Sunday, October 30, 2011

What's Your Agenda?

What's your teaching style? Photo by Arvind Balaraman
All teachers have an agenda in their teaching, it's inevitable. There is no such thing as a "neutral curriculum" since everyone has a slant or viewpoint towards subjects.


So what's your agenda, what's your reason for teaching? What's your viewpoint? Visit "Is There Any Such Thing as Neutral Curriculum" for more insights on the subject.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Easy (and Healthy) Lunch Options

Photo from: Felixco, Inc.
This late in the school year and you're bound to either hand your child lunch money, or just toss the most convenient thing in the bag without looking at the nutrition facts.


Don't get me wrong, not all pre-packaged food is bad for your child, but you'll have to do a little investigating to ensure it's meeting your child's nutritional needs. 


For a list of healthy (and convenient) foods to add to your child's lunch, check out THIS ARTICLE.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

About Learning Preferences

I'm a firm believer in students figuring out what their learning preference is. Just as each child is not the same, not each student learns the same way.  Although the learning preference or modality is not a new concept, Neil Fleming has devised a simple system to help people determine their learning preference.


Check out my three-part article series on learning preferences:
No Cookie Cutter Learning: Understanding Learning Preferences, Part 1
No Cookie Cutter Learning: Understanding Learning Preferences, Part 2
No Cookie Cutter Learning: Understanding Learning Preferences, Part 3


For a brief overview on the subject of learning preferences, check out this presentation below. While not everything jives with Fleming's VARK system, you'll at least get an idea of what learning preferences are, and why they are so important.


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

What's Your Function?

As I was trolling around YouTube today I ran across the good ole School House Rock video "Conjunction Junction" and couldn't help but post it here.






In many ways, it relates to the post I made a few days ago, about learning the parts of speech.  And if your children or students aren't aware of the glories of School House Rock, consider exposing them to this great educational series!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Medieval Education

Medieval education was geared toward the classes.
In today's modern thinking we realize that education allows people to rise above their social class, however this was not the case during the medieval era where people stayed in their class, partly due to their lack of education. But was their education "appropriate" (as asked by the assignment in one of my classes)?


Check out THIS ARTICLE for information on the educational system and the types of things different classes learned.



Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Websites to Help with Math

Does your child struggle with math concepts? Does your child need help understanding something? Are you intimidated with math, or just want another way to help your tech-savvy child learn?  Check out THIS ARTICLE with a list (and description) of some of the coolest and educational math sites out there on the web.


Of course while writing this article I couldn't help but bring in one of the FUN (okay, and corny) PBS shows from when I was a kid- that's right "Square One".  Check out the video above for the song about tessellations which help kids understand what a tessellation is and isn't.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

How to Learn the Parts of Speech

Little Miss Muffet
Are you a teacher or homschooler needing help teaching your students about the parts of speech?

Use the poem "Little Miss Muffet" and THIS ARTICLE to help you (and your student) the difference between an adjective, adverb, conjunction, noun, pronoun and verb.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

How Choosy Christians Choose Curriculum

Photo from: Surachai
More than just a catchy title to this blog posting, choosing a curriculum for your school (or homeschool) is an important deal.


What should Christians look for in a curriculum?


What should Christians stay clear from?


Check out THIS ARTICLE complete with some videos snippets of David Barton on the foundation of US Education.