Pat W

Cyteen – Too much for its own good

Clocking in at nearly 700 pages, Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh is a tome. The book was originally published as three novels, but Cherryh prefers Cyteen be published as a single story. As much as I support authorial intent, I want to push back on Cherryh’s feelings. Cyteen should be broken up into multiple (moreContinue reading “Cyteen – Too much for its own good”

The Power of Picnics

Families often want to spend more time outside. Hundreds of studies have shown the benefits of the great outdoors. From overall happiness to academic achievement to mental and physical health, time spent outside correlates with higher quality of life. That being said, the REI-inspired family happily hiking through a national park may seem daunting, outContinue reading “The Power of Picnics”

Let’s Go Outside! from Cornell

Today I finished the Let’s Go Outside! How to Connect Kids with Birds and Nature hosted by The Cornell Lab BirdAcademy. Anyone who wants to get young children outside more often will benefit form the course. Of all the ways I could have spent an afternoon, this was one of the best. The best part of theContinue reading “Let’s Go Outside! from Cornell”

Babies and Birdwatching

Preschoolers and older actually. I just like alliterative titles. Children should spend more time outside. There are many benefits such as higher levels of creativity and less depression. One of the major barriers to children enjoying the great outdoors (in my opinion) is lack of knowledge. We never ask children to do math problems withoutContinue reading “Babies and Birdwatching”

Kingdomino in Space

I have decided to try a deep dive into Kingdomino because it is simple enough to easily analyze and (more importantly) my son enjoys playing it. As a skillbuilder, Kingdomino excels at spatial reasoning. The gameplay involves laying tiles to most efficiently build sections of land. The rules as written explain that players must build a 5×5Continue reading “Kingdomino in Space”

The Math of Kingdomino

Kingdomino is a light-weight and highly regarded tile-laying game. The simple rules and strategy make it perfect for families with young children. Kids quickly learn that there is a tradeoff between turn order and selecting the best tiles. If you choose a high-scoring tile this turn and you will almost certainly get the last to choose next turn. ScoringContinue reading “The Math of Kingdomino”

A Board Game Birthday

Over the weekend we had my son’s birthday party at a board game club/school owned by my friend. There were 8 kids, mostly preschoolers like my son but a pair of 10 or 11 year-olds were there, and about 12 parents. My son and I were the only ones who play games regularly. Even so,Continue reading “A Board Game Birthday”

Girls, STEM, and Board Games

The movement to get more girls into STEM is laudable and ongoing. Leaving aside any social and cultural barriers to girls in STEM fields, in Boys and Girls Learn Differently, Michael Gurian claims that male brains are gender-advantaged for spatial and abstract reasoning, and female brains are gender-advantaged for socialization and relationships. There are manyContinue reading “Girls, STEM, and Board Games”

Waiting for the Bottom to Fall Out – The Book of Boba Fett 101-102

I have heard so much negativity about The Book of Boba Fett that I won’t try to lie and claim I am approaching it from an unbiased point of view. I know that important plots points from The Mandalorian happen in Book of Boba which is a trashy and desperate-looking production move. If the creatorsContinue reading “Waiting for the Bottom to Fall Out – The Book of Boba Fett 101-102”

Ahsoka 107-108 The Ship has Sunk

Just when I thought I was back in, they kicked me out. Somehow, the ending of Ahsoka was worse than I feared. I was mostly concerned with Sabine facing any consequences for her decision that allowed Thrawn to return to the galaxy and reunify the Imperial remnants. Not only was this completely whiffed, but thereContinue reading “Ahsoka 107-108 The Ship has Sunk”