How I reverse-engineered the SHSAT
I decided to break down the SHSAT into its component pieces and figure out what is this test really made off, how did it evolve over the years, and what kinds of skills it really tests for.
Articles
Writing on thinking, learning, and how the mind makes sense of the world.
What should your teen read first? Mapping the hidden difficulty of great literature
If we want to suggest our budding teenagers a classic to read, we may want to do so in a way that will make this reading experience be at the right level of difficulty, neither too easy nor too hard, spurring a life-long habit of reading instead of boredom or frustration.
The real cost of SHSAT prep
Somewhere in Queens right now, two eleven-year-olds are studying for the same test: the Specialized High School Admission Test, aka SHSAT.
The wrong answer is the most interesting thing in the room
The model of education we have in our heads has things backwards. We pour our effort into answers, because answers are what institutions can see and count and file away, but the answer on the page is only the thermometer reading.
The secret behind all good thinking is simple
It is not an exaggeration to say that arriving at simplicity in your thinking is when actual understanding happens. To understand something, you don’t need more facts: you need a simpler explanation.
One thing all school curricula lack (even homeschool)
Most books about critical thinking you can find today are either collections of puzzles or lessons about argument structure and analysis. These are useful things, but they don’t tackle the core problem: developing the child’s ability to understand how the world really works.
