We have in The Little House on the Prairie series a rich American heritage of hard work, an ethos of industry and endurance. I am concerned that the abuse of technology today threatens to cut our kids loose from such a work ethic and is hampering their learning and productive capacity. First, the merits of mechanized… Read More Technology: The Dark Side of Efficiency, Part 1
Here’s a glimpse of the wonderful ways you can use Cuisenaire Rods to enhance comprehension of number concepts while fostering creativity. There is just no end to what you can do with the rods across the grade levels (up to the age kids are no longer enthralled by colorful miniblocks). Sorting, counting, crunching all the… Read More Architecting Numbers – at the Lower Grades
Tennyson and I participated in a child study at the University of CA Riverside Developmental Psychology Lab last week. We’ve done at least five of these the last few years, a chance to contribute to research in a range of child development inquiries, from the effects of media on learning to how children apprehend what… Read More My Son in a Child Study [Thoughts on the Effect of the Spirit on the Mind]
I learned this game in a class I took after earning my Master’s in Elementary Education. The instructor handed out this sheet of rules. It’s a simple thinking game.
An article of mine, The Biblical Perspective of Achievement, due out this summer in Home School Enrichment magazine, was originally a a very personal response to Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. The author’s psychotic ambitions for her daughters resonated with my academic and professional enterprises, and her confessions happened upon my… Read More Worship Hymn of a Tiger Mother [Thoughts on Achievement, Culture, Faith]
Dad got him on checkers last month, planning to hold off on the chess he was eager to teach. Checkers would lay the foundation. But, enchanted by the glass knight, Tennyson started asking and asking to learn chess. “Mom, let’s play chess,” he’s asked numerous times, hooked. I managed to provide plausible reasons why it wasn’t… Read More Checkmate
Last week, I was trying to fit in a few minutes of the math we hadn’t gotten to that day. I normally don’t let lessons run into the evening, wanting Tennyson to rest his mind with the rhythm of the closing day. “Pay attention. Show me two other groups you can make from these 5… Read More Brainwork
The past year I have allowed myself less guilt leaving Tennyson to play alone while I’m in the kitchen. And I have seen played out what homeschoolers say: he is enjoying the space and time for his imagination to breathe, to create. He has had limited experience with digital games, and watches DVDs on a… Read More Imagination
A Holistic Journey 