Internet Buzz #1 – A curriculum to encourage kindness
In this day and age, we have to admit that an increase in media exposure has made the world a less kinder place, especially for our future generations. There’s much to be grateful for but we have to admit that we’re thankful to the researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds for creating the “kindness curriculum“. The curriculum has been tested in six schools so far and is available online for free. To date there have been 7,300 downloads.
According to the researchers, pre-kindergartners did activities aimed at helping them to pay attention, regulate their emotions and practice kindness during the pilot testing of the curriculum for 20 minutes, twice a week.
“There is so much research that shows that these skills learned early in life can set kids out on a positive trajectory,” associate scientist Lisa Flook told Education Week. She is part of the team of researchers who created the curriculum.
We’ve taken a look at the syllabus, which includes teaching kindness and managing emotions. Hopefully our local curriculum will incorporate this, if not maybe it’s something we could all do at home.
Internet Buzz #2 – A bread trick to show the importance of washing hands
The struggle is real. We have to remind our kids to wash their hands before they eat, every single time. Or when they come in from paying outside. Or when they’ve just finished using the toilet.
Luckily for us Ms Donna Gill Allen, a clever teacher from North Carolina, shared her grossest yet coolest experiment on teaching kids about germs and how they spread using three separate pieces of bread. We can’t wait to try this at home, so our little ones can actually see what happens when germs spread. Read about her experiment here.
Internet Buzz #3 – Parenting in a nutshell
Just when we think we’re winning, that we’ve done our Supermom or Superdad job for the day to make it all good, the clouds part and we see the One Important Thing that tells us that no, it’s still not all good, despite everything we’ve done.
Ever felt this way before?
Sometimes it’s downright stressful, sometimes it’s hilarious. Take a look at what happened to Rachel Pavlik, who wrote about it on her Facebook page RachRiot.
Her story about her daughter’s poster board even made it to this article.
Parent : 0, Poster board : 1
Internet Buzz #4 – My heart is in pieces
A heartbroken dad has poured his heart out after bullies branded his seven-year-old son a ‘freak’ and ‘monster’.
Dan Bezzant posted a plea on Facebook, asking that parents educate their children about special needs and to talk to them about compassion.
Bezzant said his heart was “in pieces” when he learned of the abuse aimed at his son Jackson, who has a rare syndrome called Treacher Collins.
“My heart is in pieces right now…my soul feels like it’s ripping from my chest…this beautiful young man my son Jackson has to endure a constant barrage of derogatory comments and ignorance like I’ve never witnessed.
“He is called ugly and freak and monster on a daily basis by his peers at school. Kids throw rocks at him and push him shouting these horrific words. He talks about suicide and he’s not quite 8! Jackson says he has no friends and everyone hates him. Please please take a minute and imagine if this were your child
“Take a minute to educate your children about special needs. Talk to them about compassion and love for our fellow man.
“His condition is called Treacher Collins. He’s endured horrific surgery and has several more in the coming years.”
His post urging parents to educate their children about those with special needs has gone viral, and many have responded with supportive comments. It’s a reminder for all of us to teach our kids how unacceptable bullying is. Let’s all remind our kids and teach them how to respect others, no matter how different they are.
Internet Buzz #5 – STEMosaur
Parents, allow us to introduce you to STEMosaur, a cute plastic dinosaur that can talk to your kids, tell them jokes and stories, and answer basic questions. STEMosaur is easy to set up via an Android or iOS app and can be connected via Wifi. It has a button on its belly that your child presses to pose a question. He even has a Yoda-like voice which comes out of the speaker in his left nostril.
“Having kids construct it right from the beginning seems to add to their feeling of ownership,” Donald Coolidge, CEO of Elemental Path told Digital Trends. “The coding panel teaches kids how to programme conversational agents. They might start with something simple like a favourite colour. They can then go more in-depth and create conversation trees and complex stories.”
Coolidge adds, “Our goal with STEMosaur is really to get kids excited about creation, engineering, and coding. We want to inspire a new generation of innovators.”
We sense a great Christmas or birthday gift in this one, a personalised toy which helps kids build and code. A conversational element sets it apart from toys like Anki’s Cozmo and Sony’s Koov.
Compiled by Elyza Noordeen
We search the internet every week for stories like these! Make sure to drop us an email at makchic@popdigital.my if you come across anything similar you’d like to share.
