geography – Institute for Educational Advancement

What We’re Reading: Summer 2018

��Ƶ Staff — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 23:50:21 +0000

Are you looking for a summer book recommendation? Check out what some of us at ��Ƶ are currently enjoying!

The Wisdom of Sundays: Life-Changing Insights from Super Soul Conversations by Oprah Winfrey

“During a time when I needed some inspiration in my life, this book, and the conversations Oprah shares, provided great insight into life lessons that some of the most brilliant leaders and visionaries have learned throughout their lifetime. I felt like a fly on the wall as I read through chapters about mindfulness, intention, fulfillment, love and connection.” – Niña Abonal, Senior Program Coordinator

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

“The Great Alone explores a wild and sparsely populated Alaska in the 1970’s, when a Vietnam War veteran moves his wife and 13-year-old daughter from Seattle to the very rugged frontier of Alaska to begin anew away from city life and war memories. The book is an insider’s examination of the harsh realities and lush beauty of life in Alaska that I knew little about, set against a troubled family’s story of survival over the course of several decades. The book deals with adult themes but is well-plotted with engaging characters.” – Bonnie Raskin, Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship Manager

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

“I reread The Things They Carried every year. To me, no other work so perfectly captures the camaraderie that exists under the most trying, confusing and challenging circumstances. Though fiction, it is grounded in historical truth and humbling to imagine what these characters went through so far from home. O’Brien doesn’t mince words, but his descriptions have a gripping gentleness that makes you feel more than think. I get lost in each vignette that eventually weaves together into a larger narrative.“ – Hillary Jade, Program Manager

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

“A unique coming-of-age story that follows Eva (and the food she loves) from birth through adulthood, told almost exclusively through the viewpoints of those she encounters along the way. It would be accurate to say I devoured this book. Not only was Eva’s journey compelling, but the vivid descriptions of the food that defines each stage of her life made me want to host my own elaborate, biographical feast. A great read for fiction lovers and foodies alike.”-Nicole LaChance, Marketing & Communications Coordinator

In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

“I had read A Walk in the Woods but never thought to pick up another Bryson book until this one was recommended by another ��Ƶ staff member. This travel book about Bryson’s journey through Australia is a delightful cross between a page-turning beach read and informative historical commentary. I found myself laughing even while learning about the ecology, anthropology, history, geography and culture of this fascinatingly unique continent. You may even end up moving Australia up on your list of travel destinations!”-Nicole Endacott, Program Coordinator

The Revenge of Geography by Robert D. Kaplan

“Though dense in historical examples, this book shows how many of our current tensions—from the Syrian Civil War to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions—stem from monolithic geographical features. I particularly enjoyed the last two chapters, where Kaplan points at America’s demographic transition and concludes that geography, more often than not, determines the fate of nations. ”-Mark Blekherman, ��Ƶ EXPLORE Extern

Want more book recommendations? Check out what we were enjoying in ,��Ի��.

What books have you been enjoying this summer? Let us know in the comments!

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Top 3 Online Educational Resources for Gifted Kids

��Ƶ Staff — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 00:40:12 +0000

By Tiffany Kwong

In this day and age of technology, more and more web-based resources are becoming available at our fingertips. Apple’s iTunes App Store, for example, has hundreds of applications specifically geared towards children’s learning and enrichment. Likewise, more e-learning websites are cropping up all over the Internet, offering a seemingly endless amount of educational lessons and tutorials in the form of short videos. Such educational resources are great for homeschoolers, teachers looking for ways to differentiate in their classrooms, and the life-long learner in all of us. While some parents may frown upon the use of web-based videos as a learning tool for their kids, I believe that these can be great resources for supplementing one’s education when used in moderation.

Some of the benefits of e-learning include:

The freedom to discover and explore. With all of the information available online, your child has the opportunity to discover new subjects and delve deeper into topics that interest him or her.
The freedom to learn at his or her own pace. Your child also has the freedom to decide on the pace of learning based on his or her ability in any one subject. In regards to videos specifically, your child has the freedom to control (literally) the speed of the lesson by pausing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding through content if he or she desires to review or skip specific segments of a lesson.
The freedom to learn practically anywhere at any time. Since these are web-based resources, your child can learn anywhere you have access to the Internet and a computer or mobile device and at times that are most convenient to your family’s schedule.

With all of these benefits of e-learning in mind, I did a little research of my own to pinpoint which websites out there are the most gifted kid-friendly. Each of these websites is devoted to providing accessible, user-friendly educational tools; and best of all, these resources are free to the public! So here are my picks. Enjoy!

NeoK12 is a website that offers educational videos and lessons, including games and quizzes, specifically geared to Kindergarten through 12th grade students. According to its mission, NeoK12 promotes learning through educational videos because they “believe that kids learn best when they ‘see’ how things work, when, where and why they happen.” Through its comprehensive collection of videos, kids can learn about areas of study such as geography, social studies, physical science, English, math, and the human body. The site even hosts segments of the Discovery Channel show How It’s Made.

My picks:

– Learn about the properties of the four fundamental states of matter: solid, gas, liquid, and plasma!
– Check out this lesson on how our organs, vessels, and muscles work together in our bodies’ circulatory systems.
And for fun,

Khan Academy seeks to “help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace” via video tutorials and lessons. It currently hosts a library of over 4,200 videos on topics ranging from chemistry, physics, trigonometry, and even humanities.

Students can create their own profiles to track their activities and earn achievement patches and badges, while parents can track their child’s progress over time. There is also a community aspect to this website, where students can ask questions about a concept they didn’t understand and have them answered by other Khan Academy students.

My picks:

– Get an introduction to one of the coolest numbers in math! It also informed the .
– Learn about the nuts and bolts of our DNA in this video about cells, chromosomes, and genes.

To learn more about the origins of Khan Academy, view creator, Salman Khan’s TEDTalk, .

An offshoot of TEDTalks, TED-Ed delivers “Lessons worth sharing” through brief videos on topics ranging from the arts and literature to mathematics and psychology. Each lesson also includes multiple choice and open-ended questions for your child to engage with the content, as well as a “Dig Deeper” section, which provides additional information and resources for your child to further explore the topic.

My picks:

– Learn about how the invention of the train shaped the invention of standardized time zones.
– Check out this fascinating video on bacteria and its chemical language!

(Please note that ��Ƶ is not in any way affiliated with Apple, Inc., NeoK12, Khan Academy, or TED. We just wanted to share some of the great resources we’ve found with you!)

What’s your child’s favorite online resource? Please share in the comment section below.

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