Category Archives: Child Development

Generalization of Rules

Posted on October 25, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

Those of us who are teachers or parents have seen the phenomenon where children figure out rules and have trouble with the exceptions to the rules, which is quite understandable.  As adults, we should remember this, and correct them but … Continue reading →

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PK to Grade 6 Elementary Engineering Curriculum Maps Available!

Posted on October 21, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

I have finished the first drafts of Curriculum Maps, based on an Understanding By Design model,  for a PK to Grade 6 robotics curriculum called the Elementary Engineering Curriculum based on BeeBots (PK-K), Lego Education WeDo (Grade 1-4), and Lego … Continue reading →

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What Kids Do At Indoor Recess

Posted on October 21, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

This week, in a small first grade class, I noticed that 8 kid were building out of some paper leaves the teacher left out, 3 kids were doing Legos, and 1 kid was reading.  I’m not saying we should not … Continue reading →

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Awesome Art

Posted on October 13, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

This is not related directly to Kids Engineering but I had to share this example of second grade art created on the computer using HyperStudio 5.  We do a session where kids explore the tools and techniques to use them.  … Continue reading →

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When Play Morphs Into Engineering

Posted on October 13, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

What do you see in this video clip?   Here’s what I get out of it. In this video, we see a 5 year boy making a long bridge out of blocks. I thought for sure he had understood how … Continue reading →

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Understanding Children’s Work

Posted on October 6, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

  What do you see in the image above?  When I do a “free explore” exercise with students, I walk around and see what they are drawing.  Sometimes, it is apparent what they are drawing, whether it be a more … Continue reading →

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Case Study Starts in Earnest

Posted on September 30, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

It rained yesterday so I had indoor recess duty with the kindergarten students.  The current K class will be my case study class.  I have 2 students, who are twins, as case study kids and will be looking for some … Continue reading →

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Cool Example of Spontaneous Engineering

Posted on September 28, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

A first grade girl showed me a computer she had made out of paper yesterday.  I am trying to keep an eye out for examples of spontaneous engineering that young children engage in.  I asked her if I could copy … Continue reading →

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Case Study Begins

Posted on September 16, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

I happened to have indoor recess duty and was up with my planned case study kindergarten classes.  I have not had much time to observe them yet and have only had them once so far for computer lab.  But I … Continue reading →

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Idea for Yearly Case Study Project

Posted on September 8, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

I thought of the idea of building a bridge as a way to see progress in K-6 engineering (and beyond) over time. A bridge could be static or dynamic (drawbridge). So I am planning to give a choice of wooden … Continue reading →

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