Welcome to our homeschooling experiment!
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Chemistry Explained by Prof. Robert Wolke and Home Chemistry Experiments by Robert Bruce Thompson
Knowledge has a curse: It grows boundlessly. The Internet grows too. To know something empowering in a way that feels like joy (which is, according to John Keats, a thing of beauty) is what our innate curiosity constantly pushes us humans to do. Getting such knowledge delivered in a connected world of personalized, AI-driven tools… Read more
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FeaturedChoosing A Calculus-1 Text for A High Schooler
The author reflects on teaching Rujuta calculus after successfully introducing her to precalculus. They emphasize the importance of a solid foundation in functions before calculus and discuss the challenges of finding a suitable textbook. “Calculus Made Easy” by Silvanus Thompson has proven effective, sparking interest and facilitating understanding.
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FeaturedOn Crocheting
Last summer, I decided I needed a new hobby, and I had always wanted to learn how to crochet. I went to Michael’s, I picked up some yarn and a few crochet hooks, and I found a couple of different tutorials on YouTube. When I started, having the correct tension of the yarn was difficult… Read more
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Impressions from “The Clock We Live On”
Puzzling title, huh? Not unintentionally, I’d say. The Clock We Live On is the title of a remarkable book by Issac Asimov on basic astronomy. I don’t have any data to suggest that reading this book may turn ordinary men and women into astronomers. Still, I know two people, Rujuta and I, who are very… Read more
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Reflecting on my 2024 gymnastics season
Eight months ago, I moved back to California, USA looking for gyms near my house. I found four gyms near my house: Airborne Gymnastics, West Valley Gymnastics, CSC, and Gold Star Gymnastics. I tried out at Airborne, CSC, and Gold Star, and ultimately started practicing at Gold Star. After a couple of months, I decided… Read more
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A Mundane Ode to To Kill a Mockingbird
Rujuta picked this book as part of her list of books to read in her ninth grade. I hadn’t read it before and, as a result, I too read it with her. We’d read it just like the protagonist, Atticus, would read it with his daughter, Scout, but with a small change: Rujuta too read… Read more
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A Michigan Dad Now
I am still preparing the remaining parts of my ongoing series on our homeschooling experiment. But it is worthwhile to report that Apoorv is officially an undergrad at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (UM). I share this news not with pride, but with gratitude and joy. I am aware that many deserving students get… Read more
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The DARK Homeschooling Experiment Recap – 1
We1 have been lucky! It has been more than four and a half years since we relocated to India from California. Our friends and acquaintances in particular and the society at large have been very helpful and genial through our journey. Also, we have been steadfast about our decision to be a part of the… Read more
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SICP: A Synonym for Computer Programming
Choosing a cryptic title for your blog-post has a polarizing effect. There is some novelty promise associated with an unfamiliar title. The promise is fulfilled if the blog-post is a good one. Let me try. SICP stands for “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs.” If you are already familiar with computer programming, then there is… Read more
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A Fun Math Quiz
Rujuta wanted a math quiz. She is now in the eighth grade and has studied arithmetic, some algebra, and some geometry. She enjoys the process of discovery. Of course, like everyone else, she has some blind spots. But one thing that I really admire about her is that she gives it her everything. She is… Read more
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Choosing Physics Resources for the First Year of a Self-paced Study
Rujuta is now willing and prepared to study Physics! She would have been in the eighth grade in a traditional school and we were thinking of how to study beginning physics. She asked me to come up with a “curriculum of sorts”. I gave it a try and here is how we are going to… Read more
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How to Do Research …
Paul R. Halmos had been a great teacher, educator, author, and, of course, mathematician. He wrote eloquently about his life’s journey as a mathematician in what he called his “automathography”: I want to Be a Mathematician. It is a book with a lot of mathematics (higher) but it also has a high literary value. He… Read more
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MINDSTORMS
That is the main title of a life-changing book, at least for some. The subtitle is Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. Its author is Seymour Papert, who was a mathematician and educator. I am still reading the book and will shortly do a longer post. But if you can’t wait to experience some powerful writing,… Read more
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Installing Ubuntu on a new laptop
Recently, I got a new laptop and I had one main job: install the Ubuntu operating system. My dad had given me the USB Ubuntu boot drive, so I went to Windows’ BIOS setup. At first, I didn’t know how to start. But then, I simply searched how to get to the BIOS setup and… Read more
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Calculus: Of the Students, By the Students, and For the Students
We are happy to announce that we are doing a calculus group discussion on the Internet! I have not seriously researched if this the first ever such attempt, but it looks like an uncommon one. Apoorv and I have written about it in detail here. Please take a look and let people know. We expect… Read more
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Sums of Consecutive Integers
Number theory problems can be some of the most difficult problems, but they are usually the most interesting and satisfying to solve. Recently, I was tasked with finding the solution to this problem: Find out which positive numbers cannot be expressed as the sum of two or more consecutive positive integers. The first thing we… Read more
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A Function Composition Problem
A topic that has resurfaced during my undertaking of calculus this year has been function composition. During the year, I have been drawn toward the concept of function composition, something that was evident to my father. One day, as we sat down to begin our class, he posed this problem to me: . Find .… Read more
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Bertrand Russell’s Gem
The functions of a Teacher compared to that of the Propagandist No one can be a good teacher unless they have feelings of warm affection toward their pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what they believe to be of value. This is not the attitude of the propagandist. To the propagandist the… Read more
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When Daddy Was a Little Boy …
Children’s literature has a special place in our hearts. In a way, recognizing it as a separate genre and branding a book as a children’s book is not right because many adults are just grown-up children. The true passion, the apparent silliness, alleged lack of knowledge and timelessness, the adults’ perception of having already experienced… Read more
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Starting a Composting System!
I decided to start composting! It definitely needs a lot of work, but I guarantee you it’s a lot of fun. Previously when I tried it, it turned to a big, smelly mess and I ended throwing out the whole thing. Clearly, I was missing a few things, so I turned to a friend (Gayatri… Read more
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It’s Giving Time!
When the ambience triggers a certain action in us, we say, “It’s in the air.” End of a year on the English calendar (and the Diwali time on the Indian calendar) is one such time when the ambience triggers a sense of giving in you. We are not physically up in the northern hemisphere right… Read more
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Gelfand’s Algebra and an Application of the Greedy Algorithm
One of the joys of working with children learning mathematics (that means all of us) is to witness the accidental discoveries that they make. Let me narrate my experience of that in this rather long post. The only way to learn mathematics is to do it. And doing mathematics is solving problems. In a delightful… Read more
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A (Not-so-) New Steacher
Yes, steacher is not an English word. I just defined it: steach·er| ˈstēCHər noun: a person who teaches with an intention to learn, especially in an environment where freedom of expression is valued (past tense, past participle: steached) Such a person believes in a socratic style of teaching. I have accepted the job of a full-time steacher… Read more
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The Start
This sticky post is done in a hurry, but it tells you about the kind of posts that we will write here. We may occasionally deviate from this “plan”, but we hope to stay true to it in spirit. Experiments about homeschooling our children. Don’t worry, we are not religious people. Thoughts about education, formal… Read more
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My First Blog Post
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken. — Oscar Wilde. This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
Free Learner's School 