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From: Joerg on 19 Dec 2009 11:40
ehsjr wrote:
> Friends are home-schooling their son.
>
> I get to teach him 4th grade science: static electricity,
> magnetism, complete circuits, that sort of thing. There is
> a very general state provided syllabus, which I regard as
> a minimum.
>
> Any thoughts, tips, techniques, hints? I haven't taught
> 4th graders (9-10 years old) before, so I don't have a
> feel for attention span, quickness of apprehension, how
> much or how long to focus on one point or one subject
> before switching to retain the interest, and a whole
> host of things I probably haven't thought of.
>
> There are propbably some great attention grabing experiments
> or demos, too. I have some ideas along those lines, and
> ideas from others would be helpful.
>
> I do plan to discuss these things with the parents to get
> their advice, and I will have them determine how long
> each session is to run, with a +/- 5 or ten minutes so
> we can complete experiments/demos/lessons scheduled
> for each particular session. ...


With home-schooling there ought to be a wee bit more flexibility on
that, so you can finish projects.


> ... I'll also have them determine
> how often we get together. There is plenty of flexibility
> available, and I do not think I have the capability of
> determining how much structure is best, so that flexibility
> might be a two edged sword. Comments along that line
> would also be valuable.
>
> So, if you have ideas, I would appreciate hearing them!
>

As Jim wrote, make it entertaining. Think about projects you could do
together where you explain how stuff works, why, what the underlying
physics laws are etc. Show him stuff on the scope. Let him use the scope
and other tools.

I was totally bored in chemistry. Until we got a teacher from industry
who didn't have what they call "credentials" (I sometimes call those a
road block). His normal job was to design formulas and production
methods for laundry detergent. Thick Czech accent, his first question to
us was: "Wherr iss fiah ixtingishah?" Oh, this promised to be be fun,
and it was ...

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.
From: Ken S. Tucker on 19 Dec 2009 18:11
On Dec 18, 7:52 pm, ehsjr <eh...(a)nospamverizon.net> wrote:
> Friends are home-schooling their son.
>
> I get to teach him 4th grade science: static electricity,
> magnetism, complete circuits, that sort of thing. There is
> a very general state provided syllabus, which I regard as
> a minimum.
>
> Any thoughts, tips, techniques, hints? I haven't taught
> 4th graders (9-10 years old) before, so I don't have a
> feel for attention span, quickness of apprehension, how
> much or how long to focus on one point or one subject
> before switching to retain the interest, and a whole
> host of things I probably haven't thought of.
>
> There are propbably some great attention grabing experiments
> or demos, too. I have some ideas along those lines, and
> ideas from others would be helpful.
>
> I do plan to discuss these things with the parents to get
> their advice, and I will have them determine how long
> each session is to run, with a +/- 5 or ten minutes so
> we can complete experiments/demos/lessons scheduled
> for each particular session. I'll also have them determine
> how often we get together. There is plenty of flexibility
> available, and I do not think I have the capability of
> determining how much structure is best, so that flexibility
> might be a two edged sword. Comments along that line
> would also be valuable.
>So, if you have ideas, I would appreciate hearing them!

Find out the kids IQ, without his knowledge. Use standardized
tests or various puzzles. An accelerating IQ is usually the
result of inherent curiousity, in which case you can access
the foundations of electronics in physics, via experiment,
such as Ohm's Law.
Regards
Ken
From: Joerg on 20 Dec 2009 16:30
Ken S. Tucker wrote:
> On Dec 18, 7:52 pm, ehsjr <eh...(a)nospamverizon.net> wrote:
>> Friends are home-schooling their son.
>>
>> I get to teach him 4th grade science: static electricity,
>> magnetism, complete circuits, that sort of thing. There is
>> a very general state provided syllabus, which I regard as
>> a minimum.
>>
>> Any thoughts, tips, techniques, hints? I haven't taught
>> 4th graders (9-10 years old) before, so I don't have a
>> feel for attention span, quickness of apprehension, how
>> much or how long to focus on one point or one subject
>> before switching to retain the interest, and a whole
>> host of things I probably haven't thought of.
>>
>> There are propbably some great attention grabing experiments
>> or demos, too. I have some ideas along those lines, and
>> ideas from others would be helpful.
>>
>> I do plan to discuss these things with the parents to get
>> their advice, and I will have them determine how long
>> each session is to run, with a +/- 5 or ten minutes so
>> we can complete experiments/demos/lessons scheduled
>> for each particular session. I'll also have them determine
>> how often we get together. There is plenty of flexibility
>> available, and I do not think I have the capability of
>> determining how much structure is best, so that flexibility
>> might be a two edged sword. Comments along that line
>> would also be valuable.
>> So, if you have ideas, I would appreciate hearing them!
>
> Find out the kids IQ, without his knowledge. Use standardized
> tests or various puzzles. An accelerating IQ is usually the
> result of inherent curiousity, in which case you can access
> the foundations of electronics in physics, via experiment,
> such as Ohm's Law.
> Regards
> Ken


Careful with standardizing and categorizing. I had the "pleasure" of
doing numerous management style quizzes along the lines of Myers-Briggs
and similar. Came out different every time and the results had very
little bearing on the real person I was (according to others, not me).
Bottomline I have very little faith in this stuff.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.
From: George Herold on 20 Dec 2009 21:49


ehsjr wrote:
> Friends are home-schooling their son.
>
> I get to teach him 4th grade science: static electricity,
> magnetism, complete circuits, that sort of thing. There is
> a very general state provided syllabus, which I regard as
> a minimum.
>
> Any thoughts, tips, techniques, hints? I haven't taught
> 4th graders (9-10 years old) before, so I don't have a
> feel for attention span, quickness of apprehension, how
> much or how long to focus on one point or one subject
> before switching to retain the interest, and a whole
> host of things I probably haven't thought of.
>
> There are propbably some great attention grabing experiments
> or demos, too. I have some ideas along those lines, and
> ideas from others would be helpful.
>
> I do plan to discuss these things with the parents to get
> their advice, and I will have them determine how long
> each session is to run, with a +/- 5 or ten minutes so
> we can complete experiments/demos/lessons scheduled
> for each particular session. I'll also have them determine
> how often we get together. There is plenty of flexibility
> available, and I do not think I have the capability of
> determining how much structure is best, so that flexibility
> might be a two edged sword. Comments along that line
> would also be valuable.
>
> So, if you have ideas, I would appreciate hearing them!
>
> Thanks,
> Ed

Scotch tape is great for some static electricity experiments. When
you stick it and then pull it off of different things it picks up
different sign charges. (Try glass, metal, plastic….list is endless).
You can then use the two pieces of tape as the electrodes of a ‘leaf’
electrometer. Hold them close and see if they attract or repel. (you
want about 2" long pieces, I’m sure there’s all sorts of stuff on the
web.)

For magnetics it’s fun to float a magnet in a bowl of water,
(Styrofoam ?) and make a compass, Then you can bring other magnets
near and see what happens.
I always try and have the kids write things down. (I like doing
'science stuff' with my kids, "How far can you shoot this rubber
band?, what's the best angle to shoot it at?")

Light bulbs and batteries are great to start circuits. LED’s...

George H.
From: Ken S. Tucker on 21 Dec 2009 00:40
On Dec 20, 1:30 pm, Joerg <inva...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote:
> Ken S. Tucker wrote:
> > On Dec 18, 7:52 pm, ehsjr <eh...(a)nospamverizon.net> wrote:
> >> Friends are home-schooling their son.
>
> >> I get to teach him 4th grade science: static electricity,
> >> magnetism, complete circuits, that sort of thing. There is
> >> a very general state provided syllabus, which I regard as
> >> a minimum.
>
> >> Any thoughts, tips, techniques, hints? I haven't taught
> >> 4th graders (9-10 years old) before, so I don't have a
> >> feel for attention span, quickness of apprehension, how
> >> much or how long to focus on one point or one subject
> >> before switching to retain the interest, and a whole
> >> host of things I probably haven't thought of.
>
> >> There are propbably some great attention grabing experiments
> >> or demos, too. I have some ideas along those lines, and
> >> ideas from others would be helpful.
>
> >> I do plan to discuss these things with the parents to get
> >> their advice, and I will have them determine how long
> >> each session is to run, with a +/- 5 or ten minutes so
> >> we can complete experiments/demos/lessons scheduled
> >> for each particular session. I'll also have them determine
> >> how often we get together. There is plenty of flexibility
> >> available, and I do not think I have the capability of
> >> determining how much structure is best, so that flexibility
> >> might be a two edged sword. Comments along that line
> >> would also be valuable.
> >> So, if you have ideas, I would appreciate hearing them!
>
> > Find out the kids IQ, without his knowledge. Use standardized
> > tests or various puzzles. An accelerating IQ is usually the
> > result of inherent curiousity, in which case you can access
> > the foundations of electronics in physics, via experiment,
> > such as Ohm's Law.
> > Regards
> > Ken
>
> Careful with standardizing and categorizing. I had the "pleasure" of
> doing numerous management style quizzes along the lines of Myers-Briggs
> and similar. Came out different every time and the results had very
> little bearing on the real person I was (according to others, not me).
> Bottomline I have very little faith in this stuff.

Bit of background: I was informed I was a genius in gr.4 age 9,
it does have meaning, such that, at that age I could understand
things about science that 98% of adults could never.
In hindsight, I think my IQ resulted from a curiousity about puzzles,
starting even before I had much memory, that's why I mentioned
puzzles.
I was the kind of brat, at age 4, that would stick bobby pins in 120V
outlets to observe the sparks.
Not sure if curiousity is an emotion, or if one can 'teach'
curiousity,
but in my case I think it accelerated my ability to think.
Though my teaching experience is limited, I have learned that one
should be careful to place to much expectation on anothers ability,
based on management experience.
Ken
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