We all know kids are different. Yet we all have brains made out of the same stuff. So do the differences in our kids mean we should teach them differently? This is how learning style is usually presented. If your kids remembers pictures better than things he hears, then you should teach just with pictures….
Can You Homeschool For Free?Source file: Can_You_Homeschool_for_Free.docxAuthor: Marla SzwastCreated: 2018-05-08 00:52:00Modified: 2018-08-02 21:58:00 Can You Homeschool For Free? There are three main ways you can homeschool for free. Use online free resources. Use a public school funded online program. Use the library.
There has been a push in modern education to shift away from teaching kids about stuff (like facts & concepts & patterns) to attempting to teach them how to think like experts. Is such a thing possible? Can you think like an expert before you are one? Do experts become experts because they think differently…
We are all familiar with the term "drill and kill", yet we also know that practice makes perfect. "It is virtually impossible to become proficient at a mental task without extended practice" WillinghamIf we must practice to become proficient, how do we keep that practice from killing our children's love of learning? Often, when we…
One of the ultimate goals of schooling, or academic work, is the ability for abstract thought. We hope children will not only remember the things we teach them, but that they will be able to take concepts they have learned within the academic world and apply them, making connections both between subjects and also applying…
We cannot store every piece of information our brain encounters in our memory. How does it decide what needs to be remembered? Well, since our brain likes to avoid thought, if we spend a lot of time thinking about something, it decides to store it. It must be important and our brain doesn’t want us…
Without knowledge of facts, it is hard to think. Thought is not a vacuum and our brains need facts as a framework for thought. (You are reading the second post in a series about cognitive science in your homeschool, click here for the introductory post and links to the other posts in this series.) Critical…
“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people engage in it.” – Henry FordThe first cognitive principal Daniel T. Willingham dives into in his book Why Students Don’t Like School is that while curiosity is natural, thinking is hard. Let’s unpack this principal, which is supported by…
Organizing Idea’s So Kids Remember What You TeachSource file: Organizing_Ideas_So_Kids_Remember_What_You_Teach.docxAuthor: Marla SzwastCreated: 2018-04-19 23:39:00Modified: 2018-04-21 20:01:00 Organizing Idea’s So Kids Remember What You Teach We cannot store every piece of information our brain encounters in our memory. How does it decide what needs to be remembered. Well, since our brain likes to avoid thought, if…
Perhaps the picture is completely irrelevant to this post, but I had to type "pencil bubbles" into the Pixabay search to get a good picture, and well, this one is just so much more fun than the picture of a test. It's time for end-of-homeschool-year testing. We all know standardized tests leave a lot to…