I have three kids in Pre-K. It is an article of faith to me that it is a good idea – at least for our kids – and I barely remember my wife and I spending a lot of time debating whether to send our kids to Pre-K. Like most…
Miller & Zois Kids Blog
Educational Value of Word Search Puzzles
I had my kids working hard on word search puzzles. Why? Because I was terrible at them and I wanted my kids to be better. So we have spent an inordinate amount of time doing word search puzzles. Last night my son found a “create your own word search” website…
Bookworm on the iPad: Game Review
We stumbled onto Bookworm on the iPad and did not realize until much later it is a game that was played long before the iPad came out. I think it is a very productive game for children to play. If it is not, I have wasted at least 30 hours…
Third Grade Math iPad App
My son and I are working on Third Grade Math, an iPad math app by 965 Studios. I have a lot of 965 Studios educational iPad apps, three vocabulary word apps that we use all of the time that have a similar look and layout as the Third Grade Math…
High School Seniors and Chilling
According to a new study by the National Center for Education Statistics, the average high school graduate in 2009 earned about three credits more than graduates in 1990. Theoretically, this means that today’s students are spending 420 more hours in class. Based on my observations of high school students in…
Laptops Don’t Educate
A purpose of the Miller & Zois Kids Blog is to talk about harnessing the power of technology to improve our ability to educate our children. A recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank in Antigua & Barbuda underscores that technology alone won’t solve the problem. In Antigua & Barbuda,…
Classical Music iPad App Review
I really wish I had a better classical education. I wish I knew the top 1000 or so classical music pieces and I wish I knew the great works of art. I will probably never make it but I’ll keep on trying. The news for my kids is better. They…
Law School Grade Inflation
The just released 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress High School Transcript Study found that the grade point average increased to 3.0 in 2009 from 2.68 in 1990. This is tame compared to the grade inflation going on in law schools. Last year, Loyola Law School in Los Angeles decided…
Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, is a radio show for kids and their parents. The show is on 93.9 in Northampton, Mass. (where we live) and 101.5 in Brattleboro, Vermont but this is the Internet age, you can get the shows on-line and even pick up the station on…
Shoes for Education
Michele Miller, a school principal in Sacramento, is doing what can only be described as a very cool thing: she is selling her shoe collection to raise money to help bridge the gap for budget cuts that are being made at her school. Miller has created Shoes to the Rescue,…