flynn011

People often ask about math curriculum -- which one is best, which one do I use, which would I recommend, which would be a good change from "x". Mathematics can be learned without a textbook When it comes to boys and math, I think there are three things to keep in mind: first, young boys especially are spatial learners, so a curriculum using manipulatives will probably be better; second, boys will probably prefer math to other subjects because there's not as much writing, so a curriculum that they could sometimes do independently will be useful so they can spend a lot of time doing it as and when they feel like it; finally, boys are not all the same, so what suits one, may not suit another. And likewise, girls.  But that's another story .... Probably the biggest surprise, however, is that research has shown that it's not so much which curriculum you choose and use, but whether or not you, the teacher, are excited by it. Homeschoolers in the US and UK tend to choos...

I'm very pleased to introduce Amie Plumley, the blog-owner of  Sewing School , as a guest blogger for today's topic of boys and sewing.  Her details can be found at the end of this article. Amie writes: This semester, we had a record number of boys join our weekly sewing club.  We’ve realized that sewing with boys does require something extra on the teacher’s part.  I’m not sure why, maybe it’s because I’m a girl.  I dunno, but I thought I would share my thoughts on sewing with boys.  I am mindful of boys sewing.  What do they want to sew?  What do they need to sew?  Why will they want to sew? Sewing strengthens fine motor skill s I have come to a few conclusions.  First, from my own experience, kindergarten is the perfect age to introduce boys to sewing; however, I’m sure they can start earlier with some extra one-on-one help.  They get super excited about it and really, really see the possibilities.  They like ...

"Scratch" is a programming language for everyone to enjoy -- free to download and developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at MIT Media Lab. In a downloadable paper by Peppler and Kafai, you can see the argument for that "learning the language of creative coding is essential to expression in a digital medium." In other words, it's not just about viewing or playing the games, but constructing them oneself through coding that make essential connections to art expression. Anyway, why not?  It's cool and it's free.

Are you worried about your child's ability in mathematics, or about which curriculum to use, or -- let's not kid ourselves -- about our own ability in maths and whether or not we can teach anything about the subjects to our kids? Judging from the number of times this subject comes up in the various home-ed forums I belong to, you would definitely not be alone in your maths-angst.  Every week, there will be at least one person who asks questions along these lines.  For that reason, I won't try to answer all the questions about maths in one blog post: it's just too big a subject (in more ways than one!). Instead, I'll answer just one question here: what is the best way to get my child  not just to learn how  to do maths,  but to learn actually how to like it? First of all, let me say that I am not -- repeat NOT -- a specialist in mathematics.  That's why I was so glad when I came across a book that 'splains things to me in such a clear way.  It's calle...

In my previous post on this blog, I wrote about why boys don't like to write, and gave some suggestions for encouraging them to do so. Then I came across a faded old copy of an out-of-print book called "An Experiment in Education " by Sybil Marshall which had another excellent idea. Just before I explain her suggestion, I want to spend a few lines in praise of this old book.  Yes, it was written in 1963 and chronicles over thirty years of teaching in a one-room schoolhouse near Cambridge in England, but her insights into juggling multiple ages in a single classroom are the stuff of beauty for homeschooling parents.  She is particularly good about using art for educational purposes, but I shall say more about that in a future blog entry as I experiment in my own home a bit more. Meanwhile, back to boys and writing.  In my previous post, one of the suggestions I made for getting boys to write involved diagramming or drawing first, then writing about the drawing second. ...

One of the most common complaints I hear from parents about boys -- whether they're home educated or at schools -- is that they don't want to write anything. Why do (most) boys hate to write so much? The short answer is that boys develop later in that area of the brain. In fact, research has shown than girls' brains develop in the region of language and fine motor skills about six years earlier than boys!   On the flip side, boys develop their spatial memory areas about four years earlier than girls. Unfortunately, our expectations as educators are geared more toward writing than spatial memory, and so the boys get labeled or pushed too hard too early.  Is it any wonder they can develop a hang-up about writing? Logic states, therefore, that boys should be allowed to develop more slowly in this area, and in the meantime, be provided with opportunities and strategies that can help them achieve as writers at their level ! Here are a few ideas based on experience w...

He's only a little blue wooden train with a number 1 on his side and a fairly jolly looking expression on his front, but Thomas the Tank Engine seems to be one of the few toys amongst our mountain of plastic that is a perennial favourite.  I mean, my kids really do play for hours with their trains. Did I say "play"?  I meant to say "work", because that's what a child's focussed attention is with any object or in any activity.  It's their work, and should be respected as such.  In fact, if you look at this article here  about child development and Montessori theory, you will see a list of bullet points about learning through play, all of which a good session with Thomas and friends will satisfy. Let's take for example the second point in the list, "creativity expanded using problem-solving skills".  If you've ever tried to make anything more than a simple figure-8 or circular track with the Thomas railway, then you know that this ac...