Well, I'm officially out of my depth mathematically but can still hang with the crowd conceptually. Calculus is a class I opted not to take. In retrospect, I have mixed feelings about not having that knowledge but I it's not pathological yet! I may yet survive without Calculus!
News from the homefront of the Harry Potter Project is that I may have lost Ben but Kate is hanging in like a trooper. She's enjoying meshing her math knowledge with her Minecraft skills, but Ben, not so much. He would really much rather explore the Minecraft than create in it. I think if I could get him to take the Bartle's Gamer Profile he would be an explorer and since I'm an Achiever, we seem to be at odds with it. He will play Minecraft with me all day as long as we are running around, but if I ask him to build something, he loses interest. I'm not sure if I should extrapolate his behavior as typical for a first grader exploring Minecraft, or if it's just a matter of taste. Are there developmental milestones in Minecraft? I haven't figured out a strategy for trying to re-engaging him -Look, Son, if you don't help mommy get a good grade, you will never play Minecraft again :) - or let him be. Open to suggestions on this one. I'm enjoying watching Kate stretch herself though and I think it's given her some insight into some of her science strengths as well.
Chris- my almost 7-year old, 1st grade son displays similar behavior... while my 4-year old daughter definitely loves building and creating of any kind. So perhaps its a combination of personality, age, and interest - and not everyone has to be a "builder". I'm glad Kate is enjoying the project and look forward to seeing what she comes up with, but I don't think you can force your son to continue if he's really not interested. If you can find a way to engage him in some type of STEM aspect that would be great, we could even take a few minutes during our next class to brainstorm as a group if you want.
ReplyDelete