Most people associate buried treasure with pirates. The truth is that pirates did not bury their treasure. The only known example of a pirate actually burying a treasure is William Kidd. Kidd was originally commissioned by England to raid Spanish ships in the Atlantic, but he became a little too ambitious and raided anyone who […]
THE BRAIN CHASE BLOG
Six Non-Traditional Summer Camps You Might Want to Check Out
In 1963, Alan Sherman composed a parody song about the fictional “Camp Granada,” a name that was derived from the following lyrics: Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh. Here I am at Camp Granada. Camp is very entertaining. And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining. He wrote the song based upon letters of […]
What Fireflies And Test Scores Have In Common
There is nothing more magical than standing in a darkened field when the fireflies come out. For me, the yellow flashes of the fireflies are a sign that summer has finally arrived. Unfortunately, the firefly population appears to have declined in recent years. Although many scientists are attempting to identify the specific reason for […]
Don’t We All Need A Summer Vacation?
Last year, I was responsible for a major computer implementation at work. It was a new payroll system with the potential to impact paychecks for the entire company. Needless to say, I was stressed. Since the system was not going live until 2014, I decided to take some time off for Christmas. In total, I […]
Brain Chase Helps Kids Find Adventures Offline
Maybe it is just me, but it seems like childhood norms are shifting. When I was as young as six, I spent most of my free time with other neighborhood kids entertaining ourselves. We might have organized a soccer game on somebody’s lawn, or jumped the fence to play kickball at the nearby elementary […]
What Can You Do Today to Help Your Child Find A Job Tomorrow
Most of us are familiar with the company Gallup from the polling they do for US Presidential elections. Since Presidential elections only occur every four years, the company is also involved in forecasting other activities including economic and GDP growth. One of the topics that made headlines recently is their prediction about the coming war […]
Riddle Me This! Brain Building During The Summer Break
Recently, my daughter has taken an interest in riddles. Apparently, a group of her friends at school like to try and stump each other during recess and lunch. To help her prepare for these encounters, I have gone online looking for challenging, but kid friendly riddles. One of my personal favorites is the following: […]
Practice Makes Perfect – Even In The Summer
Ernst Friedrich Schumacher, an influential economist and thinker in the first half of the twentieth century, wrote that “An ounce of practice is generally worth more than a ton of theory.” Although he may be referring to economic theory and application, I think his words have a much broader meaning. I am not sure […]
Why Your Student Should Practice Writing This Summer
Everyone is familiar with the advantages gained in life when you know how to read. Without reading, we wouldn’t be able to discover new ideas, gain knowledge, or even safely drive a car. Although the benefits from reading in our society are obvious, the benefits of writing are less clear. Most of us don’t […]
Don’t Fall Victim to the “Summer Slide”
My three children love slides. They find something liberating about dropping quickly from a high altitude and whooshing to the bottom. My children have even discovered how sliding down on a piece of wax paper can actually make the whole experience faster. The “Summer Slide” is also a metaphor that refers to the amount […]