Time-Tested Toy Favourites

My own children are growing out of the "toy store" years, but as I prepare for the holidays, I will admit to more than a little nostalgia for those days.
There are some toys, however, that even now still get pulled out regularly. Their play value has not diminished over the years, and they have stood up to time & punishment, so I thought they deserve a special mention at this time of year for all those parents who are at the beginning of their toy journey.

Note that I have not included here non-commercial toys of great value, such as appliance boxes, tree forts, sand boxes, rice tables, dress-up trunks, art supplies, etc. Non-commercial toys will be a subject for a separate post at a later time.

1. Pattern blocks. These are colourful blocks in a variety of scaled geometric shapes. They are made of a variety of materials including wood (traditional, and sturdiest), plastic, foam, and magnets. These have been used free-form in our house to build mandalas, make pictures to illustrate stories, to work out geometry problems, for stop-motion animation projects and many other purposes too.

2. Plain (dot-free) wooden coloured dominoes & accompanying gadgets (spinner, teeter-totter, bridge, steps,  bell tunnel, etc.). There have been more domino runs built in our house than I can count, and not a week has gone by over the past 7 years that they have not some out for use. They often form part of a more elaborate Rube Goldberg machine contraption. Our Melissa & Doug set was unfortunately discontinued, so we were forced to make homemade dominoes to flesh out our set and keep up with design demands. Fortunately, another manufacturer (HearthSong) now makes a similar product.

3. Crazy Forts This tinker-toy style building set is aimed for preschoolers. It allows kids to build fort-sized contraptions while still keeping the kitchen chairs available for adult use. Just add a blanket or sheet to finish off the fort. There is also a separate LED light you can pick up that fits into a connector piece so you can light up your fort. Yes, my tween & teen still get some use from these, although they only come out every few months or so now.

4. Plain wooden blocks. The more, the better. Foam also work, but aren't nearly as rugged and are tougher to keep clean. Look for smaller sizes with lots of variety in shapes (cones, arches, pyramids, cylinders, cubes, rectangular and triangular prisms, semi-spheres, etc.).

5. I hesitate to include this as it is made of plastic, but Playmobil is still going strong in our house. My youngest uses it to model historical scenes as well as scenes from favourite novels.

6. Building sets, such as Lego, K'nex, Straws & Connectors, UberStix, etc. The key here is to buy generic sets with no theme; the themed sets we have have only seen a single use (or at most, a week's worth of play) and once the novelty wore off, the generic pieces were taken for use in more creative projects while the specialized pieces sat in storage bins. The one exception to this might be Lego Mindstorms. UberStix is especially interesting as it incorporates all major building sets along with recyclables, including plastic water bottles, shower caps, drinking straws, etc.

7. Snap Circuits These sets have a guide book that takes you through ordered projects that introduce you to basic concepts in a logical way. This includes basic principals of circuitry and safety guidelines. After that is where the real fun begins.
Hint: if you cannot find a Snap Circuits piece you want, you can connect regular wires & components to the set, but be sure to follow safety rules and size your parts accordingly. Be sure your children thoroughly understand the basics before your introduce non-Snap Circuits parts.

Do you have any favourites to add?

Celebrating a STEM Holiday Season

STEM is an acronym that stands for Science, technology, engineering & mathematics.

Adding a little STEM to the holiday season is a great way to have a little geeky fun.

Math

Mobius Paper Chains:
Liven up the traditional paper chains by giving each link a twist before fastening. Try making a thicker link on its own, then cut it down the centre to see what happens. You can use a few of these for your chain as well.  Try cutting a strip 1/3 from the edge all around. What happens?

Stars & Angles:
What kind of star do you get when you join up all the corners of a square? Pentagon? Hexagon? Septagon? Octagon? Calculate the angles involved in each of these. What is the sum of the angles for each of the different stars?
Now try drawing a triangle on a sphere (a balloon or Christmas ball will work well). Measure the angles of this triangle. What do you notice about their sum? What might this mean if you were to draw one of the stars on a sphere? Try it and see if your predictions hold.

For the younger set:
The Twelve Days of Christmas song lends itself well to learning ordinals (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.), and at the end you can add up all the gifts the "true love" gave. Can you find a shortcut for adding successive numbers?

An Advent Calendar as well as a regular calendar can reinforce counting up and counting down skills.

Science
A few chemistry concoctions lend themselves well to Christmas.

Crystal window paint: This easy-clean recipe uses epsom salts to make a crystal pattern on any glass surface.
Crystals:
  Use this salt solution recipe to paint crystal patterns for cards and gift tags.
  Make a classic borax crystal ornament (remember when you did this as a kid?)
Snow:
  Use one of these recipes to make either shaving-cream or soap-based indoor "snow" dough.
  Paint the snow with spray bottles.
Don't forget to take a little time out for a nature walk and some star gazing too!

Engineering
Design your own Rube Goldberg machine to deliver a gift to a loved one, or make it a little simpler and set up your electric or wooden train around the tree to do the same thing.
Make and use some squishy circuits (playdough recipes that conduct and resist currents) to make a light-up Christmas tree, Rudolph, etc.

Technology
Design an electronic gift card, video greeting or holiday game using one or more of the following:
Scratch drag-and-drop computer programming tool from MIT
Windows paint
Picasa (try making a mosaic creation too!)
Photoshop
MS Movie Maker
Muvee
Or any other photo, drawing, graphics, video or word processing programs you like.
Or try Make-a Flake for some addictive mess-free snowflake making.

Remember, many more math & science activities can be found on the Lemonade website.

Books, Documentaries & Other Recent Discoveries to Share

Since the holiday season is rapidly approaching, I thought I'd share some recent gems I've found.

Books:

For tween/teens:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

This is a story of a 13 year-old boy who lives on a reservation, but decides to attend school off the rez in order to improve his prospects. The main character, Junior, is highly engaging and readers will find it easy to relate with him. While the story has a positive and hopeful slant, and many laugh-out-loud moments, it also realistically depicts many of the difficult challenges of rez life as well as the consequences Junior faces regarding his decision. Alexie strikes a winning balance here. This is definitely a winner!

Middle -grade to adult readers will enjoy this historical fiction story:
Hannibal's Elephant Girl by Ariion Kathleen Brindley

A half- drowned young girl awakens to find herself near Hannibal's army in Northern Africa during the Punic wars. As she learns to handle elephants and makes the journey to Iberia and over the Alps, she rediscovers herself along the way.
I was honoured to see this in its early stages in Critique Circle, and have eagerly awaited seeing it in print so I could share it with friends & family. I highly recommend this, but be warned--you will want to reserve a long stretch of time to read it, because you won't want to put it down.
This book is available through Amazon.

For Teen & adult readers:
Exodus, Zenith & Aurora by Julie Bertagna

This futuristic trilogy follows humanity through the long-term effects of climate change. Ocean levels have risen dramatically, and land is scarce. Global communication & industry have become distant memories. As water levels continue to rise, a desperate village must make some difficult decisions.

This series is interestingly written in the present tense, which in itself helps to highlight the immediacy of the issue and draw the reader in, even if it feels a little strange at first. It is a haunting story that will stay with you long after you have finished.

Fun Non-Fiction:
Microcosms by Brandon Broll

Discovering the world through microscopic images at up to 22 million x magnification--truly an eye-opener!

Documentaries:

Microcosmos Highlights the magic in the minute--names insect life in meadows & ponds in Europe. Hauntingly beautiful music, incredible cinematography, and only a little narration (& none of that horrible, inane & over-dramatized nonsense found in recent nature documentaries out of North America). You are allowed to sit back and enjoy nature's offerings, and don't be surprised if you find yourself heading outdoors with a magnifying glass in hand to see the nature up close in your own backyard after viewing!

Connections An oldie-goldie documentary series by James Burke from the 1970's, this was revived again twice in the 90's, but the original was the best. Burke takes us on surprising journes through the history of technology, science & innovation to show how seemingly random items are connected--even mistakes in science leading to revelations in other areas.

Cosmos Another oldie, this one by Carl Sagan (also available as a book), documenting our understanding of the universe. Even with its age, it remains relevant to those interested in history, math, science, astronomy, cosmology and wondering about how we all fit in to this universe.

Fun & Inspiring Links:

Be the Spark by Noah Kaplan Powerful poem & magical performance to inspire the best in all of us.

Hallelujah Chorus Flashmob Chorus Niagara flashmob at the Welland Seaway Mall (not just your average flashmob!)

The Value in a Piece of Paper

Steve Jobs, his passing and legacy
Khan Academy
Ted Talks
Wimp & Dump
Online AQ Courses
Online high school credits
CEMC
Open Courseware

What do all of these have in common? They are all sources of educational inspiration for me over the past two months.
I've been wondering about the future, both for my children and for myself. What sort of education do we need? What will we be doing with our lives next year? 5, 10, 20 years from now?

The discussion nearly always turns to university education--which school, which program is the best choice to match interests and aptitudes?

As you may have discerned from previous posts, we are a homeschooling family--actually, we are unschoolers (perhaps not radical unschoolers, but unschoolers nonetheless). Much of the material we access comes from online sources. We are very fortunate to have a wealth of free, accessible resources at our fingertips. This was not possible 20 years ago.

Steve Jobs was brave enough to realize that much of his prescribed (and exceedingly expensive) education was irrelevant to him. So he cherry picked his way through, saving time, money and frustration to invent his own learning path.

Doing so is much easier now than ever, yet many of us balk at the thought of taking such responsibility for our learning. I will admit that I also find the thought a little dizzying. I loved my university years and would trade them for nothing. Well, my undergrad years anyhow.

And yet...

One of the things I'm considering doing as a second career requires university level math courses. To take these costs a total of about $3200, and that comes before the actual course itself. For a homeschooling mom, that is a lot of money.
And then I read the fine print: I could opt to sit a mathematical aptitude test for a cost of just $50 and have those requirements waived. Well, math has never been my strong point, but I do have a casual interest in it, so I occasionally pick up a book, or visit a website, or view a video on a topic within math. Still, I struggled with grade 12 math, so how could I possibly cope with more advanced material?

I took the practice test just for fun.

I received an 80%. Not wonderful, but enough to meet their requirements with some room to spare. And, thanks to YouTube and Khan Academy, I have since brushed up on the weaker areas now too. I guess since I was doing it out of interest and at my own pace, I really took in more than I'd realized.

It goes that way for most subjects in my experience. Developmental psychology was relevant when I could watch young relatives reaching developmental milestones, acquiring language, and growing in body, mind and spirit. Statistics and research design only became relevant when I began doing my own research. Physics became interesting when it began to describe things beyond the everyday. And so on. The motivation follows the need.

So I'm wondering now, what is the relevance of that heralded degree, SAT scores or other similar external validation in regard to education? Is the fact that our education systems are loaded with standardized curriculum & tests in actuality a reaction to the coming of the information age? Will the validating papers (certificates, diplomas, degrees) be replaced with something better, more customized and relevant? Will post-secondary level education become universally available?

Will we find our post-secondary institutions becoming places where only the hands-on, experiential "lab-based" courses (labs, medical courses, musical performance, teaching, fine art, etc.) need be taught, with the remaining resources dedicated to research?

Or, will we continue to follow the status quo and only value education that is expensive and exclusive? There is a great deal of potential here to educate most people to a higher level than previously imagined, for a small fraction of the cost.

How will we measure this? How will we value all relevant learning? How do we learn to value & encourage creativity and original thinking? These are the challenges we face.

Edit: I found this article today which tackles the possibilities of online education as a tool for educators: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/11/13/clayton-christensen-why-online-education-is-ready-for-disruption-now/

Libraries: the Cornerstone of Civilization

I am a library person. Even before registering the births of my sons, they were registered library card holders. We went home with favourites from my husband's and my own childhoods including lullaby CDs and our favourite stories and poems. When my youngest was born, we were such library "regulars" that the news of his arrival made the internal library staff's newsletter. While many people watch TV, play video games or go and hang out at the mall, you can find my family spending our few spare leisure hours at the local library, or back at home exploring our library loot.

I've read on various internet sites that evidence of libraries dates back to about 5000 years ago from clay tablets found in Mesopotamia. The first known public libraries emerged in about 400 BCE. If I could travel back in time, my first choice would be a visit to the library at Alexandria. Of course, I'd also like to arrange to be able to read ancient Hebrew, Greek and Coptic (and probably a few other languages as well) in order to actually gain anything useful from the experience, but imagine the treasures once housed there (or in any of the associated library buildings). You can keep your gold and silver, your gems and trinkets--I'll take the library thank you very much!

I would argue that the strength of a society can be measured best by looking at their libraries. But--remember that paper books and written words may not be the only form a library takes. The oral traditions of North America First Nation, for example, can be argued to be a form of library in which elders and storytellers become living repositories. Likewise, the internet is also a form of library. When knowledge is retained in retrievable format, this constitutes a library. When that knowledge is shared without limit, that becomes a public library.

Public libraries are an essential as part of a society's educational system. They allow for the spread of ideas, knowledge and information, and promote freedom of speech. They allow and promote a free and just society by giving all members access to vital information. Enemies to public libraries include those who would censor or destroy material, or limit public access.

Libraries should be free to use for all. This is perhaps one of the most crucial institutions for any government to maintain. When a population is educated and can find and share information and ideas readily, they are empowered to become better citizens. Reliable information built upon the work of many replaces guesswork and the need to "re-invent the wheel".

Libraries are also environmentally friendly. Imagine what the cost would be in money, ink and trees if every time you wanted to read a book you had to purchase a new copy. Now consider how much it would take for your town or city. For a family of voracious readers like mine, it would be truly phenomenal.

If you consider all the other materials that our libraries also provide, such as audio-visual materials, magazines & periodicals, you can see that the sharing nature of libraries is something that we might want to even consider expanding much further. Why not a power tool lending library? Or a toy lending library? In fact, there are places in which these are available too.

If you want to do some detailed research, you can explore the library at the closest university or college.

The sad part of this is that many of us have learned to take our libraries for granted. When government cuts are made, libraries should be last (or near last) on the chopping block, yet in recent years, that has not been the trend. When a library is closed due to lack of public funding, it is akin to a society throwing up its arms in despair. It is a defeat of the spirit of curiosity and exploration, the very thirst for knowledge, which gives us meaning and purpose. Such a move hurts the most vulnerable members of society.

Libraries promote literacy, and provide a means to this end.
Long live the public library!