lesson module. If you are interested in writing lesson modules for the e-Tutor program, please go to www.lessonpro.net and sign up. |
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Twenty-five
New Lesson Modules
Attention
Writers!
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Avoid paralysis by analysis. |
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"Experience is inevitable, learning is not," says J. Edward Russo, co-author with Paul J. Schoemaker of Decision Traps - The Ten Barriers to Brilliant Decision Making and How to Overcome Them. "It's the old story of two men who had each worked 13 years. One had 13 years of experience. The other had one year of experience, repeated 13 times. The only way to avoid that is to spend time studying the outcomes of decisions you have made in the past...those that worked out well and those that did not." To
hel
A desire to get the
planning or decision-making process over with quickly, with less work,
often leads people to make snap decision or fall back upon something
that worked before. Adapted from Working Smart |
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Are you over-involved with your children? Some signs you may need to back off:
Adapted from The Chicago Tribune Throughout the ages the dinnertime ritual has signified family and community bonding. Nowadays it seems almost a lost art, replaced by meals on the run. With both parents working long hours and kids on the go, family dinners have fallen by the wayside. But when schedules allow, meals together can be a joyful time of talking, listening, and sharing...even if it's over fast food. Try to bring the entire family together at regular intervals for a common meal, even if it's only once a week. Make a date with the rest of the family, and see that it's kept. You could take turns making each kid's "favorite" and Mom's and Dad's too and always feature a special treat for dessert or a movie-a-popcorn fest afterward. Once the family night becomes a habit, you may well find it's the highlight of the week for everyone! Dinnertime
should not be an occasion for confrontations or lectures on
manners...no one can digest food when angry or afraid. Family
closene Family dinners are meant to provide nourishment for both body and soul. Add candles or flowers to the table, serve dinner with a grateful hear and you'll surely have a heavenly meal. Adapted from Wonderful Ways to Love a Child, by Judy Ford |
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Constructive Conflict. Most of us feel these words contradict each other. We learned as children to avoid conflict at any cost. "Share!" we were taught. And what we learned as children we brought to our adult lives: "Compromise is good; conflict is bad." Not
so, says Dr. Elaine Yarbrough, a conflict management expert.
Conflict is a critical element in everything we do. Without it
there is no growth, no Constructive conflict is managed conflict...the catalyst for innovation and productivity. Because conflict is inevitable, why not harness its positive energy? Adapted from Communication Briefings |
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A young man entered a psychiatrist's office, walked directly to the doctor's desk, and stood stiffly before him. He told the doctor that he was there against his will and that he had come only to please his family. The doctor asked him why his family wanted him to see a psychiatrist. "I suppose it's because I'm dead," the young man replied. The
doctor, who thought he had heard them all, asked, "How do you
know you're dead?"
The psychiatrist decided this approach would get him nowhere, so he tried another. "I'm sure you'll agree that dead men don't bleed." The young man agreed this was true. The
doctor reached into the desk drawer, asked the young man to roll up
his sleeve and jabbed a small needle into his arm. A spot of
blood appeared. The doctor quickly pressed a glass slide against
the blood and held it up for the patient to s "My God!" said the you man. "Dead people do bleed, don't they!" This story seems absurd, at first, but it reflects a common human tendency...to insist that we're right, to prefer consistency, even when faced with contradictory evidence. Adapted from The Pryor Report |
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If you are home schooling your child or supplementing what they are learning in a regular school, you may have found yourself creating some of the following for you child to do.
Adapted from Parenting - School Years |
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What Did You Do In The
War, Grandma? This oral history project
of Rhode Island Women during World War II was written by students in
the Honors English Program at South Kingstown High School. Judi Scott
and Linda P. Wood (in partnership with Brown University) have done a
nice job of providing online articles and resource links about oral
history as well as the time period. Others can use the site for its
interesting content, but also show it to students as an excellent
model. Like this site and the Foxfire series from Appalachia, you can
look to your own communities to uncover the interesting stories behind
the lives of seemingly ordinary people. Oaxacan
Pottery: Journey to a place in the far south of Mexico where
the potters of a thousand year tradition still work. This resource
presents the different ways of making and using utilitarian pottery
through a tour of several pottery villages in the state of Oaxaca,
Mexico. Seeing, Hearing and
Smelling the World: This Howard Hughes
Medical Institute site features current research on the science of
sensory systems. With a glossary and graphics-rich articles focused on
the brain, seeing, hearing, smelling, and brain scans, this site could
be used to compliment life science curriculum. The Star Spangled
Banner: Did you know that The Star
Spangled Banner is on display at the Smithsonian in Washington DC? The
inspiration for the US national anthem now has a web site examining
the history of the flag itself. Students can use this information as a
resource for research projects, or test their knowledge of the history
of the flag and the events of 1814 that affected Francis Scott Key,
author of the anthem. The
Port Chicago Disaster: This resource and the accompanying
activities outline the events of 1944, when a major explosion rocked
Port Chicago, CA. How far does duty go for a soldier during wartime;
was there racism involved in the decision to court martial
African-American soldiers who refused to continue to load munitions
under unsafe circumstances? Students can investigate using web quests,
or educators can lead students through the essential questions
surrounding this historic event.
From the Knowledge HQ Staff Copyright © 2009 Knowledge Headquarters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.knowledgehq.com |
p you improve your decision-making and planning abilities, make a
personal decision audit of prior decisions. Consider how much
time you allocated to each of the basic phases of decision
making: creating a mental structure of how you understood the
problem and planned to solve it (this is known as framing the
problem); intelligence gathering; and coming to
conclusions. Here are some questions to ask:
with "we"
ss and communication far more important than etiquette.
Reserve the serious discussions for a more appropriate place and time,
and never use this occasion to reprimand or scold. Let your
dinnertime be one of sharing and coming together, a time for checking
in and keeping in touch. 
challenge. Without conflict we would have
boring sameness. Conflict equals excitement. 
"How
do you know you're alive?" shot back the young man. 
Wishing
you a wonderful Fall!