To which extent can we optimize our life? What are the limiting factors and reasonable goals? Just how productive should we become? Here I will try to answer these questions. The goal of productivity What exactly is productivity? This question changes as our economy evolves and we undergo personal development. I argue that a modern …
Gamifying learning activities
We want to gamify everything we do with our children. How can we do that? Probably no schoolbook has an adequate answer here. I will share my experiences, and what I know. If you can share yours, please do. Octalysis The Octalysis Framework is a human-centric gamification design framework that lays out the eight core drives for …
Practice and boredom
Children need to practice and get bored. So do grown-ups like me. Now what? I will share some strategies that we implement at home. These strategies work. More reading here. Point system As grown-ups, we prefer to play computer games rather than work. Work tends to be boring. Even jobs that are relatively exciting, often …
Spending time with teenagers
Once we have teenage kids, we need to change the way we work with them. We can use more complex strategies, and the responses we get will be almost adult. At the same time, we still need to play with them, just using a different gaming environment. In this article, I talk from my personal …
Successful students organize notes
This looks like no brainer: students should organize their notes. Then why so few students effectively organize their notes? For several years I asked myself and my students. In this article, I will share what I found. For more reading, you can check the links here, here, here, here, here, and here. My own experience Before …
Independent children
Just how independent should our children be? Ten generations ago they used to be extremely independent. From a young age, children worked to make money. They had to cook for themselves and other children. They invested in learning and walked miles to a school to learn how to read and write. I am talking about …
7 Tips to get a Teen Interested in Philosophy
I am not very successful in getting my kids interested in philosophy or history. Occasionally I am not sure why to bother. In this guest post, Carla Davis shares her perspective on the subject. 7 Tips to get a Teen Interested in Philosophy Philosophy is a Greek word, which means “love of wisdom.” Philosophy is …
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Brain gym controversy
We know that regular gyms work and hope that brain training apps also work. Experts are not so sure about it. I will try to present both sides of the controversy and add some practical tips. Today I invite you to read here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Brain gyms for the aging population …
How To Market Yourself As An Online Private Tutor
If you are confined to your home and want to get some extra revenues, remote tutoring is a viable option. I asked Beatrix Potter to write this post about the details of such tutoring. Possibly it applies to coaching and some other job opportunities. Hope it will help you. These days pretty much anybody …
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Education is a form or entertainment
Education in the 21st century is broken. To fix it we need to accept the possibility that learning is more than gaining knowledge. It is something we can be passionate about, as we are passionate about games or TV shows. This is a very different perspective on education, and I think it facilitates learning. The …