Using Pinterest as an Educational Tool

My daughter, EL, has autism and developmental delays. One of her favorite toys of all time is a Fijit Friend named Willa. 

In some ways, even though she is a teenager, EL is developmentally at the level of a 2nd grade child. She still loves young children's toys that talk, light up, and play music. The music is her favorite.

In other ways, EL is like a normal teenager. She has mood swings, she likes to stay up late, she likes to get new clothes, and she likes to watch movies like "Teen Beach Movie."

Over this past year, EL's therapists have been working with her to combine her love of musical toys with a more age-appropriate activity of pinning things on Pinterest. It has been a great learning tool, as it has opened EL up to the computer world. She has learned she can ask for help when she wants to pin something to her page, then she has also learned to click on the pictures and videos she wants to see, and to close them out when she is done. I am grateful to EL's therapists, and the work they have been doing with her to improve her quality of life.

Here is EL watching a video of Willa on her Pinterest page.

Math Antics Saved the Day

Adding something new and more complex to my son's Math curriculum usually causes him a boat load of anxiety and he tends to shut down and not want to continue. This morning was one of those mornings. After awhile of trying the new concept, we both grew frustrated and wanted to quit, but I decided we were not going to give up. We did take a little break (sometimes that is necessary), but we kept working through it. 

While we were on our break, I decided to look online for a video that could explain the math concepts in a more visual way. In my search, I found a website, Math Antics, with a math video that really helped. After watching the video, my son understood the concept a little better and was able to complete his work.  I'm sure we will be using this website again in the future. Here is the link, and a little more information about them:

ABOUT Math Antics (as found on the website):  It is the work of two individuals, Rob and Jeremy, who want to make learning math a little easier for everyone. We know that many students struggle with math and that many teachers and parents need better tools to help students succeed. Our goal is to provide simple and engaging math resources that make learning math more fun for students of all ages.

All of the video lessons on Math Antics are FREE. It is not a complete curriculum, but they include fun videos that cover concepts in arithmetic, fractions, geometry, percents, and algebra basics. You have the option to subscribe for $20. 00 per year, but that is only if you want to use the exercises and worksheets that go along with their videos.   

In the FAQ's on the Math Antics website, it says this about their main goals:  Our math lessons are organized by subject rather than grade level. Our goal is to create math videos that clearly explain math concepts to students of any age. At this time we do not have plans to align with common core or any other specific math standards. One of our main goals for Math Antics is to be as universal as possible. That is why we don't organize our content by grade. While the majority of students may learn a particular skill or concept in a particular grade, we don't want to discourage older students from going back to learn or review the fundamentals.