learning

how does a child REALLY learn to write?

January 20, 2012
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Mr. T is just beginning to type his writing on his own. Warning: some of what follows may sound like heresy to traditional educators. Recently a reader of this blog sent an email asking for advice. She’s a homeschooling mom, and she wrote after spending time with other homeschooling friends, and hearing how they teach [...]

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living history

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This year Mr. T and I are delving into California history. With a few other families, we’re visiting a different historical site each month. We’ve already had a few wonderful experiences, which I’ve neglected to share here.  One of these days I’ll catch up. Meanwhile, this week we went on an overnight living history trip [...]

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DIY home page, DIY learning

November 14, 2011
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So I have a new home page. Maybe you’ve seen it? You can check it out here, or by clicking about me in the menu above my header. The home page is at patriciazaballos.com, where the blog used to live. The blog now gets moved next door to patriciazaballos.com/blog. I’ve been assured that the change [...]

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three days of reading and writing: an incomprehensive list

October 28, 2011
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Oh, what  a crazy time it is. Mr. T turns ten today, and Lulu turns sixteen on Halloween. Multiple cakes and celebrations are involved. Also, I’m trying to fabricate a Thor costume primarily from duct tape. But that’s the sticky stuff of another post. I haven’t managed a post here in a few weeks. But [...]

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love reading today! love writing today!

October 14, 2011
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What would a teacher say about that writing posture? That pencil grip? The other day I read these words in a comment from Amy: “…So many of your suggestions for working with little (pre) writers and readers have wisely echoed in my brain right as I am about to pull the panic trigger and rap [...]

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learning from thor and lego space marauders

September 30, 2011
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What do you do when your kid saves his money to buy a month-long subscription to the Lego Universe online game, and wants to talk of nothing else? You go with it. You look through some almanacs together (another recent obsession) and talk about graphs and charts and brainstorm how Lego Universe might lend itself [...]

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how to encourage writing with the media kids love

September 20, 2011
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Mr. T conducts research for a Lego-themed writing project. (Really!) * * * “90% of teens enjoy the writing they do outside of school, a figure that is consistent between boys and girls as well as older and younger teens.” Writing, Technology and Teens, Pew Internet & American Life Project Ninety percent. That’s a pretty [...]

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