Golf helps kids instill drive to succeed

sfgate.com, June 24, 2009
Visitacion Valley Middle School is building a driving range. When it's finished this fall, along with a chipping area and a putting green, it will be the first of its kind in the country - a golf facility in an urban schoolyard.

The amenities, along with clubs and other related equipment, will be offered free to kids and their families in the Visitacion Valley and Bayview neighborhoods. The construction is the next stage in a program that started in the community four years ago, teaching children how to play golf, and teaching them some important life skills along the way.

"Golf gives these kids access to a decent life that they otherwise would not have," said Frank "Sandy" Tatum, chairman of the San Francisco chapter of the First Tee, an outreach program that's building the golf facilities at Visitacion Valley.

"It's a slow-paced game and it seems like not that much happens. You mostly don't see young people playing golf. Usually it's a lot of rich, elderly people," said 12-year-old Kevin Kirksey.

Golf has taught him to be patient, he said, and to focus on the problem at hand. "I used to get mad at math every single day," Kevin said. "I'm getting better, though." Read more...

Free Math Video for Kids

Want to keep your kids' mind active during this summer? Here's a very good site for you! Khan Academy, a non-profit organization that provide hundreds of video for you. Kids can learn math easily from these videos.
These video include from basic Addition to Pre-algebra, Calculus and Statistics. Have fun with this site!

Scientists capture the first image of memories being made

The ability to learn and to establish new memories is essential to our daily existence and identity; enabling us to navigate through the world. A new study by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), McGill University and University of California, Los Angeles has captured an image for the first time of a mechanism, specifically protein translation, which underlies long-term memory formation. The finding provides the first visual evidence that when a new memory is formed new proteins are made locally at the synapse - the connection between nerve cells - increasing the strength of the synaptic connection and reinforcing the memory. The study published in Science, is important for understanding how memory traces are created and the ability to monitor it in real time will allow a detailed understanding of how memories are formed. Read more...

Motivate your kids to love science

Motivate your kids to take an interest in science with these simple games and activities you can do at home.

Bridging the gap between math, real world

MercuryNews.com 06/11/2009 01:34:35 PM PDT

"Otis! Otis! Otis!"

The repeating chant rings out from Lincoln Park where Otis and Edison elementary school fifth graders compete in a toothpick bridge building contest. The students gathered at the park with their tiny, wooden structures to test which construction team of five — an architect, accountant, a project director, transportation chief and carpenter — created the strongest bridge. This round goes to Otis Elementary.

"We are engaged in the 'destruction load testing' phase of our toothpick bridge building contest to see how much weight each structure can bear before it fails," said Glenn Aitkens, seven-year teacher at Edison Elementary School. "This is primarily a hands-on math and science enrichment project, but there are elements of art, design and engineering involved as well. Read more...

Adopt national standards to help children compete

Officials in 46 states and the District of Columbia agreed June 1 to move toward uniform learning goals in reading and mathematics for children nationwide. The effort, led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, was applauded by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Sadly, science was left out, and education leaders in Texas — along with Alaska, Missouri and South Carolina — have so far declined to support the plan. Read more...

KidZui, a free web browser for kids

KidZui is a free web browser, search engine and online playground for kids 3-12.

Over 2 million kid-friendly games, websites, pictures, and YouTube videos reviewed by parents and teachers anywhere. Kids can find what they need to help with schoolwork, by themselves.

For Parents, they can know what their kids are doing online and they can connect by sharing content. KidZui will sends a weekly email about kids' online activities.

To install the KidZui Browser, you can download as a windows application or a firefox Add-on.

After the installation, you can launch KidZui by Start->Program, or open firefox and click the "K" to play!

Once you are at the welcome screen, you can create your kid's account by click "Sign Up" button.



1.Choose a start Zui.



2.Pick a name and a password for your Zui.





3.Set up your kid's age



4.Input parent's email



5.Login KidZui and have fun!

State math exam scores have risen - but it's because tests have gotten easier

nydailynews.com Sunday, June 7th 2009, 4:00 AM
It's the state exam version of grade inflation.

Soaring scores on the state math test don't necessarily add up to better schools or smarter kids.

That's because it has gotten easier to teach to the test as the questions have gotten easier to predict, a Daily News analysis revealed.

And, the tests may also be easier.

"It's the lesson of the financial crisis, and it's the lesson here - you can't just trust the numbers, you have to look at what the numbers mean," said Columbia University sociology doctorate student Jennifer Jennings. Read more...

Iraq-born teen cracks maths puzzle

A 16-year-old Iraqi immigrant living in Sweden has cracked a maths puzzle that has stumped experts for more than 300 years, Swedish media reported on Thursday.

In just four months, Mohamed Altoumaimi has found a formula to explain and simplify the so-called Bernoulli numbers, a sequence of calculations named after the 17th century Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli, the Dagens Nyheter daily said. Read more...