Mary Manz Simon's Blog, page 60

Sprechen Sie Deutsch oder code?

“Do you speak German or code?”

That question, above, is not science fiction. This fall, more states will consider allowing students to fill foreign language requirements with coding.

Critics say US students are already behind the rest of the world, which has been multilingual for years. Proponents say that soon, our students won’t only be behind in spoken languages, but also the language of the tech world.

Coding was one of the most popular subjects at STEM-driven camps and workshops during the past couple months; we’ll see what happens in schools this fall.

lol

If your child is struggling to finish assigned summer reading, guide him toward the humor section at the library.

Results of the Scholastic survey, “State of Kids & Reading,” summarized here earlier this year, revealed that 70% of kids want books that “make me laugh.”

http://www.scholastic.com/readingreport/the-state-of-kids-and-reading.htm

TWP (Texting while parenting)

Is texting the next activity to be identified as a national addiction?

Although the danger of texting while driving has made headlines, texting while parenting is the phenomenon that concerns me.

Texting a friend doesn’t substitute for face-to-face interaction with a child. This may be an unpopular message for Web Junkies, but somebody needs to say it!

Holy days, holidays

I expected more chatter after the announcement last March that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was adding Muslim holidays to the school calendar next fall. Students will begin a day earlier next month to allow for Eid al-Adha, which falls on September 24.

In the past, many districts have responded to requests for holy holidays from minorities by offering excused absences to students.

At a time when districts are adding, not subtracting from the school calendar, the de Blasio action might be limited to the Big Apple or locations with a high density of specific ethnicities.