“When I give my students tests, I want to see them figure it out, not remember something,” he says. “You can’t compete with a computer when it comes to facts or storing data. But, the computer is not creative…not a good problem solver.” He believes it’s the person who can combine creative, problem-solving skills with a computer’s information storage capabilities who will succeed in our rapidly changing world.
His philosophy not only governs his teaching, but it trickles down to his own children and other young people as well. It is evident in problem solving classes he teaches to young children as well as his holiday gift purchases.
“Any game where you see a child sitting there trying to figure out the best move is a good game,” he says and he also approves of things that children can work with their hands..
“The number one thing is mental stamina,” Meyer says…”the ability to sit and think for a long time. That’s a rarity among students these days,” he adds.
Games on his gift list:Guess Who - an old game with many spin-offs (Amazon.com lists at least five different versions)Rush Hour – Meyer calls this game “operations research. It’s a new field and you can get a Ph.D. in it.“ The game involves finding the most efficient way to move car and bus-shaped pieces on a grid in order to get a specific car to the exit. Set – a pattern recognition skills game. SOMA Blocks or SOMA Cubes – Introduced in 1936, SOMA blocks are seven blocks that can be arranged into a cube or an unending number of other shapes.Pentaminos - A pentamino is a geometric shape formed by joining five squares with one another edge to edge. Like the SOMA blocks, there are unending combinations.Martin Gardner puzzle books – Aha! Insight and Aha! Gotcha
All of the above games may be found on the Internet. Several of them have online versions that allow a gift giver to test the game before purchasing.
Meyer isn’t too concerned with age recommendations on his game suggestions. His solution is to put the game away if a child is disinterested and bring it out again when the child is more mature.
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