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I've been trying to break the habit of referring to what we do by  
what it isn't..."informal", "out of school" etc.  People seem to  
respond well to the idea of museum learning when we use the phrase  
"free choice learning."  I guess its just spin, but...

I don't remember who posted earlier about how much effort it takes,  
as a parent, to mitigate the negative effects of formal learning on  
our children.  I hadn't really formulated it that way to myself, but  
in fact this is true.  In our "excellent school district" (blue  
ribbon schools, etc etc) the kids are so pressured that I can see the  
joy of learning slowly being excised from my 14 y/o twin girls.

Interestingly, a survey of parents in our district reflected that an  
equal proportion found their kids' schooling "too demanding" and "not  
challenging enough."  So what's a school administrator to do?

All that said, a shout out to my daughter Nica, whose team took 1st  
place in the regional Science Olympiad, a first for our district.   
Her bridge won first place.  She and the rest of the self-named "geek  
squad" have been walking on air for a week.

Eric Siegel
Executive VP
    Programs and Planning
NY Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Queens, NY 11368
[log in to unmask]
718 699 0005 x 317
www.nyscience.org

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