Serve by Design

Our eldest son, Matt, is taking a course with policy wonks from near and far. He is engaged in a program of professional development for several weeks this fall under the tutelage of a notable east coast institution of learning. He is loving it! It has been over twenty years since he has taken any advanced studies. The whole experience is demanding in its instruction, reading and class assignments. There is both a collegiality and competitive spirit among his study group as they work together on policy issues from various levels of government, educational and civic concerns. Don't Sweat God's Redirects! Recently, one of his group members offered a bit of advice as they were establishing norms for how they will relate to one another during group time. She said that, in her experience, when a group discussion was holding up the work, they needed to complete during their limited time together, they invoked the acronym – E.L.M.O. As current group members looked at each other puzzle...

What do these two things have in common?  Monique is resourcing our daughter who is home-schooling her children this year. Some of the supplies and practice sheets were on a unit of study utilizing “tangrams” and “pattern blocks.”  What do the use of manipulatives like these teach a child? We might need to ask first of all, what is a “tangram?” Image Credit: tangram.template.ALSCBlog A tangram is a Chinese geometric puzzle that uses seven polygons, called tans, to form shapes: 5 triangles (2 large, a medium and 2 small), a square and a parallelogram. The objective is to replicate a pattern usually from a puzzle book. All seven tans must be used and kept flat at all times, although they may be rotated or flipped when necessary to complete the shape.  This deceptively easy exercise builds skills in puzzling, problem solving and understanding "window spatial" relationships. Some believe it also enhances student performance in mathematics and engineering! I had a most engagin...