Puzzles for fun Do you play puzzles for fun? I certainly do. Sometimes I solve them successfully, sometimes I do not. In either case, it is a good exercise for the brain. It is also a good discussion topic with family. It would indeed be a great idea to have…
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I have not always had a questioning mind. As a child, I would resist the urge to ask questions more than exercise them. It is only during my adult life as a student and teacher of Science that I have learned to shed inhibitions. Over the last couple of decades,…
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Vocabulary through imitation For a child who is beginning to learn to speak, building vocabulary is primarily through imitation. She learns words by observing her surroundings and mimicking the words spoken around her. As the child grows and more conscious learning sets in, vocabulary building becomes a deliberate activity. When…
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Kitchen is a Science lab My husband is very fond of experimenting, especially conducting experiments in the kitchen. A few days ago, while I was away from home, he got the idea to set home-made ‘curd’ (yogurt, ಮೊಸರು, दही). When I returned home in the evening, I saw a vessel…
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Spelling is confusing Learning English spelling is not straightforward. It is confusing to learn and remember all the spelling rules. After spending many years with the English language as a student and professional, I use the language intuitively. If you ask me to explain a spelling rule, I will have…
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Human nature inspires us to make a difference throughout our lives. It might be through our work, our relationships, our hobbies, or even the way we live. I know for sure that the cement that holds Team NumberNagar® together is to make a difference in children’s learning experiences. What does…
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Spelling Rules Have you ever thought that English spelling rules are confusing? I surely have! The correlation between letters and sounds is not straightforward. A single letter can make many sounds. A single sound can be made by many letters or combinations of letters. This makes learning spellings a bit…
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What is my method? I have been a teacher for 2 decades now, I have not consciously reflected on my teaching method often. Lately, I have been watching the early seasons of the TV series Grey’s Anatomy. In one episode, a character (a senior surgeon) asks a new resident in…
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English spellings can be confusing to learn. Given that English has a non-ideal phonemic orthography, the pronunciation and the spelling do not have a one-to-one relation also. Why are put and cut pronounced differently, even though they have the same vowel? This is one of the few common questions that…
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When we think about applications of Science in everyday life, Chemistry in cooking emerges as a natural extension. Cooking is one of the exhaustive applications of Chemistry in our everyday lives. When I was in college, Physical Chemistry was a hard nut to crack for me, especially Thermodynamics. I struggled…
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