Whenever a new medium or technology becomes available the initial approach is to “repurpose” existing content, such as filmed radio on television. Many of the big education publishers have been approaching tablets that way. They try to grab some assets from the web or even further back from print and push them out. There are two reasons for doing so: first, it seems like low hanging fruit and second, these companies tend to believe that their existing content libraries are a big part of their...

Whenever a new medium or technology becomes available the initial approach is to “repurpose” existing content, such as filmed radio on television. Many of the big education publishers have been approaching tablets that way. They try to grab some assets from the web or even further back from print and push them out. There are two reasons for doing so: first, it seems like low hanging fruit and second, these companies tend to believe that their existing content libraries are a big part of their...

Last week in the starter edition of Homeschool Wednesdays, I got a ton of fantastic advice on key things everyone should know. I will figure out how to get these into some kind of wiki or maybe use Firepad (suggestions welcome). Today I want to air one of my pet peeves with how we learn most things: knowledge is broken down into isolated silos that are taught in a largely disconnected manner. For instance, within math the relation between algebra and geometry is either never established or on...

Last week in the starter edition of Homeschool Wednesdays, I got a ton of fantastic advice on key things everyone should know. I will figure out how to get these into some kind of wiki or maybe use Firepad (suggestions welcome). Today I want to air one of my pet peeves with how we learn most things: knowledge is broken down into isolated silos that are taught in a largely disconnected manner. For instance, within math the relation between algebra and geometry is either never established or on...

Today marks the first edition of what will be Homeschooling Wednesdays (not sure it will be every Wednesday, we’ll see). We have been making good progress finding guides and tutors but still are interested in meeting more people, so if you know someone who would be great, please send them our way! One of the goals of going back to homeschooling is to allow for enough time and focus to go really deep on one interest. That interest doesn’t have to be academic and in fact right now it looks like...

Today marks the first edition of what will be Homeschooling Wednesdays (not sure it will be every Wednesday, we’ll see). We have been making good progress finding guides and tutors but still are interested in meeting more people, so if you know someone who would be great, please send them our way! One of the goals of going back to homeschooling is to allow for enough time and focus to go really deep on one interest. That interest doesn’t have to be academic and in fact right now it looks like...

We are excited about going back to homeschooling for our three children after the summer vacation. The goal is for each of them to explore one or more interests and use those to motivate learning and skill building. In order to get ready, we are looking for three awesome individuals we are calling guides, who will each have primary responsibility for the growth of one of our children. As a guide, your job will be to help the child 1. Explore one or more areas of their interest (this includes ...

We are excited about going back to homeschooling for our three children after the summer vacation. The goal is for each of them to explore one or more interests and use those to motivate learning and skill building. In order to get ready, we are looking for three awesome individuals we are calling guides, who will each have primary responsibility for the growth of one of our children. As a guide, your job will be to help the child 1. Explore one or more areas of their interest (this includes ...

In the middle of 2010 we started to seriously consider moving back to New York City. At the time one of the considerations was that it would be possible to experiment with homeschooling the kids. I am excited to report that we are doing both. We have a place in Chelsea that is a short walk from the Union Square Ventures office and almost as importantly around the corner from Murray’s Bagels. We are also homeschooling our kids for at least the next six months. Now the “we” here shouldn’t be re...

In the middle of 2010 we started to seriously consider moving back to New York City. At the time one of the considerations was that it would be possible to experiment with homeschooling the kids. I am excited to report that we are doing both. We have a place in Chelsea that is a short walk from the Union Square Ventures office and almost as importantly around the corner from Murray’s Bagels. We are also homeschooling our kids for at least the next six months. Now the “we” here shouldn’t be re...

Time for Homeschool Wednesday! On of the biggest goals for homeschooling that I can think of is to instill a desire for lifelong learning and to provide the tools to achieve that. As I am beginning to understand from reading up on learning it would be wrong to only emphasize cognitive tools in this regard. Instead there is also a big role to play for simply developing grit – the ability to overcome obstacles in the desire to achieve a goal. I am about halfway through the aptly named Paul Toug...

Time for Homeschool Wednesday! On of the biggest goals for homeschooling that I can think of is to instill a desire for lifelong learning and to provide the tools to achieve that. As I am beginning to understand from reading up on learning it would be wrong to only emphasize cognitive tools in this regard. Instead there is also a big role to play for simply developing grit – the ability to overcome obstacles in the desire to achieve a goal. I am about halfway through the aptly named Paul Toug...