The Handwriting on the Wall about Handwriting

Is handwriting the new educational dinosaur?  Finland seems to think so.  As of 2016, in a nod, apparently, to the age of keyboarding, handwriting will no longer be taught in Finnish schools.  Is handwriting important?  Do children need to learn it?  Take a peek at this fascinating (and short) article (click here) by Misty Adoniou about the history, methods and madness of handwriting and handwriting education.  Whether you're a leftie, a bottom-to-top letter-former, or an ALL-CAPS sort, you'll now have conversational fodder for anyone who points a judgmental pencil at you.  Or will you?

Get the picture?

Stop the Princess Machines

Just in time for the holidays – a kick-butt, fun, alternative to “pink stuff” and Barbie.  GoldieBlox is a toy company that makes construction sets and other cool engineering-inspired toys geared toward girls.  The company was started by Stanford-educated engineer Debbie Sterling, who was frustrated by how few women there were in her field, and by how few options there were for girls to fall in love with engineering through their toys.

Check out this powerful GoldieBlox ad (that is going viral) Click here , and visit the GoldieBlox website Click here to order some amazing toys for the girls on your list. 

Then, sit back, all smug, and drink a toast to future gender equality in EVERY professional field.

 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is, without doubt, a leader in every sense of the word.  His numerous speeches are loaded with inspiration.  Here, I've compiled but a few of this civil rights leader's most memorable lines.  Which are your favorites?

1.  “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

2.  "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

3.  "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

4.  "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.  Intelligence plus character -- that is the goal of true education."

 5.  "I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.  This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

6.  "We must accept finite disappoint, but never lose infinite hope."

7.  "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

8.  "The time is always right to do what is right."

9.  "We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear."

10.  "Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.  It is a sword that heals."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.