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February 7, 2006
Buzz Lightyear, you have a mission
"Buzz Lightyear, this is Star Command. Do you read me?"
"Yes"
"You have a mission. To save the galaxy from the Evil Emperor Zurg you must write your name on your rocket." (The rocket is an empty box from Costco.)
"OK!"
It worked! Forget penguins, snowmen or bunnies, Karsten is motivated by space, rockets and a mission to save the galaxy. Karsten isn't usually that interested in doing his preschool work of coloring in the penguins with different colors or any project that requires sitting still and delicate dexterity. I know he can do the work if only it would interest him.
Recently I read an article on pbs.org called "Helping America's Boys" and it mentions changing curriculm to reflect the interest of boys, usually along the lines of robots, space, war, and general violence. Mix in some competition and there should be success. A similar article was in Newsweek, "The Trouble with Boys" outlines pretty much the same text as the PBS article.
I'll be testing out more of these theories, but so far writing letters in the alphabet to save a galaxy has been working.
Posted by jana at February 7, 2006 9:23 PM
Comments
As I kid, I spent many hours drawing Colonial Vipers and Cylon Raiders in my efforts to save the galaxy. The cool thing is that the new Battlestar Galactica isn't only about robots, space, war and general violence... it's also got sexy robot chicks. Wait until he's a little older and he can watch that show. Then he'll really get into science.
Posted by: dunsany at February 9, 2006 2:13 PM