Kutoka lists this game as appropriate for ages 5-9. However, I would have to say that children even younger can benefit from it’s easy to follow story and simplistic activities when accompanied by an adult and used on the least-advanced setting. After all, it is never to early to begin teaching your child computer skills and what better way to do so than using an educational game that practices sight-words, phonics, comprehension, and following directions.
My biggest complaint about the Mia-Reading: The Bugaboo Bugs game is that it is a memory and resources hog. I have a Powerbook G4 (Mac) and the game does not run well on my computer. I had to use it on my work computer (a Windows PC) because my home computer did not have enough available resources. That fact that it is so graphically-dependent also explains the somewhat long installation time and the fact that my computer did freeze while trying to start-up the game. On the positive side, the game is compatible with both Macs and PCs.
Dear Oblivious Parent in the Supermarket:
Let’s talk for a minute about what it means to be a Parent- a real one. Parents teach their children morals and values, right? They learn how to say, “please,” and “thank you,” and more from the Parent. Real Parents care about fulfilling a child’s emotional, spiritual, and physical wants and needs, right?
So why the heck aren’t you Parenting? Why are you allowing your child to take things out of my shopping cart and throw them on the ground? Why are you OK with your child running up and down the aisles, pushing anyone who gets in her way? Why do you think it is OK to look at me, smile, and say “Toddlers”? I have a Toddler. She was sitting in the cart, behaving.
You, you are the reason our society is so screwed up. You are the reason that third graders plot to “take out” their teacher. You are the reason that 15 years old think it is alright to throw watermelons off bridges and into rush hour traffic.
And you are the reason that I hate people.
Sincerely,
The mother who almost gave you and your child and open-handed slap to the face.
————–
Originally posted on my now defunct blog “Wag the Dog”
Not you per se, but this post is in response to the 2006 editorial by Prescott Carlson at Imperfect Parent. I left this comment on the post, but I wanted to post it here because I think it deserves its own post.
I’m a teacher and although this article is 2 years old, I had to respond. Your attitude pisses me off. Why do teachers complain about our low salaries? Because we are undervalued in every way possible. We are not even considered a profession and yet we need just as much (if not more) schooling than lawyers. We need a BA/BS, a MS, and then additional credit to maintain our licenses. I am at work every morning by 7. I teach 170 students (5 classes). I grade papers and plan lessons every night (because good teachers know that reusing lessons year to year does not always work), I call parents every day, offer tutoring sessions several times a week without pay, designed and maintained my school website (without extra pay), go to professional development, and deal with the personal problems of 170 students. I fight parents who think I assign too much homework, and then those who believe I assign too little. I read and reread books to stay current with material, spend, out-of-pocket, almost $1200 a year, and get cursed out by 15 year olds on a daily basis. What is your day like?
I get vacations but can’t afford to go anywhere because my salary stinks. I’m living paycheck to paycheck. I work a second job to help make ends meet. My hubby and I make over 90,000 a year and he makes more than 55000 of that. Am I a teacher for the money? No. Do I believe that I should be paid more? For what I deal with, hell yes. You compare me to a police officer and a firefighter- I have a Master’s Degree. I have to have one.
And merit-based pay? BS. You are a parent. How about I pay you based on how successful your child is? That would be fairer seeing as your child is with me for 50 minutes a day and with you a hell of a lot more. And despite my abilities as a teacher, nothing I do matters if parents are not reinforcing it at home. How many parents check to see if their children have done homework? How many have them turn off the TV so that they can read?
Teachers are blamed for everything wrong with children today, but we don’t get the credit for the good things. We are told that we whine and moan and groan and yet we have more than enough reason. It’s no wonder students don’t have any respect for their teachers; their parents don’t think we are worthy of respect.
Your article is very telling and I am so disappointed that you can’t understand just how much teachers deal with. In your eyes, we are glorified babysitters with comfortable jobs. Let’s trade places for a day.
We are allowed 10 absences a year at work. I usually take ten. When I was pregnant, I had to borrow 20 days and am now in the whole. I was supposed to be tenured last year, but because I had too many absences (16 but all accounted for with medical notes) my principal postponed my tenure to this year. Well, I started off very well. I got sick two weeks ago with a killer flu, but I went to work every day and trudged through it. Then Sunday night I started with horrible coughing fits that sent me straight into an asthma attack. I stayed home Monday thinking that I would be well enough to go to work on Tuesday. I awoke to a coughing fit and shivers. I took my temperature and it was 101.9. DOTM decided to take me to the hospital as I was not able to catch my breath. Well, at the hospital my temp was 103.5. I was given a nebulizer treatment, an EKG (standard for people who can’t breath), a chest x-ray, and a bunch of blood cultures to determine if I had pneumonia. Luckily, it wasn’t pneumonia. It is, however, a VERY BAD CASE OF BRONCHITIS. So bad that I am not allowed to go back to work until next Monday. The problem is that now I had 14 absences and I don’t think I am going to get tenure. How shitty is that?
