Ex Sedda - from the chair » Thought http://www.exsedda.org a father's view from the homeschooling universe Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:20:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 en hourly 1 Well – The 3 R’s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too – Recess – NYTimes.com http://www.exsedda.org/2009/02/25/well-the-3-r%e2%80%99s-a-fourth-is-crucial-too-recess-nytimescom/ http://www.exsedda.org/2009/02/25/well-the-3-r%e2%80%99s-a-fourth-is-crucial-too-recess-nytimescom/#comments Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:13:29 +0000 admin http://www.exsedda.org/?p=299 A small study of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder last year found that walks outdoors appeared to improve scores on tests of attention and concentration. Notably, children who took walks in natural settings did better than those who walked in urban areas, according to the report, published online in August in The Journal of Attention Disorders. The researchers found that a dose of nature worked as well as a dose of medication to improve concentration, or even better.

via Well – The 3 R’s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too – Recess – NYTimes.com.

Interesting article. Worth reading.

]]> http://www.exsedda.org/2009/02/25/well-the-3-r%e2%80%99s-a-fourth-is-crucial-too-recess-nytimescom/feed/ 2 Homeschooling Dads Twitter Group http://www.exsedda.org/2009/02/19/homeschooling-dads-twitter-group/ http://www.exsedda.org/2009/02/19/homeschooling-dads-twitter-group/#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:50:39 +0000 admin http://www.exsedda.org/?p=285 I’ve started HomeschoolingDads group at tweetworks.com. Please join me at

http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/HomeschoolingDads

Use your existing Twitter username or creater one at Twitter.com.

You don’t need to be a dad to join!

]]> http://www.exsedda.org/2009/02/19/homeschooling-dads-twitter-group/feed/ 0 Kids and Computer Programming – MIT’s Scratch http://www.exsedda.org/2009/02/03/kids-and-computer-programming-mit%e2%80%99s-scratch/ http://www.exsedda.org/2009/02/03/kids-and-computer-programming-mit%e2%80%99s-scratch/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:22:24 +0000 admin http://www.exsedda.org/?p=254 I’ve searched for tools that could help teach Matteo some introductory concepts in computer programming. We’ve downloaded Scratch and it seems very promising. They have a rich gallery of other kids’ projects which you can download and modify. You can find our more about it at MIT’s website at http://scratch.mit.edu/ .

]]> http://www.exsedda.org/2009/02/03/kids-and-computer-programming-mit%e2%80%99s-scratch/feed/ 0 Getting Started with Latin – Quiz #14 Lesson 41-42 http://www.exsedda.org/2009/01/30/getting-started-with-latin-quiz-14-lesson-41-42/ http://www.exsedda.org/2009/01/30/getting-started-with-latin-quiz-14-lesson-41-42/#comments Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:34:03 +0000 admin http://www.exsedda.org/?p=223 I’ve just added another Getting Started with Latin – Quiz ( #14 Lesson 41-42 ).

http://www.exsedda.org/quizzes

]]> http://www.exsedda.org/2009/01/30/getting-started-with-latin-quiz-14-lesson-41-42/feed/ 0 Weapons of Mass Instruction – Continued http://www.exsedda.org/2009/01/06/weapons-of-mass-instruction-public-vs-elite-boarding-schools/ http://www.exsedda.org/2009/01/06/weapons-of-mass-instruction-public-vs-elite-boarding-schools/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:43:31 +0000 admin http://www.exsedda.org/?p=107 I finished reading Weapons of Mass Instruction a couple of weeks ago.  Gatto indirectly explains the deterioration of our democracy and commonwealth. It is often said that in order for a democracy to work we need an informed electorate, but it seems to me this is highly insufficient; at least as “informed” is currently understood. What is needed is something that used to be taken for granted – capacity to think for oneself. It really matters less what one ends up with and more that those thoughts and ideas are arrived at by one’s own thinking. Gatto insists there is a hidden aim in the mandatory public education which was deliberately designed into the system early on. At first I was struggling with accepting fully this premise, but I am now convinced Gatto is right. The vast majority was to be dumbed down by design because it was in the interest of elites to have citizens who do not ask unnecessary questions about the order of things about them.  The system did not need self-employed and thinking people; it needed to create uprooted lumpen proletariat as mass labor for the factories and pliable consumers of goods they did not need. The system delivered both.

One question remains in my mind. Does the current system still deliberately or consciously work on dumbing us down or were the processes unleashed in the early stages so well incorporated into the system that they still continue to deliver the same results even if we are completely unaware of them? This question is just the matter of my personal curiosity. The end result is the same.

You don’t need to buy the book to learn  from Gatto’s wisdom. There are many of his videos available on Youtube. Here is a result of a simple search:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=John+Taylor+Gatto&search_type=

]]> http://www.exsedda.org/2009/01/06/weapons-of-mass-instruction-public-vs-elite-boarding-schools/feed/ 0 Weapons of Mass Instruction – Book http://www.exsedda.org/2008/12/23/101/ http://www.exsedda.org/2008/12/23/101/#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:28:03 +0000 admin http://www.exsedda.org/?p=101 I’ve just started reading Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher’s Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor GattoW. I’ve always knew that we have a systemic failure in our education system but never did I expect that was so by design!  After reading just twenty pages I find myself with an angry knot in my midsection.  This explains everything that is wrong with us. It ought to be read by every American. If that were to happen we would be a different nation.

http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/4012

]]> http://www.exsedda.org/2008/12/23/101/feed/ 0 Welcome! http://www.exsedda.org/2008/12/19/welcome/ http://www.exsedda.org/2008/12/19/welcome/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:44:37 +0000 admin http://www.exsedda.org/?p=1 papa1Welcome to Ex Sedda,   our family’s small contribution to the world of homeschooling.  Hopefully, we will be able to capture and share at least  a small portion of this new adventure.  I promise to keep it updated as the tyranny of time allows an ocassional gift of free time.

]]> http://www.exsedda.org/2008/12/19/welcome/feed/ 0