I believe in the magic of math (but that’s a blog post for another day) so when I found Touch Trigonometry via  StumbleUpon, I was thrilled.

You have to visit the site to fully appreciate it (and take advantage of the interactivity), but here’s a little preview:

Fun! Try it!

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Updated with coverage of the oil spill!

Check it out:

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=education/2010/05/27/sn.0528.cnn

The site is “a ten minute, commercial-free daily news program” geared to middle and high-school students.

If you’ve been looking for ways to get your teens interested in the news, I recommend bookmarking the CNN Student News site and showing it to your kids. It’s geared to them, so it’s a bit more hip, clean and concise than the main CNN site.

And, yeah, they’re on Facebook, too.

This fact becomes especially important if you have teen drivers.

April 30 is National No-Phone Zone Day, declared to raise awareness about the dangers of using a phone while driving.

I’m on board and signed the pledge. Will you?

http://static.oprah.com/npz/text_pledge_v1.swf

I also promote philanthropy. Each year I believe more strongly that we all need to challenge ourselves to find ways to be more generous and giving.

Wouldn’t it be great to somehow combine reading and giving? Hmm…

Then I heard about an initiative launched by The Pearson Foundation and Penguin Young Readers Group called We Give Books, and I was excited to learn more.

What a wonderful idea! Read a book. Give a book.

So last week, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, when the Pearson Foundation gathered together a group of bloggers, authors* and others to announce the launch of the site, We Give Books, I was happy to attend.

*Including Pulitzer Prize winning author, Dave Barry!

How does it work?

Choose a Campaign

Read Books

Share

Here’s the gist: We Give Books encourages parents or caregivers to read with their kids and then donate a book to a charity selected by the reader. Read a book, give a book. For every story you read on the site with (or without!) your child, they donate a book! The reader’s only obligation (if you even want to call it that) is to read the online book. Pearson/Penguin then donates the book directly to the charity you and your child selected.

These are some of the folks behind this initiative.

How easy is this?

1) Choose the charity

2) Read a book

3) Click to donate

For every book read on the site, the Pearson Foundation will donate a book to a worthy charity (selected by the reader(s)) of the book(s) from among those listed on the site).

Just give it a try. The site is very easy to navigate. Your youngest kids can participate in turning the pages of the book. In fact, I recommend that you get your kids involved from the start. Tell them a little about the charities, let them choose which one they like most, then let them pick the first book. I bet you’ll read more than a few (and then donate more than a few).

Mark Nieker, President of the Pearson Foundation, believes “We Give Books gives parents an opportunity to read with their children, and its innovation is that it surrounds reading with those important conversations that can start a young person on a life of giving.”

You can still have that special, quality time with your child in your lap, reading a story but now it’s interactive and helps other kids! This site puts an interesting twist on story time in our hi-tech world.

The only thing that I believe could make this even better and more current? If they had an iPad app for it.

I’ll bet it’s just a matter of time.

Visit We Give Books. And let me know what you think.

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The iPad.

Ahhh…soak in its loveliness.

My favorite part? It’s too hard to choose.
hi-res color iBooks, the keyboard dock, the revised iCal (that looks much better (and resembles my ancient (no, wait, did I ever actually use one of those?) Filofax)) or the ability to view all my apps on a larger screen.

Here are David Pogue’s first impressions.

Honestly? It is so very tempting for me. To say the least.

I was in a bus filled with middle school kids today and they were all atwitter, excitedly chattering away about how each and every one of them wanted to get an iPad. Mmmhmm.  Those naysayers on Twitter don’t know what they’re talking about.  This baby is going to be sizzling hot. I can feel it.

What about you?

Just another gadget you don’t need or want? Or are you dreaming about it and frequently thinking about it? Giving up your Kindle for this thing? Or sticking with your hardcover bestseller?

Hmmm….

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I believe that music benefits our kids, and I strongly encourage parents to support funding for school music programs.  They help our children in more ways than many people know or acknowledge. For one man’s knowledgeable perspective, watch this video:

Over the years I’ve wondered…

Do they learn from what we do? How can we be sure?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a list of lessons, or a credo, if you will?

Then, one day last week, my son handed me a typewritten sheet with the heading, “Life and How to Live It.”  He explained that, after teaching the class George Washington’s 110 Rules of Civility, his teacher told the class that she wanted each of them to write a credo.

This is what he wrote:

Life and How to Live it

• Keep your head level. You’re no better than the next guy.
• Stick together. If a bunch of fish group together, it scares away the shark.
• Always remember what’s important in life. Your hair doesn’t matter as much as your SAT score.
• Be yourself. Just because someone else jumps off a bridge doesn’t mean you have to.
• Don’t depend on others to make you happy. If someone doesn’t like you anymore, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world.
• Keep a good balance of work and play. Ever seen The Shining?
• If you think of it as fun, it’ll go by a lot faster.
• Violence isn’t always the answer.
• Remember to give as much as you get and get as much as you give.
• Always know what path you’re on—and how what you’re doing will affect you long-term.
• Always know which way is up and which way is down.
• STUDY. What college you go to matters a lot more than Sunday Night Football.
• Sleep actually DOES matter. You aren’t any cooler if you stay up till midnight.
• Whenever you do anything that you think might not seem right, even the slightest bit, ask yourself: Would I like this if someone did this to me?
• And always, ALWAYS, be nicest to the ones you love.

After reading it, I smiled, thanked him and gave him a great big bear hug.  Every bullet point represented little lessons taught over the years.  Most came from those lectures where I thought I was talking too much and wondered whether his eyes were glazing over, whether he was thinking about football rather than listening to what I was telling him.  Others came from experiences and morals gleaned from stories about my family members. I recognized all of them.  Remembered every conversation, every moment we talked about these ideas.

Hooray.  Simply, hooray.

There it was — years of talking, teaching, leading, discussing, and guiding summed up by a page of bullet points.  He told me that he could have written more, but had to keep it to a page.

“That’s fine,” I thought. “More than good enough.”

Parenting provides no feedback or bonuses, no accolades or pay raises, so how do we know whether we’re doing a good job? We hope for moments like these and when we get them, we cherish them.

At the end of the day, it’s not about us.  The measure of our parenting, if it even exists, will be shown by our children’s character as they become young adults.  We really don’t know for certain whether they will be responsible citizens, contribute to society, or make a difference in the world.  But at least we can breath a little sigh of relief knowing that they hear our words and emulate our actions.

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I would add this —> always be kind and polite.

Our president will be making a speech today to convey the same message. If you would like to read his prepared remarks, just click this link.

You can watch it live by clicking the link below:

Here’s hoping you and your family have a terrific school year this year!

Currently under construction, the new blog seeks to assist its readers with the sometimes overwhelming task of finding books for their kids.  As the years go by, it becomes increasingly difficult to find good books for my middle schooler. At the same time, I find more friends asking me for recommendations of good books for their kids.  The new site will tackle those challenges and more.

Stay tuned. I’ll let you know as soon as the site is ready for prime time.