While there are important things happening in the realm of education all the time, occassionally there are weird bits of information that I wonder why they are even worth putting out there. Some examples...
From Live Science- They found that Kindergarten has the most cynical group of students compared to higher grades. Well of course! Young kids love taunting people with "why" questions all the time, and they are just starting to learn more about the world that is outside their normal environment, so many things are new. Not being able to see things (such as Dinosaurs or frog life cycles, etc.) some will not right out believe everything they hear or read. Everything is magical at that age, and students are just trying to figure out what is magic and what is not.
Kindergarten has the most cynics
From Yahoo news- Apparently as you get a Higher Education (college or university), ghosts and the paranormal becomes more believe able. Don't know about that one, but some how I don't think this is an important study to follow up on... there has to be something more important than this!
Higher Education fuels stronger belief in ghosts
Also from Yahoo News (by Amy Norton, AP)- Researchers have correlated child's height to intellectual development. The beginning quote: "Children who are short for their age may perform more poorly on tests of intelligence than their taller peers, a new study suggests. The findings, say researchers, imply that some environmental factors may negatively affect both early childhood height and mental development."
The researchers suggest that maybe stress is a factor and that a happy homelife could help children grow physically and intellectually.
The study does note that genetics has a big role to play and not all shorter students perform poorly.
Nutrition is also a factor- if a child does not receive enough good food, not only will they have trouble growing, but they will also be cranky in the classroom!
All I have to say is that from my experience, whether you are tall or short doesn't seem to have any effect on school performance. I believe it is the attitude of the student and their own psychological state that is the big key- if a child is happy, they will do better in school. If they are bogged down with baggage they shouldn't have to carry or worry about, it will be harder for them to demonstrate their abilities. If a short child is ridiculed by his/her peers, perhaps that is hindering their performance. It's not their height. And I'm not just saying that because I'm short
Child's height linked to intellectual development