The Pinecone Blog
Essays from Vivian Hobbs on how children learn to write, read, think, and become confident. Drawn from 30 years of teaching kids at Pinecone Active Learning in San Jose.
Why We Still Write by Hand at Pinecone (and the Research That Backs It)
Every other subject is migrating to screens. Handwriting is not. Here is why I still have my students form letters with a pencil in 2026, and what the neuroscience actually says.
Read the essayThe Tipping Point: When Struggling Students Become Confident Ones
After 30 years of teaching, the moment I look forward to most is the one where a worried kid realizes they can actually do the thing they were afraid of. Here is what has to happen for that moment to arrive.
Read the essayHow to Rebuild the Reading Habit in Kids Who Don’t Enjoy Reading
Reading enjoyment collapses in a lot of children around 4th or 5th grade. Once it is gone, most of them do not pick it back up as adults. Here is what I have learned about rebuilding it before that door closes.
Read the essayWhy Writing Still Matters in the Age of AI
Autocomplete finishes your sentence. AI drafts your paragraph. It has never been easier to avoid writing. It has also never been more important that your child learns to do it anyway. Here is why.
Read the essay