Sesame Street Begins Teaching Math and Science 271
An anonymous reader sends in this excerpt from ABC News:
"This season of 'Sesame Street,' which premiered today, has added a few new things to its usual mix of song, dance and educational lessons. In its 42nd season, the preschool educational series is tackling math, science, technology, and engineering — all problem areas for America's students — in hopes of helping kids measure up. ... This season, 'Sesame Street' will include age-appropriate experimentation — even the orange monster Murray will conduct science experiments in a recurring feature."
Right on! (Score:5, Insightful)
This alone will probably do more to improve education than the entire No Child Left Behind Act. Provided, of course, that it actually teaches the purpose of experimentation and science, teaches kids to ask "why?" and devise experiments to test ideas. All too often, "kid science" is "do this, then this, and now look at the pretty (green goo|flames|shiny), followed by a lecture on what went on. I'm hopeful that this will be one of the ones to get it right.
Re:Right on! (Score:5, Insightful)
I have no kind of inkling about the first sentence of the previous poster, but the part about 'teaches kids to ask "why?"' I'd like to amend: Hope it teaches them to want to ask "why?".
(Or maybe that would obviously be implied?)
Sounds great to me (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Right on! (Score:4, Insightful)
These are words that should never be uttered by a parent to a child. Why? Because it promptly snuffs the flame of curiosity. Most parents don't even realise they're doing it. They're just too absorbed in whatever they're doing to notice what they've just said to their curious 3 year old.
Re:"Teach the controversy!" (Score:1, Insightful)
It's a shame you don't have a political party that represents you. *shrug*
It's even more of a shame that he doesn't have a constituency.
Re:"Teach the controversy!" (Score:2, Insightful)
They is one, they call themselves "democrats".
Sincerely,
The rest of the world.
Ah, fair point, fair point.
I wish the Progressive Party still existed in force on a national level. *sigh*
Re:Right on! (Score:4, Insightful)
Probably because NCLB was an unfunded mandate which had bench marks set via standardized testing of a rather elaborate nature. Also due to the stakes it tends to crowd out significant portions of the year when teachers are theoretically supposed to be teaching.
Bill Nye is an evil doppleganger (Score:3, Insightful)
The only true TV scientist is Beakman [imdb.com]. Bill Nye is a Beakman wannabe, 100000x less interesting. But Bill had the backing and so Beakman was lost to us all.
Re:Right on! (Score:3, Insightful)
Have you ever had a girlfriend/boyfriend (don't know who you are or what you're into, so no offence here) that was just a wet blanket?
A: No! I don't want to go swimming, I'm busy! Or;
Hey, that sounds like fun, but let's do it tomorrow because I have something urgent to do right now.
It's all about keeping the enthusiasm, and certainly NOT bending to the childs whims and fancies. Remember, you have the lead as a parent, not the child, unless it is an appropriate situation to teach the child how to lead. Most importantly, you need to get the child used to delayed gratification rather than instant gratification, or they will become exactly the impulsive, narcissistic, borderline sociopath you are talking about, that will be sorely disappointed when they collide with society at large.
Re:Right on! (Score:4, Insightful)
They only get #1 spots when they talk about the 10,000 year old space aliens that built the pyramids or the coming apocalypse(s)... Which may explain the bulk of their modern programming...
Sarcasm aside... I've found the BBC far more interesting and informative lately.