In the education of children there is nothing like alluring the interest and affection; otherwise you only make so many asses laden with books.
With the '39 Clues,' we were making history jump out of the page for the readers, so they don't know they're learning. The kids can't put the books down - it's so exciting.
People learn more if they're learning in directly engaging ways.
Just think of the opportunities we can unlock by making education as addictive as a video game. This type of experiential, addictive learning improves decision-making skills and increases the processing speed and spatial skills of the brain. When was the last time your child asked for help with a video game?
We need to make education so much fun that students can't help but learn.
Learning should be engaging. Testing should not be the be all and end all. All students should have a broad curriculum that includes the arts and enrichment. Students should have opportunities to work in teams and engage in project-based learning. And student and family well-being should be front and center.
Good education has got to be good entertainment.
If we set our priority "the removal of all risk", we'll soon have sterile, stagnant, and unstimulating learning environments.
The best teacher is an entertainer.
Entertainment and learning are not opposites; entertainment may be the most effective mode of learning.
I was always trying to do things to make school fun.
Everyone likes to learn history. They just don't like to hear it from a professor looking at notes. They like to hear it like it's from their uncle, and that's how I explain history.
If you don't integrate the technology in a way that's actually fun, the kids don't stay with the play pattern.
I try to craft books that are fun, that are sort of subversively educational so kids learn but they don't really feel like they're being lectured to, and I want kids to always finish one of my books and think, "That was great, where's the next one?"
