I have a niece (not a blood relation, I'm a friend of the family she calls "uncle") who went to the Illinois Math and Science Academy. They had a kind of open house where parents and guests could meet her teachers. From what I heard it sounds like education there is very much like you describe. Her father used to complain that "the teachers don't teach!"
IMSA is a public boarding school. Every kid in it is the smartest kid in his old school. They have a huge glass display case for chess trophies. It's one of the most remarkable places I've ever visited. I wish I could have gone to high school there, but there's no way I could have qualified at that age. Mel Chua went there. James Simmons On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 4:27 PM, Caryl Bigenho <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Folks... The retired teacher talking here..... > > "Discovery learning" in a properly prepared, semi-structured environment > works. Look at the success of the Montessori method. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method > > Intervention is helpful at times, but only as a last resort. If a child is > stumped and ready to give up and go on to other things, a little "nudge" in > the right direction can open up new discoveries. > > Actually, I discovered "discovery learning" myself as a young teacher. > Trying to apply it to math wasn't always easy. That is probably why science > seemed so much more fun to teach. > > Another thing I discovered was Project Based Learning (BPL). It started > when I was teaching beginning Algebra classes of over 40 students. "Why not > try letting them work on things in teams like we do in science?, I thought. > When I had teams of 2, that cut my effective class size in half to 20+. > Groups of 4 gave me just 10+. > > The kids loved it and I was able to gently "nudge" groups in the right > direction when they were really stuck, praise successes, and suggest > enrichment activities. Occasionally a student or parent would complain that > my class was "noisy." But, it was good, productive noise. They were > learning! > > BTW, does anyone remember the good old "new math" program called SSMCIS? > (AKA the "Columbia Program", named after the university where it > originated) I Beta-tested it when it was still in the pre-publication > stage. Lots of discovery and PBL there. It was a lot of fun, but they did > have to train us teachers first! > > http://mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?forumID=304&threadID=714464&messageID=7143356 > > More thoughts coming re the "Tiger Mom," kids outdoors, and the world we > live in today.! The "mom" will reply! > > Caryl > > ________________________________ > Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:32:59 -0500 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > Subject: Re: [support-gang] When teaching restrains discovery > > On 1/19/2011 1:29 PM, Christoph Derndorfer wrote: > > Hi all, > > I just stumbled across this fascinating article called "When teaching > restrains discovery" > (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/01/18/when-teaching-restrains-discovery/) > > Indeed such unstructured & unsupervised play (nevermind the outdoors!) may > be "obsolete" in rich, overparented societies per "Last Child in the Woods" > (Richard Louv, 336p, 2005), "Free-Range Kids" (Lenore Skenazy, 256p, 2009), > "Play Again" (2010 film) etc. > > But the patient (exploratory learning) won't die without a fight -- witness > the ongoing backlash against last week's "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior" > (WSJ, Jan 8 2011), "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" (Amy Chua, 256p, 2011) > etc: > > The Unused Playground: Kids Need to be Out in Nature, Yet We Keep Them > Caged. By Phil Primack > ...studies, hearings, and slogans (“Leave No Child Inside”) won’t > significantly reduce the great disconnect between kids and nature unless > parents – many raised amid “Stranger Danger” and other media-stoked fears > themselves – are willing to grant kids more freedom... > > http://boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/09/12/the_unused_playground/ > > Nature Deficit Disorder: Kids Who Don’t Get Outside Can Pay To Play > http://radioboston.wbur.org/2011/01/18/nature-deficit > > http://feeds.wbur.org/~r/WBURRadioBoston/~5/6EoG_ogxORs/radioboston_0118.mp3 > (Listen from 15m40s to 35m06s) > > Amy Chua Is a Wimp: “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” may denounce soft > American-style parenting, but its author shelters her children from the > truly arduous experiences necessary to achieve. > http://nytimes.com/2011/01/18/opinion/18brooks.html > > -- > Help kids everywhere map their world, at http://olpcMAP.net ! > > which is based on a very recently published paper whose title really > says it all "The double-edged sword of pedagogy: Instruction limits > spontaneous exploration and discovery" > (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T24-51WV6VK-1&_user=10&_coverDate=01/08/2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b3319a977badfb35348871b64a9e1d4c&searchtype=a). > > Definitely well worth a read in my opinion. :-) > > Cheers, > Christoph > > > _______________________________________________ support-gang mailing list > [email protected] http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/support-gang > _______________________________________________ > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > [email protected] > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep > _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) 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