Geeks out of the Box

This is a blog about Simon, a young mathematician and programmer, and his little sister Neva. We write this blog together, share their projects and thoughts on their journey towards self-dicovery. They’re growing up in a supportive non-coercive learning environment. We deeply believe in interest-based, self-paced education and have had to move countries to make this possible as a family. Visit Simon’s website at https://simontiger.com/ We are a family from Amsterdam who moved to Antwerp because homeschooling is illegal in The Netherlands. This blog started as https://antwerpenhomeschooling.wordpress.com in March 2016. Over the years, most of our entries have gravitated towards exploring together with Simon as he has developed an insatiable passion for programming, math and science. His sister Neva is treading on his heals. We changed or name to Geeks of the Box in May 2021.

By Geeks out of the Box October 29, 2016

Science Journal app

Simon loves his new Science Journal app he recently found online and downloaded on my Android. The app allows him to investigate movement (by using accelerometers), measure ambient light and sound … Continue reading Science Journal app

By Geeks out of the Box October 29, 2016

I Feel the Heat!

Mom, I’m going to build a heat generator!

By Geeks out of the Box October 29, 2016October 29, 2016

Makey Makey

This is Simon on his way to the Digisnacks class yesterday expecting to get his hands on the Makey Makey. Was a little disappointed after class: didn’t get to do … Continue reading Makey Makey

By Geeks out of the Box October 29, 2016October 29, 2016

Irrelevant Infromation

Continued with Brilliant.org today: irrelevant information word problems and even got one problem on factorials (4!):

By Geeks out of the Box October 26, 2016October 31, 2016

Always happy to teach

It’s late in the evening. While drinking his bedtime tea Simon is teaching his little sister to measure the voltage of various batteries. And he also knows his Ohm’s Law … Continue reading Always happy to teach

By Geeks out of the Box October 26, 2016October 26, 2016

Back to Brilliant

We decided to go back to the wonderful Brilliant.org for our math practices. Did the Estimations quiz yesterday: https://brilliant.org/practice/sat-estimation/?p=1 Brilliant also has many exercises on Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and even … Continue reading Back to Brilliant

By Geeks out of the Box October 26, 2016

Our desktop’s guts

I saw Simon looking at all the ports on the back of the desktop processor this afternoon and asked him if he wanted to take a peep inside. He was … Continue reading Our desktop’s guts

By Geeks out of the Box October 26, 2016

Simon’s invention idea

Simon told me today he invented a new electronics kit that would allow him to “make” any misical instrument he wanted. Outside at the playground he indulged in listing all … Continue reading Simon’s invention idea

By Geeks out of the Box October 26, 2016

Double Blink

Simon changed the default blink LED code to make the LED double blink (cut down on the delay time):

By Geeks out of the Box October 24, 2016October 24, 2016

Turn Table

Today Simon tried to make a turn table. But it didn’t turn out exactly the way he wanted it, because various modules from his LittleBits Synth Kit are acting up. … Continue reading Turn Table

By Geeks out of the Box October 23, 2016

Today’s self written code

Simon has been scrutinizing yet another platform, Particle (producing the Electron, Photon and Core microcomputers https://docs.particle.io/guide/getting-started/intro/photon/ ) and wrote this code online at https://build.particle.io/build/new Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any of their devices to … Continue reading Today’s self written code

By Geeks out of the Box October 23, 2016

Code Academy JavaScript Courses

On Thursday and Friday Simon started a new course on Code Academy, this time in Java Script! The first tasks have been quite interesting. I especially likes the one about moon … Continue reading Code Academy JavaScript Courses