Thursday, July 30, 2009

Midsummer Midterm Exam


In his bestselling book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell makes the point that kids in some other countries do better academically because they attend school for more days each year than kids in the US. Gladwell shares the results of some studies that suggest knowledge is lost during summer vacation (ya think?)

An interesting wrinkle, though - the knowledge is only lost to children who don't read and study during the summer months. His point being that children from well-off families tend to read and do intellectual activities during the summer, putting them ahead of their lesser-off peers.

With the economic downturn, I'm guessing we're all feeling lesser off these days. So in a spirit of helping everyone stay smart, I'm giving all the Hot Dads and Hot Moms a midsummer midterm quiz. Pencils up. Ready?

First the elementary school questions:

1. Who is the US President?

2. How tall is Lance Armstrong? (take a guess)

3. Could Tom Brady's wife, Gisele Bundchen, have any more tattoos? (image link)

Now the middle school questions:

4. Does anyone have a better hamburger seasoning recipe than me? (haha)

5. What do the Hot Dads think of Friends with Benefits?

6. Does anyone care about the Jon and Kate divorce, let alone about Jon and Kate Gosselin dating news?

And now for the Isaac Asimov genius questions:

7. Is raising girls easy?

8. How does Michael Caine like his women? (video link)

9. How many licks does it take for a Hot Mom to get to the center of a tootsie pop? (video link)

I was going to give a tenth question, but summer is calling, and it's time for everyone to put those pencils down.

Go forth and be stupid. It's summer vacation!!


Easy answers: 1) Barack Obama, 2) 5'10", 3) no

Middle school answers: 4) no (hey, it's my post!), 5) various responses (you have to read that post), 6) yes (or they wouldn't be on People magazine)

Genius answers: 7) for some, 8) like his sangria (watch the video!), 9) 3 (watch the video!)

9 comments:

TentCamper said...

Great post - I agree in many ways. I think that kids who don't read and do educational activities during the summer do lose focus and kind of take a step back before entering the next school year. BUT...each of our kids reads at least 5 books over the summer and there are trips to museums and other educational trips...and we are by no means wealthy...what does that do to the stats for the 'studies?'

I say...year round scool for kids and 2 months off in summer for adults!

MindyMom said...

All those links! That's a lot of homework for this single mom. Plus I think I've already read them all anyway so you have my answers too.

Nice "quiz". ;)

Trooper Thorn said...

I'm all for cancelling summer vacation for kids. They barely work during the school year as it is. Unless we put them all in co-op porgrams where they work at lousy jobs. Then they will be so thankful to get back in the classroom.

OneZenMom said...

WooHoo, a study guide to the Hot Dads!!! Yay!!! (Yes, I'm Lisa Simpson. Don't judge me.)

DGB said...

No fair on the trick question with Giselle. Totally photoshopped.

Petra a.k.a The Wise (*Young*) Mommy said...

damn, I forgot to study! can I get a retake?

dadshouse said...

TentCamper - books and museums in the summer sound great! Camping is too, being out in nature. Anything but Guitar Hero and Xbox.

Mindy - all those links give the answers. But of course, I wrote the answers at the bottom, so unless you want to "count" Giselle's tattoos (kind of looks like one full body tat), no need to click. Unless of course you're trying to be teacher's pet.

Daddy Geek Boy - tell me about it! Have you seen the Photo magazine? There are a whole bunch of pics of her with stuff photoshopped on her naked body (meaning we can't see her naked. Doh!) If she really had that tattoo, I think she'd have to join the circus.

The Exception said...

I tend to agree with the kids analysis. I would love to go to year round schools. I actually think my daughter would like it too!

Isn't there something more fun for hot moms to lick over a tootsie pop?

Not a soccer mom said...

that was really fun! thanks after a long workday I needed to stretch my brain and re-read the DH posts

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