I ran across this interview of a little boy by his mother, who asks him various questions about his experiences at his new school. This is not your typical school. It is the Sudbury Valley School in Massachussets, where children decide for themselves what to do all day. Having taught Kindergarten myself, I can attest […]
Oct 22 2014
What is Student-Directed Learning and How Far do we Go?
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Oct 03 2014
SF Bay Area Educational Options Expo 10/4 Saturday!
Find out what educational alternative options exist around the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday, October 4, 2014. Did you know that a democratic school where children make their own educational decisions, modeled after the Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, is in Concord, California? And that it started 17 years ago? It’s the Diablo Valley […]
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Sep 29 2014
Observation and Preconception
Humans are self-correcting organisms. It is sometimes amazing how long it takes us, but once we recognize a problem or a mistake, solutions often come quickly. As a teacher, I try to give children time and space to correct themselves whenever possible. They are happier when they figure it out themselves. But sometimes I need […]
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Sep 16 2014
Cash Gifting Systems Exploit Math Illiteracy
Math-phobic children often grow up to be math-phobic adults. Math-phobic adults are sometimes exploited for their money, even if they do not have much of it. Although Spark a Playful Mind is mostly about children and learning, I want discuss one of the many “get-rich-quick” schemes my friend recently introduced me to, because it shows […]
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Sep 16 2014
A Simplistic Mathematical Model of a Cash Gifting System
Introduction A gifting system, in its purist form, sells no goods or services, but promises to make you money through the people you recruit to sign up. Below is a simple mathematical model showing how, in principle, such a system cannot go on forever. There will always be people who lose money. On the other […]
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Sep 07 2014
Is Your Child in Love with Learning?
1. Does your child say he or she hates school? If so, something is probably wrong with the school. Children are natural learners, and when they’re young, you can hardly stop them from learning. If your child says they hate school, listen to them. That is the first of "The Ten Signs You Need to […]
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Aug 31 2014
Fold the Flock
September 1st marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Martha, the last of the passenger pigeons, who died in the Cincinnati zoo in 1914. The Lost Bird Project has a site, Fold the Flock, where you will find origami instructions and paper templates for making origami passenger pigeons, along with videos and other information. […]
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Feb 17 2013
The Rope over the Abyss
Most news about education these days seems to focus on subject-area content or else on violence in the schools, with little said about how people learn and develop optimally. It is as if all that really matters can be determined apart from who we are as human beings and boiled down to a combination of […]
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Aug 04 2012
New Discoveries in Oobleck Science
If you have not ever seen anyone jog on a mixture of corn starch and water – “oobleck” – check out the video from the Spanish TV show, "El Hormiguero," included in Wired Magazine’s July 11, 2012 online article, "Defying Gravity: When Strange Liquids Act Like Solids." Water and cornstarch combine to form what in […]
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Jun 17 2012
On Teaching and Motivation
Long ago, I trained employees in data and word processing systems and efficient workflow practices. To better prepare me, management sent me off to a conference at the American Society for Training and Development. I was enthralled to discover a focus completely unlike anything I had encountered as a student in public schools and four […]
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