June 2nd, 2010
The long summer holidays will soon be upon us. But those endless warm afternoons of childhood may conceal a hidden menace – ’summer learning loss’.
Policy wonks have found that summer learning loss, an established side-effect of long school holidays, is particularly pronounced in some groups:
…children from the poorest backgrounds suffered most with ’summer learning loss’ because they were the least likely to practise reading and writing during the six-week break.
The Education Guardian has reported on plans from think-tank The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) to shorten the long summer holidays. This should interest parents from any wealth bracket – without the right attention even the most expensively educated can suffer.
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April 20th, 2010
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March 4th, 2010
The BBC’s Question time is to host The Maths Factor’s very own Carol Vorderman tonight, to weigh in on contemporary matters of state.
BBC Question Time to host Carol Vorderman, creator of new online maths school The Maths Factor
She is joined by Lord Adonis, Boris Johnson, Shirley Williams, Carol Vorderman and the eternally miserable Will Self.
Vorderman’s presence on the programme has nothing at all to do with the World Maths Day launch of her new online maths school The Maths Factor, absolutely not.
Instead, our Carol has probably been brought on to discuss the odds of a Tory win in the coming elections (given her association with the Conservative Party) and the state of British maths education.
[POST UPDATED 07/04/2010]
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March 2nd, 2010
Former Countdown number-cruncher Carol Vorderman is launching a new online maths school called The Maths Factor, and the website opens to paying customers tomorrow.
From Countdown to The Maths Factor - Carol Vorderman launches an online maths school
We can’t say exactly how The Maths Factor is going to work, but first impressions indicate that Vorderman, lately darling of the Conservative party’s education task force, will be presenting maths concepts to children by video, and then testing them with simple quizzes.
This is potentially a different approach to the online maths tutor behind Maths-Whizz, but when we know more about the service we’ll be sure to keep you posted!
The Maths Factor launches on World Maths Day, tomorrow, when children of all shapes and sizes spend a day hammering maths questions in the name of international competition, and with the aid of unethically large doses of caffeine.
UPDATE, 4th March, 1740: Watch Carol discuss maths on BBC’s Question Time, tonight.
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