Here, Madam is the work of a team of high schoolers who produced the site as an entry in the ThinkQuest learning competition. While by no means detailed or exhaustive, the prize-winning site does present a clear, simple explanation for younger readers of the process of philosophy, major philosophical branches, a brief history of the discipline, and short overviews of the contributions of several key philosophers. The site has several nice design touches visitors will appreciate (although a more thorough job of copy editing would have served it well).
ThinkQuest is an annual competition which "challenges students, ages 12 to 19, to use the Internet as a collaborative, interactive teaching and learning tool. " In its own words: "ThinkQuest challenges students to embark on the quest to move learning from homeroom to homepage. Participating teams worldwide are eligible for awards and scholarships that can total more than $1 million. Regional workshops are being offered for teachers and coaches who want to learn the contest rules and support contestants." There is also a ThinkQuest Junior contest for U.S. students in grades 4 through 6. The contest awards prizes for entries by teams of students across the entire school curriculum. The contest's aim: "ThinkQuest helps students bring their classroom subjects alive for themselves and students everywhere. Already immersed in multimedia and interactivity, students apply a different learning perspective that truly engages and excites other students. In building ThinkQuest Entries, they learn to harness the power of the Internet, while also creating a valuable library of Internet educational materials for use online, in the classroom, and at home." While visiting the ThinkQuest site, be sure to browse through the winning entries in other subject areas, which include everything from stock market simulations to analyses of Macbeth.
Parents or teachers who would like to interest grade-school students in philosophy could do worse than suggest they include a visit to Here, Madam in their Internet explorations.
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