We live in a world surrounded by all the stuff that education is supposed to be about: machines, bodies, languages, cities, votes, mountains, energy, movement, plays, food, liquids, collisions, protests, stones, windows. But the way we've been taught often excludes all sorts of practical ways of finding out about ideas, knowledge and culture - anything from cooking to fixing loo cisterns, from dance to model making, from collecting leaves to playing 'Who am I?'. The great thing is that you really can use everything around you to learn more.
Learning should be much more fun and former children's laureate, million-selling author, broadcaster, father of five and all-round national treasure, Michael Rosen wants to show you how. Forget lists, passing tests and ticking boxes, the world outside the classroom can't be contained within the limits of any kind of curriculum - and it's all the better for it.
Long car journeys, poems about farting, cake baking, even shouting at the TV can teach lessons that will last a lifetime. Packed with enough practical tips, stories and games to inspire a legion of anxious parents and bored children, Good Ideas shows that the best kind of education really does start at home.
Author Biography:
Michael Rosen is an acclaimed poet whose many books have won a number of prizes. We're Going on a Bear Hunt has sold over 8,000,000 copies worldwide and he was Children's Laureate between 2007 and 2009. A popular broadcaster, he has presented Radio 4's Word of Mouth since 1996. But he also has a PhD in education, five honorary doctorates and is Professor of Children's Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London. His monthly letter to the education secretary 'Dear Mr Gove', published in the Guardian, has become required reading for parents and teachers.
