Category Archives: Learning

Microskills: left-right confusion

Thinking again about microskills … one thing dyslexics often have a problem with is left-right confusion, and I have this problem too. When I am driving, and someone tells me to turn left, it takes me a long time to … Continue reading

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Palchinsky principles

I’m trying to think of a way forward with Tiny Mistakes. I’ve just read Tim Harford’s book, Adapt, in which he outlines three Palchinsky principles: develop new ideas and experiment (variation) make failure survivable get feedback and learn from your … Continue reading

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Microskills: imitation

Complex cognitive processes (like reading, writing and playing music) can be broken down into a series of much smaller microskills. Most of us were so young when we learned them that we don’t remember each tiny step, and the distinction … Continue reading

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Feed your brain

Not exactly news, but I was digging around for evidence of the impact of diet on children’s development and came across Michele Belot and Jonathan James’s evaluation of Jamie Oliver’s School Dinners campaign: Healthy School Meals and Educational Achievements (Jan … Continue reading

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Kensington Aldridge Academy

A brand new secondary school is going to be built on our doorstep – the Kensington Aldridge Academy – to open in September 2014. Today we went to a planning meeting to hear presentations from the architects and find out … Continue reading

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Systematic phonics teaching

Having a child in London means that, sooner or later, you start compulsively researching ‘good’ schools. I walked past Thomas Jones primary school today and saw a notice on their gate that said they had featured in an Ofsted report … Continue reading

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Reading music for beginners

I am struggling to learn the piano at the moment, grappling towards grade 2. I was trying to work out why it is so very difficult, when pressing a series of keys in a designated order by itself isn’t that … Continue reading

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Waterstone’s no more

Waterstone’s (Waterstone’s’s Waterstone’s’ ?) decision to become Waterstones led me to dig around and find these few things. First, the Apostrophe Protection Society with its (natch) gloriously unreconstructed website. And the news that there is an International Apostrophe Day, the … Continue reading

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