The term “quadratic equation” might provoke fear in anyone who didn’t enjoy maths at school. I did enjoy maths at school, more so than my brother or sister, and over the years have used some straightforward multiplications to try and take some of the fear out of quadratic equations. It started with my older brother,… Continue reading Fun with quadratic equations
Stationery and stationary: which is which? One of them is a noun, used to describe things like envelopes and writing pads, the other is an adjective meaning “not moving”. Many adults have problems with these words so it’s understandable that children do as well. Even if you know the difference, how do you remember, and… Continue reading Stationery and stationary
Earlier this year, in this piece (“More on Questionnaires”), I quoted the late, great travel writer Pete McCarthy on his school’s approach to education: “carrot and stick, without the carrot”. I have used this expression often in the last 15 years, since first reading it in “McCarthy’s Bar”, and wanted to track down the full… Continue reading Different approaches to education
We learn from our mistakes, or so we’re told. I must have made plenty of mistakes at primary school, writing letters the wrong way round, or mis-spelling words like “special”, but I don’t remember any of that, and any evidence of these things is long gone. There are two things that I recall getting wrong… Continue reading Things I got wrong at primary school
My father’s approach to education can be summed up in two ways. The first relates to how he would respond to gaps in our childhood knowledge. Typically he would say, “How come you didn’t know that? Jesus Christ, I knew that when I was your age.” The second was his response if I shared a… Continue reading My father’s approach to education
Even before we had children I would often think about things that we learnt at school and try and recall the relevant topics or mnemonics. As I noted in this piece about “Gut” by Giulia Enders, “The digestive system, the journey that food makes right through the digestive tract, has been a source of fascination… Continue reading Mrs Nerg or Mrs Gren
On Father’s Day earlier this summer my family gave me, among other things, a guidebook to South Devon, in preparation for our holiday this month. I flicked through it that same afternoon and noted Kents Cavern, a cave complex near Babbacombe, as a place to visit. Bones have been discovered here that provide the oldest… Continue reading Holiday notes: Kents Cavern
What do you know about Gilbert Scott, if anything? I can trace my knowledge of him (or rather them) to a conversation in the 1980s with a college friend who was studying architecture. He told me about two Gilbert Scotts, both architects, and both noted for creating things that you almost certainly know about. We… Continue reading Gilbert Scott
Differed, deferred, offered, occurred: words like this featured in my 9-year-old daughter’s Spelling List last weekend, along with swimmer, travelled and others that either repeat the last letter of a verb when used in other forms, or they don’t. It got me thinking about rules of spelling and how we generalize information as we learn.… Continue reading Differed and deferred, offered and occurred
My piece earlier this month about Blue Trees was based on ideas that I came across in various training courses more than ten years ago. These ideas were taught with great confidence, and as if they apply universally, but they do not seem to apply to me. Another subject, also taught with confidence, but not… Continue reading Communication and percentages
The Compartments 