Boys vs Girls: Teaching Strategies
Image Source A mixed learning environment can have lots of benefits. But some teaching strategies may not apply well to both genders. The way that both boys’ and girls’ brains tick is different. Here are some ways of getting boys to learn that differ from girls. Keep boys active Boys will often fidget more in […]
Best STEM Gifts for Boys (& Girls!)
Maybe your kid loves science or math. Or maybe you really want to ramp up his interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). What a great holiday gift, right? Let me tell you a little secret about boys. They love to learn—until you tell them that’s what they’re doing. So don’t tell them. Kids […]
PSA: Salt and Ice Challenge
Normally, I’m all about home-grown science experiments. My kids have whipped up all kinds of concoctions in the kitchen, and we’ve blown up more than our fair share of baking soda volcanoes. But the latest, “greatest” DIY kitchen science experiment — the salt and ice challenge — is actually dangerous. I’d never heard of the […]
Best of the Blogs
A round up of some of the best stuff on the ‘Net. Sexism and The Early Learning Centre. A Facebook friend pointed me to this post after she read my recent post, “Helping Boys in a Sex-Soaked Society.” In my post, I mention the insidious nature of mass media images, and how they worm their […]
What Kids Need to Learn
On March 30, 2011, in response to a Boston Globe article about kids and learning, I wrote, “What kids need to learn is 1. Time, 2. Space, 3. Access to Materials and 4. Support. They also need Freedom to Explore.” I dubbed this the “time-space-access-support-freedom framework for learning.” I wrote that blog post based entirely […]
Star Wars Day
May 4 is Star Wars Day. Don’t get it? Say it, out loud. With a “the” between “May” and “4th”. Add a “be with you on the end.” My boys, like many others, are Star Wars buffs. We originally learned about the holiday from another family — and celebrated by taking the kids to the park […]
Teen Boys Eat A Lot
That’s the conclusion of a scientific study. I know, right? Tell us something we don’ t know! But the study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, could be reassurance for parents and teen boys in this day and age of eating disorders. While we tend to associate eating disorders, dieting and poor body […]
Who Needs Textbooks?
This is the box of crackers I bought for my boys, for no other reason than A) they love them and B) the crackers were on sale. (If I’m honest, I’ll have to tell you that Reason B trumped Reason A. Reason A is true all the time, but the only time the Cheez-Its show […]
Homeschooling and Evolution
The headline was enough to make me cringe: “Top home-school texts dismiss Darwin, evolution.” The accompanying graphic, a line graph showing the growth of homeschooling over the last 20 years, is enough to incite yet another wave of anti-homeschooling sentiment — because really, who wouldn’t be against homeschooling if homeschooling means that over 1.5 million […]
In The Flow
I said the words “historical disaster” — and my kitchen erupted into a frenzy of baking soda and vinegar, clay and cardboard. Our homeschool group is hosting a Historical Disaster Fair on some yet-to-be-determined date. (Cool idea, eh? I got it here.) Today, I figured, was as good a day as any to tell the […]