Monica and Eddie are amazing people. They work hard and do good. They have raised 6 children of their own and fostered others. They have successfully home-schooled their children. Now, when the Irish state asked them to fill in forms, they refused. Partly because it was an unnecessary bureaucratic pain – everyone knew their exemplary …
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Category:Education
Mr. BKS Iyengar’s Light shines on
Like millions of others, I have been influenced by this great yoga teacher, though I have never met him. I have read The Tree of Yoga. I refer to Light on Yoga and Light on Pranayama. I study Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. I use props to aid my alignment. I am aware …
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What’s So Scary About Smart Girls? They might fix things.
What’s So Scary About Smart Girls? is a provocative read in the NYT. It makes some sad observations and reiterates what evidence proves: that education makes life better and that emancipating and liberating females is the way to realise the great potential of humanity’s “better half”. For example: If you want to mire a nation …
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Sad but true: Violence against females is pervasive.
A broad based survey indicates that 1/3 of women in the EU are affected by violence. That should surprise you, but if you’re female, maybe it doesn’t. Clearly unfair prejudices still dominate modern, rich cultures. For example, it is saddening to still see and hear behaviour which puts down women. Clearly there are economic differences …
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US college degrees cost more than a house.
This YouTube video of Marty Nemko debunking myths of big incomes that come from going to college, landed in an in-tray almost unnoticed. It’s from 2011, and is still valid. The data is unattractive. The alternatives to college that he advocates, like community college, part-time, apprenticeship and work to learn, make better sense for more …
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The power of emotional intelligence in a cognitive world.
Breathe to focus. It sounds simple, even foolish, but it’s not. Daniel Goleman recently gave a presentation on his new book Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, which was reviewed by IMD. Goleman explains why attention is a little-noticed mental asset that makes a huge difference in how well we find our way in our …
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Everybody is a genius.
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking that it is stupid. Albert Einstein That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t all try to climb a tree. it means we should develop all our potentials and be judged by our own …
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Education on-line.
Here at Astraea, we have used the internet to teach ourselves many skills and ideas that helped enrich life and work. We’ve also tried to share ideas on our website, such as through the blog and putting our course notes on the website. That was fine 15 years ago when we started, but nowadays on-line …
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Learning with your nose.
It has always seemed that smells have been neglected in curricula. Yes, school children can be stinky, but that is a by product of a high density of sticky bodies. Adults can be stinky too. What has always been striking is how a smell can evoke a memory or an idea. That cranial connection signalled …
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Mens sana in corpore sano, again.
Another study, this one of about 5,000 children, found links between exercise and exam success in English, maths and science. It’s not new science, but it’s good to remember it in this age of obesity and conveniences which allow people to do less and less. Here’s the BBC report and some other relevant links if …
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