Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Sudoku for Kids

My 6-year old daughter can do a Sudoku puzzle! I was so proud. Okay, it was one with shapes and not numbers. Okay, it was only a 4x4. But she did it!

Anyway while she was working on it she asked if I was just preparing her for something they would learn in school. But this is actually more than school. I told her it is a brain exercise. Just like we must exercise to keep our body in shape, we also must exercise to keep our brains in shape. Toddlers will be working out their brains with floor puzzles. School-aged children can start working on easy Sudoku puzzles and crossword puzzles, even riddles. Just do an internet search for 'sudoku for kids' and you will find some for all levels. Puzzle on!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Is Your Child Ready?

I recently read an article that contained the usually statistics on African American children. On average AA children are taught differently than Caucasion, they also score lower on tests. The language used at home may not necessarily be words that you may see on the SAT, etc., etc.

One way that we really can prepare our children is to make sure our children are computer savvy. Teachers and Parents: You may not be comfortable with using the computer but your children will be and need to be. And it shouldn't just be for fun. The computer is a tool and it can be used or abused. Technology is morphing rapidly at a rate that most can not understand. Let's not be left behind yet again.

Younger Children - Should know how to use a mouse and type a few words in MS Word.
Mid-Age Children - Should know how to type at a steady speed and know a little bit of computer programming. The majority of their research should still come from books. They are still at a vulnerable age where they have no basis for the information they receive. If they receive false information they will not know how to verify it.
Older Children - Should be computer novices and even know how to fix computer problems(this will save them a lot of money in the future). They should also know how to research using the internet and know how to verify the information.

Remember, computers are very important in the math world. Keep it up and have fun!