Find Joy. Seek Truth. Be Kind.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Opposite of brain fart is....

I just had a flash of inspiration - instead of a math camp, or an art camp, for kids, what about having a math night or art night for parents?

I've been toying with the idea of a math camp for kids, and/or an art camp for kids (not unrelated you know, math and art).  The trouble is that it is such a short time.  Even a week of meetings isn't enough to really let knowledge sink it.  It's just enough to set off a spark. Too many parents have told me they have a "math phobia"   or "don't know what to do for art".   Maybe what we need to do is to inspire the parents.

I know for myself that if I'm really focused on something there is no way the kids will leave me alone.  If I want them to do something and stay on task, I need to be right there.  What if we used that to our advantage?  If we can inspire the parents to experiment and play with these cool concepts, how could the kids resist budding in?

What do you think?  Ideas?  Cons?

5 comments:

Obery family said...

Lovely idea!
In fact, genius.

I've been thinking about hosting a LEGO robotic family tournament so that parents can understand the programming better and talk with their children about the work completed by the Team in the fall.
Different context - but same idea of reaching children through engaged parents.

Sue VanHattum said...

I definitely want to do a mathplay for moms class.

April said...

Obery family - I actually had parents beg me to set up a Lego Robotics Tournament for grownups. I just never had the supplies and energy to make it happen.

Sue, if you end up doing that, let us know how it goes? I'd be very interested in what works and what doesn't.

I'm not sure I'll do this before next summer, but I do have a couple of parents who are stressing and could use it.

Sue VanHattum said...

I'm not sure when I'll get around to it. If I do it, I'll definitely blog about it.

Shawn Walter said...

Science too. So many people are afraid of science. Science is so easy, it's right there around you every day.