Nomination For Worst Gift Ever: The Time Tracker
from the sounds-awful dept
It used to be that a bad gift as a kid was something like socks, or maybe some other piece of clothing. However, the NY Times is writing about a very popular gift this holiday season that sounds like something only a parent would love to give as a gift: the Time Tracker. Yes, it's basically a timer, with some lights and stuff. The product is being pitched to parents with kids as young as four years old to get them to have a better sense for how long it takes for time to pass, so they'll be able to do better on their SATs. Yes, we've become so focused on standardized testing that a colorful timer is now considered a toy. Are there seriously any kids anywhere clamoring for such a thing?
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Snedecor F distribution
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utilitarian toys
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time tracker
Interestingly, I was attracted to this product for a different reason. My son, 9, has a hard time recognizing the passage of time. I'm not concerned with how this might effect his ability to compete for an elite spot at some hot-shot college. I am concerned about how this impacts the way he becomes engrossed in video games, cartoons, etc. and honestly appears to have no sense of the vast amounts of time he spends if left to his own devices. Of course, I can impose external limits and I can be the timekeeper, or I can ban TV or video games, but I'm not inclined to take those latter absolute measures. What I'd like is for him to be more aware of the decisions he's making, and if getting a better sense of time will increase his conscious choice-making, I see that as a positive thing. Whether something like the Time Tracker will make a significant difference in that regard I'm not sure, but I think it's worth considering.
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Re: time tracker
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Timer
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