Little Coloured Bricks

So you feel the need to give your beloved child an advantage when it comes to the modern real-life applications of practical math, but without having to waste your money on immaterial class lessons that tend to be forgotten after a one-time lecture?

Fortunately, Lego has entered the forays of education, providing you with an indestructible tool to help your young one appreciate and understand math beyond its theoretical complexities. Not being limited to a mere construction toy, Lego has been used as decorations for Cinco de Mayo parties, as jump starters for children’s imaginations, and now it’s a tool for robotics and simple machines as well.

Since the establishment of Lego Education in 1980, Lego has been aiming to provide educators with “complete learning solutions” in the sciences, particularly in math, engineering and technology, by using the Lego Education resources. There is also a Lego Academy that offers teachers with “professional development programs” so that they could make better use of the teaching materials.

And now Lego is providing educators with kits that are just as effective in teaching students without having to undergo training programs developed y the Academy: for $3000 and up, one can get “getting started packages with professional development” on a number of levels, from introductory lessons to advanced techniques and lessons on simple and motorized mechanisms, which are all good for 24 students that will be working in pairs. Also available now are touch sensor packs designed to provide users with more options for integrating touch sensors in their constructions.

Lego has invaded the American educational system, and thank heavens for that! How else can children (and kids at heart!) know how to measure a construction of a wall using math, or better yet, how to build their own heirloom robot using timeless (and almost immortal) Lego parts?