I have just read a remarkably silly article in a popular news website. The apparently well educated author has decided her seven year old has to study towards job opportunities, and has reacted to AI by forcing the poor child to study “coding” (which AIs can do) instead of drama (which they cannot). Continue reading
Education
Tuition madness: are schools useless?
I got a spam phone call from a tuition seller, but it is a worrying symptom of the rise of tuition in the UK. He asked whether I had children at school, to which I truthfully, albeit misleadingly, answered “no” because I do not choose to send my daughter to school. Continue reading
Teaching kids about money vs maths
People often say maths is useless in real life. it is boring, we do not use it, etc. We should teach useful skills to kids. I am writing this in response to a social media comment that kids should be taught about finance instead of things like Pythagoras’s theorem. Continue reading
Schools are failing, and flexible education is the answer
Schools have been deteriorating for many years, and lockdown hastened the crisis this caused – but the deterioration dates back many years, and the underlying cause is the stubborn focus on a Victorian model of education and the addiction to metrics. The solution lies in empowering pupils and parents. Continue reading
Homeschooling tips from a home educator
My daughters were both home educated for many years (the younger one still is) and I want to share some things I have learned along the way with parents who find themselves temporarily home schooling because of lockdown.
There is no such thing as Home Education
The public view (shared by media and politicians) of home education often seems to be that it simultaneously means parents assiduously coaching children to get firsts in maths when they are 14 while simultaneously neglecting their education so they never get any qualifications. The problem is that they expect home education to exist in a way it simply does not. Continue reading
You should not home educate because of covid
I am an advocate of home education, but I doubt one group of people currently switching are making the right decision. Not all, by any means: it depends on why and what you want. Continue reading
Hodder CIE IGCSE Computer Science textbook corrections
My (then home educated) daughter used the Hodder Computer Science text book for CIE IGCSEs last year. It was good but we found a number of mistakes. It is still a current textbook so I am noting down some corrections.