Fish Swim, Birds Fly, Humans…Learn (–John Holt)

Storynory is a fantastic site from which to grab audio books (stories) for kids. They’ve been publishing an audio story a week since November 2005 and have over 75 stories in their archive. Be sure to catch all their future stories by subscribing to the Storynory podcast via iTunes.

As Eric Connally, a dad from our book club, says, Michiko Kakutani “got a hold of a copy and has her review out. It’s quite positive with not much in the way of spoilers.” Just in case you can’t wait…

If you don’t already have a copy reserved in some independent bookstore, you can find Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at Amazon.com.

Genome BC hosts the Genome Education website, an interactive online learning resource of genomics for curious individuals, teachers, scientists and members of the interested public. The project takes science education directly to the places where kids go to get their information– MySpace and YouTube – with the goal of making science education, specifically genetics, fun, interesting and above all else, easily accessible. Be careful of course to distinguish between fun and fact–for example, I don’t believe Floyd the Fruit Fly could really attain 16 years of age….(or would that be about 5 bug-hours?)

Friends have been asking lately about relating to their changing 11- and 12-year olds, so I took note when Ann Schlesinger sent me this info: The Maternal and Child Health Library, hosted at Georgetown University, has developed an electronic guide to resources for professionals on healthy social and emotional development in infants and young children, school-age children, and adolescents. Selected topics include developmental stages; factors that impact social and emotional development; policies and programs to promote social and emotional well-being in homes and community settings; and strategies for integrating health, development, and education services. A section for families is also included.

My older daughter has begun running with her dad, a five-time marathoner. Free membership at mapmyrun.com allows them to measure where they go, plan and save routes, find existing routes with special characteristics (lakes, trails, etc), and even save training logs. It works for hiking, cycling, walking, and other modes of outdoor exercise, too!

My colleague Elaine Crowder pointed out this Yahoo Amazing Artist video suitable for celebrating 4th of July.

Kidipede is an interesting and extensive history site written in words kids can relate to; learn for example that “Philippicus turned out to be a worthless party animal…” Read on to see what it’s really like to have a tough mother. I like best that the site prominently features interesting questions, including a Question of the Day in the left frame, to pique curiosity. I also like that the site includes maps of lands during the different eras.

 
www.potter2008.com

Librivox is an awesome resource, offering free audio downloads of books in the public domain as read by volunteers. Reading along with an audiobook is a great way to increase reading fluency.