tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62937372518473106302024-02-22T08:02:34.772-08:00Chloe4LearningChloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-56499231719694767852022-02-16T22:32:00.004-08:002022-02-16T22:35:34.443-08:00Matching Reading Capability with Emotional Maturity<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeZFvi_ojWW6VY85dGFdyc0B5jOPuTFQvtQhRHSDg-w8hvMT73BUz2JfOJPbM3VFEMlvOKPOqVTJRh5GG1oC34jaFNjqkEUB9CZIyCdH8qeWYzJO0ITznvgEefR_D1Ejaye7eb9XJbSEYKQe0a2N7f-c_nCMpBq9K6TjoNVQIhLWMtuySWVnca11qMlg=s1920" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeZFvi_ojWW6VY85dGFdyc0B5jOPuTFQvtQhRHSDg-w8hvMT73BUz2JfOJPbM3VFEMlvOKPOqVTJRh5GG1oC34jaFNjqkEUB9CZIyCdH8qeWYzJO0ITznvgEefR_D1Ejaye7eb9XJbSEYKQe0a2N7f-c_nCMpBq9K6TjoNVQIhLWMtuySWVnca11qMlg=w456-h256" width="456" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This blog post offers my suggestions to teachers or parents with a child whose reading capability and thirst for books is often a little out of line with the subject matter of books aimed at their age group. The children to whom I am referring are aged between five and eight and are competent, independent readers. While these children really want to lose themselves in a meaty, wordy text, they do not want to run into content above their maturity level.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The books I recommend below are engaging fictional texts with interesting, well-rounded characters and sophisticated, sometimes humorous vocabulary and phrases. The stories avoid scary or violent scenes or tales of romance found in books for older children. Common to them all is an innocence found in books for younger readers, coupled with a sense of wonder. A lot of comfort comes from familiarity, which is why the list contains so many series. I also put the Roald Dahl books in a separate list because every book of his is a gem but these particular ones really match the criteria mentioned above.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Novels</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh</i> - Robert C. O'Brien </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Firework Maker's Daughter</i> - Phillip Pullman</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Where the Mountain Meets the Moon</i> - Grace Lin</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Varjak Paw</i> - S.F. Said</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Story of the Amulet</i> - E.Nesbit</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Mr Popper's Penguins</i> - Richard and Florence Atwater</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>My Father's Dragon</i> - Ruth Styles Gannett</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Indian in the Cupboard</i> - Lynn Reid Banks</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Alice in Wonderland</i> - Lewis Carroll</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Trumpet of the Swan</i> - E.B. White</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Series</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Wombles</i> - Elizabeth Beresford</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Moomins</i> - Tove Jansson</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>George's Secret Key to the Universe</i> - Stephen and Lucy Hawking</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Mrs Pepperpot</i> - Alf Proysen</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Teddy Robinson</i> - Joan G. Robinson</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Winnie the Witch</i> - Valerie Thomas</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Children of Green Knowe</i> - Lucy M. Boston</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Jasmine Green Series</i> - Helen Peters</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Hardy Boys</i> - Franklin W. Dixon</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Swallows and Amazons</i> - Arthur Ransome</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Roald Dahl</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>James and the Giant Peach</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Danny the Champion of the World</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The BFG</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As a parent, one of the strongest values I feel I have imbibed in my child is a love of reading. I have been fortunate enough to be able to provide him with a large number and variety of books at home and I've also had access to amazing libraries in the schools I've worked within. Playing a central role in my child's reading journey and observing as his tastes develop has been incredibly fascinating and a deep learning experience for myself. While my son spends hours reading by himself, our shared reading time is equally precious. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Something I came across in an article about reading acquisition a few years ago was that children can often be reluctant to read independently because they are apprehensive of the text's content and sometimes fearful of what is coming next. This really resonated with me and I have always been happy to read along with my son when it was felt necessary, often taking it in turns to read. Many times, once I have read a new book, he then knows how events turned out and can read with a sense of comfort and security. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Book characters and their exploits make their way into our daily conversation and I sincerely hope that our shared reading will continue long into his childhood and beyond. I also hope that this list gives parents and teachers some ideas of book titles to recommend for their confident, independent young readers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-14074589112729660732021-10-04T00:28:00.008-07:002021-10-04T00:49:04.974-07:00Boys can Sew Too!<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjR7GYPiURaFZ9YSBjzMSviSxIt_-GopAmk0CS2WzETTIKJdSh7JAKHg7k2yh9x-Qh4BFolpKUkxxcwKipAy8CLEnwyfZJ9BkpRSjgCgoK7Pe7UyNsehOgRZNO4ENdeTw5Da9IpJ41HjR6/s2048/IMG_0722_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1879" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjR7GYPiURaFZ9YSBjzMSviSxIt_-GopAmk0CS2WzETTIKJdSh7JAKHg7k2yh9x-Qh4BFolpKUkxxcwKipAy8CLEnwyfZJ9BkpRSjgCgoK7Pe7UyNsehOgRZNO4ENdeTw5Da9IpJ41HjR6/w358-h390/IMG_0722_Original.jpg" width="358" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-8d8faea9-7fff-8f80-68b8-3ccf3e8c3578" style="font-family: helvetica;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Having ignited a passion for needlework in my son (see my blog post, <a href="http://chloe4learning.blogspot.com/2018/12/" target="_blank">Real Tools and Materials</a> December, 2018) it is wonderful to see him continue to explore different textile arts as he grows older. Now he’s gained mastery over a number of media, he’s able to let his creativity fly and realise his designs with minimal support.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sadly, very few boys are given the opportunity or encouraged to explore crafts such as sewing and knitting so miss out on this creative avenue. Most needlework kits are marketed towards girls, with the usual predominance of pink or sparkly motifs and packaging. There are very few learn-to-sew or learn-to-knit books for kids which are gender-neutral and certainly almost none aimed at boys. Even a trawl through Pinterest or a general Google search brings up very little on this subject.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In general, textile arts rarely feature in school curricula so it is not just boys who are missing out. Is it the thought that needles pose a safety concern for schools or could it be that fewer teachers possess the needlework skills to pass on to young learners? While there has probably been an uptick in people taking up needlework during the pandemic lockdowns, lifestyle changes have made it a much less-practiced skill than a few generations ago.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was interested to read that because of a lack of manual dexterity, traditionally honed through handwork activities during childhood, young trainee surgeons are struggling to master the skills required to perform their job. (BBC, 2018) With the dominance of academic subjects over practical ones, needlework has been pushed to the fringes of the curriculum and often has disappeared altogether.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The benefits of needlework are numerous and serve young learners so well in various areas of their life. To be able to produce something through your own creativity and hard work is a real confidence-booster for children. In a consumer-driven world, being able to exert control over a process, manipulate materials to one’s own design and learn about failure are highly valuable experiences, along with skills and attitudes of problem-solving and perseverance. The delayed gratification and engagement in multi-step or extended processes that needlework demands can be so valuable in an age when so much can be had at the click-of-a-button. I observe that my son can become completely engrossed in a textile project and finds his inner calm through the focused quiet of the activity. For more information about the therapeutic benefits of sewing and knitting check out stitchlinks.com, an organization promoting research into the benefits within mainstream healthcare systems.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are interested in exploring textile arts with a child – boy or girl – check out some of the more successful projects my son has worked on. He has explored hand and machine sewing, knitting and needle felting.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hand sewing and machine sewing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Projects have included dressing-up costumes and accessories, purses and pouches, clothes and other items for toys. With the sewing machine we started off with simple explorations of the settings and learning to coordinate hands and feet.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8udfn5RCsX_-eaXbdwmqireYAdBusxI1r_iIhXvlM74TVUj217LqbCu8WNnbqvfqEJeVmBc0xagqnYVubSQf3VTvX-X7HkH4YLoivXoER1pOKSuixklY9QHYpM1lsvAezEtnVplOo4vX/s2048/IMG_9881_Original+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1832" data-original-width="2048" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8udfn5RCsX_-eaXbdwmqireYAdBusxI1r_iIhXvlM74TVUj217LqbCu8WNnbqvfqEJeVmBc0xagqnYVubSQf3VTvX-X7HkH4YLoivXoER1pOKSuixklY9QHYpM1lsvAezEtnVplOo4vX/w247-h221/IMG_9881_Original+copy.jpg" width="247" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4SywioJSme7WepI_BCaPtlNU1YGqV_hzVO3VMmP0uRpz0Nwr5DNVXx7yjU_9evCWYYxWMPz1OC2kcA0aZFK58foMtys8qo7AjU1AcKbo94EoXFcezueQIA7Pwai98Vlj_pQxebkinwSJ/s2048/IMG_9884_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4SywioJSme7WepI_BCaPtlNU1YGqV_hzVO3VMmP0uRpz0Nwr5DNVXx7yjU_9evCWYYxWMPz1OC2kcA0aZFK58foMtys8qo7AjU1AcKbo94EoXFcezueQIA7Pwai98Vlj_pQxebkinwSJ/w301-h226/IMG_9884_Original.jpg" width="301" /></a></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='485' height='403' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzeGNf_NYfab8JiUEzLiPct4BHKhxR8kdxJt1SnnFyjCQ_6_NGZznx8udmX53AiWiY4Y06cf20cZMdudx1oEg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Learning to thread the machine and wind the bobbin is an important skill to be mastered.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='433' height='360' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxhbHotVGsWThV81jzCOfTK6KwslHuOHoi3BlrEU4966Ln4wl6iB9m0JXZDjTlP3yo5LsXS4WB1ab3mFrfQJg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Patchwork is a relatively easy and highly-satisfying sewing project to do. Rummaging through my fabric collection to pick out pieces for the bunny blanket was very much a part of the fun. Some of those pieces had been saved from clothing items my mother had made when I was little!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVu-NvB-swNAlHfwD1zfUFJF_g0_5tlDPrJ4Va9yAtJtqH87n9a9EnA_XWH8PnWEujBMs6M3VTCCR2i2oPEKXHCbQNy4fH54vbuUlRAwMknqRv_DeqbYXciHVDI6FaOmbBd5DEfQqg8rYo/s2048/IMG_0015_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1314" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVu-NvB-swNAlHfwD1zfUFJF_g0_5tlDPrJ4Va9yAtJtqH87n9a9EnA_XWH8PnWEujBMs6M3VTCCR2i2oPEKXHCbQNy4fH54vbuUlRAwMknqRv_DeqbYXciHVDI6FaOmbBd5DEfQqg8rYo/w328-h512/IMG_0015_Original.jpg" width="328" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have old T-shirts lying around, you can try re-fashioning them with new designs, appliqued on.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjoC-VHOSbaJv7X50zasXvHTaf3gHvllb15Wq-5Dv2dkRW7BVdT57JtHT0y5ep8UnobM8jWJvC2Ucn0hVlWsinjHaKqepBjQqoTPB3l6U2V8S1mFZEbeblPQxGQO8IwmUITlRugV3MoEs/s2048/474583E1-C701-4BF1-9CD1-EB99B783E09E.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjoC-VHOSbaJv7X50zasXvHTaf3gHvllb15Wq-5Dv2dkRW7BVdT57JtHT0y5ep8UnobM8jWJvC2Ucn0hVlWsinjHaKqepBjQqoTPB3l6U2V8S1mFZEbeblPQxGQO8IwmUITlRugV3MoEs/w251-h188/474583E1-C701-4BF1-9CD1-EB99B783E09E.JPG" width="251" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXff4U5lz3tpWEVDSvyzieJMZs3JYVVhO7DlVbhFx8Mj4D2Cs6D1hOAVE1wH1QykG40-w9F7Eq2LOTx0zvbFxsalo548g8qXSuCtowcAiILYzdGU6mSBZR_lawCkduqvgnTJgN5M01Jnti/s2048/IMG_4651.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXff4U5lz3tpWEVDSvyzieJMZs3JYVVhO7DlVbhFx8Mj4D2Cs6D1hOAVE1wH1QykG40-w9F7Eq2LOTx0zvbFxsalo548g8qXSuCtowcAiILYzdGU6mSBZR_lawCkduqvgnTJgN5M01Jnti/w201-h268/IMG_4651.HEIC" width="201" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One useful tip I would share for sewing is to use fabrics which don’t fray and therefore don’t require hemming, such as felt, T-shirt material and some types of velvet. There are quite a few aspects to sewing which are fiddly and time-consuming, hemming being one of them, which children starting out can find off-putting.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-SAh2kMkZBOUDF_-iT-FCMQUplxk7v7rtncI0Nwy0xkE-nZWcrduS9yWlqEjxuwe2UZ2JzACx8XlQyBnjmWhigYAN2lNQvcoDpbqjYiQhSkWnADCrf5hfVKilyAfues7Q8lbghfPYGSl/s2048/IMG_0228.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-SAh2kMkZBOUDF_-iT-FCMQUplxk7v7rtncI0Nwy0xkE-nZWcrduS9yWlqEjxuwe2UZ2JzACx8XlQyBnjmWhigYAN2lNQvcoDpbqjYiQhSkWnADCrf5hfVKilyAfues7Q8lbghfPYGSl/w297-h223/IMG_0228.JPG" width="297" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeak1BwmXaRxDVxYASzuXKqfdHNLLWt5sobpx2vtFmtZReDaHm9TRy_NApkyZ4tRyQS_dwjbprDTYkQoK5KUNqhd1r5lMk0j7yNg-orsc21O9rAZPr9sRbvsdlzFRYBbmcZ-mCtBOnlbWN/s2048/IMG_4562.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeak1BwmXaRxDVxYASzuXKqfdHNLLWt5sobpx2vtFmtZReDaHm9TRy_NApkyZ4tRyQS_dwjbprDTYkQoK5KUNqhd1r5lMk0j7yNg-orsc21O9rAZPr9sRbvsdlzFRYBbmcZ-mCtBOnlbWN/w303-h227/IMG_4562.heic" width="303" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pJhuFU5tEOtJGevTaRLCsvSNrYQY0oFboDo3T-qe-hkH7PCjzgFoeG9lBIHq0ghkWSCidZagrXr8VIPVr3Cw0B-17Yr73tQFDLd5BclakRteAl9aqEF-Nk1WMd8Glg46gNtqBwtE1por/s2048/IMG_0770_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pJhuFU5tEOtJGevTaRLCsvSNrYQY0oFboDo3T-qe-hkH7PCjzgFoeG9lBIHq0ghkWSCidZagrXr8VIPVr3Cw0B-17Yr73tQFDLd5BclakRteAl9aqEF-Nk1WMd8Glg46gNtqBwtE1por/s320/IMG_0770_Original.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGpJ5HgRCNA-nSpJZMhYznUGgPZNlcNOnS7nlpwf1dX_g9GjBIILz44s2CjX4zVr8dY1SDnYCsCdhIM1KM6HhAcHfox4pomk9mmzOcNI0pERl2LxsLxsGVlkbffBA0jzgiBBzX-Alocse/s2048/IMG_3957.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1535" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGpJ5HgRCNA-nSpJZMhYznUGgPZNlcNOnS7nlpwf1dX_g9GjBIILz44s2CjX4zVr8dY1SDnYCsCdhIM1KM6HhAcHfox4pomk9mmzOcNI0pERl2LxsLxsGVlkbffBA0jzgiBBzX-Alocse/s320/IMG_3957.HEIC" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsR_Ul6svWfO3dYMXLYKxVzZ-MdNJXIfnlkOl3qnBDDUPuzSH_xqj0Wup0iIHz6V7dTqXkeK5LmlVw_YzHW27MblOvfLyaDVaNog4AIAw8JbKX2bsgcGbpHR9N3HinAmCduRLDxrwnslYv/s2048/IMG_0734_Original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsR_Ul6svWfO3dYMXLYKxVzZ-MdNJXIfnlkOl3qnBDDUPuzSH_xqj0Wup0iIHz6V7dTqXkeK5LmlVw_YzHW27MblOvfLyaDVaNog4AIAw8JbKX2bsgcGbpHR9N3HinAmCduRLDxrwnslYv/s320/IMG_0734_Original.jpg" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="text-align: right;"> </span></div><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghduXS0rbKGMB7eSY5wJrGHx82Og_PXouBtXUxtPTGeABKiU4SYwkF6BkazSw30WcbSOTHyv0gNdEc3qEtO6QND7duhYxzcWDpC5uQROLDqXtgWFVSik_bMGc2SggC7vo6KaqMti3JNF5r/s2048/IMG_4649.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghduXS0rbKGMB7eSY5wJrGHx82Og_PXouBtXUxtPTGeABKiU4SYwkF6BkazSw30WcbSOTHyv0gNdEc3qEtO6QND7duhYxzcWDpC5uQROLDqXtgWFVSik_bMGc2SggC7vo6KaqMti3JNF5r/s320/IMG_4649.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyD4XJUk2KcSgzjWieULV6XjPBNDlcsIZci3GlYv2SVjVIZRTzNIWGXB2MSqMLE40GAoYkrG0DSZNqTdLwfWn9mjTYZgOh5Oic9J3F4E-qcKCLXT8UOtXfrbTj7L5m5wq6fwGQx-zwoliP/s2048/IMG_3961+copy.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyD4XJUk2KcSgzjWieULV6XjPBNDlcsIZci3GlYv2SVjVIZRTzNIWGXB2MSqMLE40GAoYkrG0DSZNqTdLwfWn9mjTYZgOh5Oic9J3F4E-qcKCLXT8UOtXfrbTj7L5m5wq6fwGQx-zwoliP/w280-h210/IMG_3961+copy.JPEG" width="280" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRmEnUgwXXb-uvB1YkxlwaXJuERk_XC6-GwDGqNuLepI4AdbWY1yC6PwqQWtCJ3I8tL7OUChKemsZcTq7j5I-UB03eHzPN8XxzXeoj9JLUwr5RDu1JODlGT_jeq4kDTFD2pRaMxBzlD5B/s2048/IMG_4650.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRmEnUgwXXb-uvB1YkxlwaXJuERk_XC6-GwDGqNuLepI4AdbWY1yC6PwqQWtCJ3I8tL7OUChKemsZcTq7j5I-UB03eHzPN8XxzXeoj9JLUwr5RDu1JODlGT_jeq4kDTFD2pRaMxBzlD5B/s320/IMG_4650.HEIC" width="240" /></a>. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLnInJbQJ2KN71svFTrBQC6i3d6oM-yA13xs-TQFmcpYmH5WUfDOai9z366lh18IgwFoswQOmC7a-LbqhXl_spVUIBPSluod7c7LKsOwh1O3oAz3lLWaoxS9tDZFwBYBvPihbt7koVKiu/s2048/IMG_4657.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLnInJbQJ2KN71svFTrBQC6i3d6oM-yA13xs-TQFmcpYmH5WUfDOai9z366lh18IgwFoswQOmC7a-LbqhXl_spVUIBPSluod7c7LKsOwh1O3oAz3lLWaoxS9tDZFwBYBvPihbt7koVKiu/s320/IMG_4657.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would also recommend allowing your child to use scissors which do indeed cut fabric. Of course, supervise the use, especially in the early stages, but more importantly, teach your child to handle them with care. Trying to use child-safe or even ordinary scissors designed to cut paper is almost impossible with fabric and does not lead to safe usage. With the sewing machine, the problem can be that the child has forgotten that their foot is still on the pedal and could start sewing without intending to. Reciting the steps of the process out loud helps children to remember the safety processes and to ensure they are mentally present and aware of everything their body parts are doing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGXdWhIKIaP4dTTG9mDGPh4P0fAawyg3zD3KB_TcqAyVazHhKILGLmbsAYExiirWBjg1a4ahBHob1FokfMJIoMtNIK1AJGaSstwRm0QMPCi8kjXQwY8JHxBZIPsI9M2RoySc0UuPMbiMh/s2048/IMG_0754_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGXdWhIKIaP4dTTG9mDGPh4P0fAawyg3zD3KB_TcqAyVazHhKILGLmbsAYExiirWBjg1a4ahBHob1FokfMJIoMtNIK1AJGaSstwRm0QMPCi8kjXQwY8JHxBZIPsI9M2RoySc0UuPMbiMh/s320/IMG_0754_Original.jpg" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ASiQc77JPeGS_KTeGfb3_2ngYHVSGNhjwNnBnZHre6prS0luYseAqg-vUxAHvMUg47NWw2Nk6EbMWzyqi2aIE8BbUitQ4IH0aF68eclNibLjFZW8Mb6O7DU_h3fW-5zJ8N7vUBJ2P05F/s2048/IMG_3954.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1535" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ASiQc77JPeGS_KTeGfb3_2ngYHVSGNhjwNnBnZHre6prS0luYseAqg-vUxAHvMUg47NWw2Nk6EbMWzyqi2aIE8BbUitQ4IH0aF68eclNibLjFZW8Mb6O7DU_h3fW-5zJ8N7vUBJ2P05F/s320/IMG_3954.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjufKSNW0sbtS4ezEHIOGAOEgnhF4jcmWJixyhmw4z6a96vAqBUCB18C1Oul-44u9-OVZpHAa3l_X1ruPvB8G-bX1sf51mhRlPbKyfJHxq7Z1rzWV0zIYMeaCbxRyd8AhirQajhXurMsjX/s2048/16640F88-663E-4ED9-9517-0FB06BEA641C.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjufKSNW0sbtS4ezEHIOGAOEgnhF4jcmWJixyhmw4z6a96vAqBUCB18C1Oul-44u9-OVZpHAa3l_X1ruPvB8G-bX1sf51mhRlPbKyfJHxq7Z1rzWV0zIYMeaCbxRyd8AhirQajhXurMsjX/s320/16640F88-663E-4ED9-9517-0FB06BEA641C.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Knitting</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I first learnt about finger knitting during a visit to a Waldorf school and was really taken by the calm focus I could see in the young children I observed busy engaged in it. I went straight home and taught my son, who’d just turned four, and he was hooked. Many of his toys soon acquired scarves. He still loves this craft – he’s nearly seven – and it’s kept him busy on many a dull shopping trip or journey. He’ll put the wool in his rucksack and walk around, busily knitting – the ultimate craft-on-the go! </span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Knitting with needles has proved to be equally absorbing, though the rewards are not as instant and there seem to be more opportunities for dropped stitches and frayed tempers.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLkbr2VN0XDhvbcxnb-bN5bGmsdIICMJ5sj7Rwc4pPu2pXwcMTYLE7rJUPqZrSNLmFQIQQbB5XSMoNU48T_GLnhbsLuDUVVTObtqB3MuUrR6UgGhQkbZZIIxxu8WoOzPp9fUGmvIWi4_Y/s2048/IMG_4118+Copy+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1483" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLkbr2VN0XDhvbcxnb-bN5bGmsdIICMJ5sj7Rwc4pPu2pXwcMTYLE7rJUPqZrSNLmFQIQQbB5XSMoNU48T_GLnhbsLuDUVVTObtqB3MuUrR6UgGhQkbZZIIxxu8WoOzPp9fUGmvIWi4_Y/w194-h267/IMG_4118+Copy+2.jpg" width="194" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYJDIzBfCpHtWqjIW88p94CN0ExK6lafVnNmIgb32FIE1uUzI9a-cQVFLdx23nNL2EPDnFd9fqN0g1_82NvGnjtSvqh7CnexMcf2u511RkhaFMfYNTPmow7ebTkz_g-kEF_clSsg2kNUg/s2048/IMG_4196.HEIC" style="font-size: 12pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1535" data-original-width="2048" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYJDIzBfCpHtWqjIW88p94CN0ExK6lafVnNmIgb32FIE1uUzI9a-cQVFLdx23nNL2EPDnFd9fqN0g1_82NvGnjtSvqh7CnexMcf2u511RkhaFMfYNTPmow7ebTkz_g-kEF_clSsg2kNUg/w353-h265/IMG_4196.HEIC" width="353" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHvTMilS0vZQoMGOYoecfTThk15AIsRydcNxvoJPSIOUhOxZn_7TI8yxqe6-gR3jZepwDSBzUumqA3L1f77vJItZHl8IY930RQM9ZZsfLq6pXxeq_ukIDXTrgzl7EJqqrQK1OpWW1GUyFm/s2048/IMG_6593_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHvTMilS0vZQoMGOYoecfTThk15AIsRydcNxvoJPSIOUhOxZn_7TI8yxqe6-gR3jZepwDSBzUumqA3L1f77vJItZHl8IY930RQM9ZZsfLq6pXxeq_ukIDXTrgzl7EJqqrQK1OpWW1GUyFm/s320/IMG_6593_Original.jpg" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoJ_oaugWCd-dx7hNFgJv2zbtIQ4o6hpDb_KA591MrvQH6E3ugxGVItmFJYydiigopG0AgqjnkyGdNxQXogiuaAsDTIyJtZi4kw4fWUSrAgJJ8ERixOthqHntSn0naEK5Qw7KOOXO0r0x/s2048/IMG_4655.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoJ_oaugWCd-dx7hNFgJv2zbtIQ4o6hpDb_KA591MrvQH6E3ugxGVItmFJYydiigopG0AgqjnkyGdNxQXogiuaAsDTIyJtZi4kw4fWUSrAgJJ8ERixOthqHntSn0naEK5Qw7KOOXO0r0x/s320/IMG_4655.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Needle felting</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was a craft that was new to me, so me and my son have learnt it together and have taught each other tips as we go. One of the main appeals of needle felting is the complete transformation of the material as you work with it – the soft fluffy wool roving becomes hard and moldable as you fuse the fibers together by jabbing it. Yes, we’ve had a few pricked fingers but it’s never been serious enough to prevent either of us from carrying on right where we left off!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdInetf4rYVP-tM3uuWZEciD2_0WXxbSaY5VaqyHUmZqsqRDhaZJL0E6aRdtmgZ86KU4j9L04v5UHkggH6rtpyEDC3pby3fMmfSBEFwj24Xa_YhC9SaMyNcho0j_LLPArgV6zu0wHlzut5/s2048/IMG_1238_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdInetf4rYVP-tM3uuWZEciD2_0WXxbSaY5VaqyHUmZqsqRDhaZJL0E6aRdtmgZ86KU4j9L04v5UHkggH6rtpyEDC3pby3fMmfSBEFwj24Xa_YhC9SaMyNcho0j_LLPArgV6zu0wHlzut5/s320/IMG_1238_Original.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpl99boe9mk98yEuv0OIi89CyBT5xC981j-9aiTMM-jmSROqcyUxyJaZJrJfApFxH3Az0wWn8RRjtmDJX2J9l8LejTYiz_ErvosGYKriyYmcISgXfspB6mO9WIgcq1qMaNiSsOC-MCxD1p/s2048/IMG_1239_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpl99boe9mk98yEuv0OIi89CyBT5xC981j-9aiTMM-jmSROqcyUxyJaZJrJfApFxH3Az0wWn8RRjtmDJX2J9l8LejTYiz_ErvosGYKriyYmcISgXfspB6mO9WIgcq1qMaNiSsOC-MCxD1p/s320/IMG_1239_Original.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylAM-gsLeUkR9vJFi8wOKlvDBlIpmn3NLpTjUUZKAdDU-t99ot5NM0ML0LdXqSqp_ZoIPN7zgPBxrNE5mYQhzlwgWWD3Kt6YrSWEq9BQPH7Rz_do9lzG9snIVQ9vs9jdSOJm6nNZo_O5v/s2048/IMG_4645.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylAM-gsLeUkR9vJFi8wOKlvDBlIpmn3NLpTjUUZKAdDU-t99ot5NM0ML0LdXqSqp_ZoIPN7zgPBxrNE5mYQhzlwgWWD3Kt6YrSWEq9BQPH7Rz_do9lzG9snIVQ9vs9jdSOJm6nNZo_O5v/w362-h272/IMG_4645.HEIC" width="362" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqUHMDtPO5cG4sFwKcu__QNw43zN6VHczBeHCmUM3M6C5qjd4NQk3J1IFArSAQvdL9r_WV4ka1Sg2hTH8NaaoBXMyANKKbcIIwKGISjwDRMwrYvtWlaelwm53kv9OxVl-HvjP8Sa-gAWi/s2048/IMG_4653.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqUHMDtPO5cG4sFwKcu__QNw43zN6VHczBeHCmUM3M6C5qjd4NQk3J1IFArSAQvdL9r_WV4ka1Sg2hTH8NaaoBXMyANKKbcIIwKGISjwDRMwrYvtWlaelwm53kv9OxVl-HvjP8Sa-gAWi/s320/IMG_4653.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Choosing the fabric can be a fabulous, multi-sensory experience for children too. My son and I love to go along to the fabric markets in places we've been living - India and China - and revel in the colours and textures on display!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUADd_Qm8evGX1dz6RF14qft2W7qirgUirm6xeeGDamzNaIXHZS8NGJVTeNcsth2MLErt-Ms0iYjB4VoyKW-1gtdesazATPgBdoKJsZoE_jNPiaO2ktA1eN2JEa58e5FwFgMz3WMTgr5Zn/s2048/IMG_7492_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1266" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUADd_Qm8evGX1dz6RF14qft2W7qirgUirm6xeeGDamzNaIXHZS8NGJVTeNcsth2MLErt-Ms0iYjB4VoyKW-1gtdesazATPgBdoKJsZoE_jNPiaO2ktA1eN2JEa58e5FwFgMz3WMTgr5Zn/s320/IMG_7492_Original.jpg" width="198" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTE4nfJMMiLEW5VMHebYx1RkVk6000TOHqd6jw22J_9IN9TuTxFsBuEk6ZbbVRWEK4pMBBCEcZRogQ2neDwfUo5toDNCUgSUXkZJV4MHcU0xOsTVza6JSGq0qyG8MMT41B_dorA8EnNhfm/s2048/IMG_2925.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTE4nfJMMiLEW5VMHebYx1RkVk6000TOHqd6jw22J_9IN9TuTxFsBuEk6ZbbVRWEK4pMBBCEcZRogQ2neDwfUo5toDNCUgSUXkZJV4MHcU0xOsTVza6JSGq0qyG8MMT41B_dorA8EnNhfm/s320/IMG_2925.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFtiYiTkOcvSryUq77VP9hj8W1d3GCnBCAKEgBZpi65BK1cPdlhdLYh3nHGjWmGYtkByoRjRse230bV7Cdscfk_GwNMMLTGh7Ms0X4BlAMPBIfo3uyB9WqxHci8eFebVqFYyI91ev7n6i/s2048/F8DE21F0-23AB-448A-A4D8-5C4099AE4CDB.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1258" data-original-width="2048" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFtiYiTkOcvSryUq77VP9hj8W1d3GCnBCAKEgBZpi65BK1cPdlhdLYh3nHGjWmGYtkByoRjRse230bV7Cdscfk_GwNMMLTGh7Ms0X4BlAMPBIfo3uyB9WqxHci8eFebVqFYyI91ev7n6i/w278-h171/F8DE21F0-23AB-448A-A4D8-5C4099AE4CDB.JPG" width="278" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vVhokMKMmAhSMHVhaVEfLpIw_zLnyUOtoFdO_hbyelyY70omzjl4QXZovXK95flWNS7d4pWs5XZM94H_FtqJCWDwrVfOeJy3tummlccXCqF1Y5IcSDVAHOczG6uVeMIzNetEGKnIwKzh/s2048/IMG_7478_Original.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vVhokMKMmAhSMHVhaVEfLpIw_zLnyUOtoFdO_hbyelyY70omzjl4QXZovXK95flWNS7d4pWs5XZM94H_FtqJCWDwrVfOeJy3tummlccXCqF1Y5IcSDVAHOczG6uVeMIzNetEGKnIwKzh/w228-h170/IMG_7478_Original.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that some of these projects give you inspiration to try textile arts with your own children or those with whom you work. It can be a lot of fun for you too; who knows, maybe you’ll learn a new skill or revitalize those that you’ve not thought about since childhood! If that’s too much of a stretch, at least encourage children, particularly boys, to take up textile arts and to view it as something for everyone, regardless of gender.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">References:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46019429</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><br /><p></p>Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-66167096388246957982021-07-06T21:43:00.004-07:002021-07-06T23:00:26.414-07:00The Allure of Playing Cards<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1UYA5wrkMpUOkzwj7Uld_uA6hXWDUzNjXBxLJoHc9vWqCYrHzPexg_zFMAV5p46Y5jGq9jxIMbdCslehAFFVhaB-8yQcEWQXSo7Zo05-bL3y3M83tMOAiFyZCialrReXjU26XRIsovECb/s2048/Cards.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1255" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1UYA5wrkMpUOkzwj7Uld_uA6hXWDUzNjXBxLJoHc9vWqCYrHzPexg_zFMAV5p46Y5jGq9jxIMbdCslehAFFVhaB-8yQcEWQXSo7Zo05-bL3y3M83tMOAiFyZCialrReXjU26XRIsovECb/s320/Cards.heic" width="320" /></a></div><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Some of my warmest childhood memories are of playing cards with friends and family; evenings devoted to lengthy game sessions or wet camping holidays rescued by the familiar yet slightly mysterious faces of the fifty-two cardboard rectangles. The longstanding favourite game in our family is <i>Racing Demon, </i>a high-speed, adrenalin-inducing strategy game which gets all the more demonic the more players that join in. Strangely, I've never met anyone outside of our family who knows this fantastic game, but maybe others call by a different name.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I think that part of the allure of the playing cards is the nomenclature of the games themselves. Names like </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Rummy, Whist, Beggar-my-Neighbour, Solitaire </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">and </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Canasta, </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">to me as a child, seemed derived from other worlds and times, and held a certain magic. Words and phrases associated with the cards brought an added element of intrigue for me: </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">concealed hand, flush, meld </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">and </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">wild card. </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The dazzle of the various shuffling techniques had me hooked from an early age too and I would watch in awe while older player players showed off their skills and the cards rippled in their hands. I must have invested a significant amount of childhood hours in trying to master new ways to shuffle the cards in style!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNL6K3_j6Got8geqQ__Qc-hS2RcOS27twsAvUExuj964suc1zOMkFm1sFkiXg9W4I8XGGIybxU4Ju5yvMyaIQ3WvBE2X-i3RVW1bXZWFs1KP4MbFxPfRZe7AvYNXB88UZph_lGccfGIme/s2048/Card+Hiding.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNL6K3_j6Got8geqQ__Qc-hS2RcOS27twsAvUExuj964suc1zOMkFm1sFkiXg9W4I8XGGIybxU4Ju5yvMyaIQ3WvBE2X-i3RVW1bXZWFs1KP4MbFxPfRZe7AvYNXB88UZph_lGccfGIme/s320/Card+Hiding.heic" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In our family, the learning of certain games is almost a rite-of-passage; this summer I was thrilled to be able to teach my six-year-old how to play <i>Canasta, </i>deeming him 'ready' for the complexities of the game, even though he lacks the strength or dexterity to hold the cards fanned in his hands, and still has to hide and arrange them behind a cushion or large book. Were it not for COVID spoiling plans of travel, he would now be able to enjoy this game with his grandparents, having earned his seat at the card table.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The sheer number of games that can be played with even a single pack of cards is mind-boggling and its appeal cuts across all ages. For anyone who feels that the playing of cards is merely frivolous or possibly iniquitous, they might wish to learn of the many benefits the popular pastime holds. Turn-taking and losing gracefully are skills to be learnt from game-playing and card games themselves offer opportunities to develop strategic thinking and memory capabilities. Some card games rely on quick-thinking or rapid decision-making, using logic and mathematical probability. Others build skills of recognising sequences or sorting, and many have a point-scoring element so totaling the score at the end of the game offers a great way of approaching addition, skip counting and sometimes subtraction and place value. Many classic games can be adapted to practice certain mathematical skills such as addition or multiplication and children can be remarkably creative in designing or adapting games themselves.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGgcN6t65AevkS776EFL1mv_dfx-8DVPq3qRn1lOEWZEu8pSWKtOV7EZomzxrukFFnK8ebs5Rm9y5eewTeiDxErHB3NcXRS1L_Zy_lM0MuesjTYryO0X5DEtdeaV4wNfftlwu_MS8gZhx/s2048/Card+House.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGgcN6t65AevkS776EFL1mv_dfx-8DVPq3qRn1lOEWZEu8pSWKtOV7EZomzxrukFFnK8ebs5Rm9y5eewTeiDxErHB3NcXRS1L_Zy_lM0MuesjTYryO0X5DEtdeaV4wNfftlwu_MS8gZhx/s320/Card+House.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Beyond games, there is the thrill and frustration of building card houses. Patience and steadiness of hand are necessities for the budding tower builder </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">and the ability to control one's emotions to a mere yell when the painstakingly-stacked construction comes crashing down. And of course, for the aspiring magician there are tricks galore to be mastered. I've delighted in passing on the secret of one particularly impressive card trick to my son which was taught to me by my uncle years ago. (Obviously, the Magician's Code prevents me from divulging the technique here! 😉)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lastly, the most prosaic of playing cards' attributes may simply be their portability. A pack or two can be popped in a handbag or rucksack and produces such happiness when their presence is remembered; their weight is far surpassed by their value. Boredom-busters, serious playthings or objects of magic, cards have held significance across time and space and undoubtedly their role will continue to grow and flourish.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here are a couple of links to useful playing card resources I've found helpful as a parent and as an educator:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/try-these-easy-card-games-for-kids-1696142">https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/try-these-easy-card-games-for-kids-1696142</a><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.weareteachers.com/math-card-games/">https://www.weareteachers.com/math-card-games/</a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://www.newarkschools.us/Downloads/Math%20Games%20with%20a%20Deck%20of%20Cards.pdf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">https://www.newarkschools.us/Downloads/Math%20Games%20with%20a%20Deck%20of%20Cards.pdf</span></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p></div></div></div><span><!--more--></span>Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-42481892818922027142020-02-28T01:44:00.002-08:002020-02-28T01:44:50.724-08:00The Mud Racetrack - A Loose Parts Playground Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The universal appeal of mud was demonstrated within the first few hours of setting up our loose parts playground and opening up the garden space; children got stuck in straightaway, making trenches, digging holes, bashing in posts and, once our mud kitchen was established, making all manner of muddy culinary delights. And the enthusiasm certainly hasn’t waned. Every lunch and break time the ‘loose parts garden’, as it is now termed, buzzes with activity as children across the grade levels happily play together. One of the observable wonders is how their play evolves over time and projects take new shapes and directions.</span></div>
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One such project is 'The Mud Racetrack' which has developed from a digging a simple hole to carving out ‘irrigation’ trenches to creating a complex raised racetrack for remote control cars. There are so many aspects to this project which are fantastic - the teamwork of the large group involved, the ingenuity and authentic problem-solving and the perseverance. But is the raw enthusiasm and joy which makes me so incredibly happy, as this was exactly the kind of project I’d hoped to see come about when initiating the loose parts playground.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of our students live in the city, many in apartment blocks, so they really relish the outdoor play opportunities our school offers. To see them so sensorily engaged is such a pleasure. With bare hands they have been scooping the mud, mixing water to the perfect consistency and then patting and smoothing it down for the track surface - just what kids should be doing!</span></div>
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It has also been great fun observing the divergent thinking taking place as they alter designs, make enhancements and solve logistical problems. To line the track edge and help keep the mud in the place the children decided to use stones, of which there is a huge supply in the water feature a little way from the racetrack itself. Ingenious labour-saving ideas have come about for efficiently transporting the stones, including using car tyres which have great storage capacity and, yes, they roll! The tyres came in useful too for flattening the track.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The beauty of a project like this is the scope and freedom the it allows. Very little adult intervention has been necessary and the children have been able to work on it over a substantial length of time. This kind of time is rarely found in school projects as learners are whisked from topic to topic. The children have been able to test out ideas, make revisions, go off on tangents and thoroughly enjoy the process along the way. </span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-85283478962539310842019-12-01T00:41:00.002-08:002019-12-01T00:57:15.731-08:00Using Ed Tech<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of my goals this year was to provide
my students with more opportunities for effective technology use. I have found that
referral to the SAMR model and the International Baccalaureate’s Approaches to
Learning skills (ATLs) have helped to support my planning and to hone in on
transferable skills.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Looking at the SAMR model while choosing to involve Ed-tech
reminds me to question the appropriateness of a particular technology tool and
plan for differentiated learning. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="samr_r2.png" height="210" src="https://www.schoology.com/sites/default/files/samr_r2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Image found at: </b><a href="https://www.schoology.com/blog/samr-model-practical-guide-edtech-integration">https://www.schoology.com/blog/samr-model-practical-guide-edtech-integration</a><b><br /></b><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333;">Image Modified from Original by Lefflerd’s on Wikimedia Commons</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Discussing with students while
they are using or choosing the tool gives the opportunity for them to think
about the skills they are developing. Using the ATL skills list as a basis for
this discussion helps to focus students’ attention on exactly which
transferable skill they are working on and articulate their progress in these
areas.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Image by Chloe Hill</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Over the year I
have refined my use of Padlet and Coggle, both great visual tools for
group-work and storing/sharing of multi-media resources. I have also enjoyed
using GoogleDocs for collaborative writing and peer-editing. Our school uses
ManageBac as a tool for planning, assessment and reporting but this year I have
really utilised its portfolio feature for process journaling. My students are
able to post videos of themselves and annotated photos or plain old text to reflect
upon and share their learning. I can then post my feedback and even have
students respond to this in an on-going conversation. In my Music lessons my
students also use a variety of music-specific programmes, the favourites of
which are GarageBand and HookPad.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sometimes the set-up of these
Ed-tech tools takes a little while but the rewards for the learning process are
great. Most of the tech tools out there take but a small amount of expertise to
figure them out and my students usually get to grips with them much faster than
I do and end up solving their own problems when they run into trouble. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have found that for some students, the level
of engagement is really high when they are given an opportunity to use
technology, especially in extended projects. One very successful project this
year took place over a number of weeks and it felt like a luxury to be able to
dedicate so much time to it. It was a research and presentation project in
which students were free to choose the medium of presentation and encouraged to
use a tech tool which would stretch them in various ways. A few possibilities
were shared with them and resources made available and then they were free to
select and plan accordingly. Both the process and the end products were of a
very high standard as were the levels of enjoyment and participation. Here are
two of the finished creations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Blues</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/3S_5H6Ds0kU">https://youtu.be/3S_5H6Ds0kU</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ragtime</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/Yh2X_6gWp4Q">https://youtu.be/Yh2X_6gWp4Q</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I decided to take the opportunity
to advance my own technology skills so whilst my students were engaged in the
project by documenting the process and then using a tech tool to present it. I based
it around the ATL skills the students themselves acknowledged using.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxzAolhABs_Xm-eHQOlpI4hEE_dL72-gyZI53sNd_2Cint6Xckac58tO-FgS_unuNunnZXKeLadHhXWw-JbUg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For me, technology use in schools
is not about mastery of a particular tech tool, as there are hundreds of
amazing examples out there which will be rapidly superseded by others in no
time at all, but it is about expanding students’ minds to what is possible and
promoting divergent thinking. Creating a classroom culture in which students
are encouraged to think differently and find innovative solutions can be
greatly aided by the many technological tools out there. As educators we need not
even be proficient in using them (although getting involved alongside students
can be very beneficial) but we do need to be open their use and present them as
possible ways for students to explore and learn. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-26033661010238831052019-11-02T07:01:00.000-07:002019-11-03T05:49:37.619-08:00Building a Learning Community: Involving Parents<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With the heightened emphasis on
the learning community in the International Baccalaureate's Enhanced PYP, we have been aiming to reach out to
parents in various different ways at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, India.
Adding to other long-standing engagements such as parent involvement in school
events, participation as guest speakers and taking feedback through surveys and
questionnaires, we have explored bringing parents on-board in some new ways of
late. These include learning alongside their children, sharing their perspectives
on our curriculum and contributing to our resource bank through item donation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many times our parents have come
in for sessions led <i>by</i> our students
but we recently invited parents in for a day of activities, learning <i>alongside</i> their children. Our ‘Design
through Literature Day’ provided parents the opportunity to learn with their
children as they explored various design and technology projects stimulated by
the reading of a selected picture book. Extravagant sandwiches were made,
inspired by <i>The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch</i>,
fantastical structures were constructed after reading, <i>Brick, Who Found Herself in Architecture</i> and Julia Donaldson’s, <i>The Paper Dolls </i>inspired beautiful dioramas
and models of additional characters.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6VgkWQ7wwcY26ouSy0Os-wqE0xh2uR8E1R9z8WVia3dxOR5qL6sW_h4sEzfUNHlEPvF3aAQQUSwiJKWDRPrLBkqOQrkBE3iHf6dOeJpH-vEeI6CQkmVf2aEmMLTDTsTkdzdQQnS13DnA/s1600/From+Skitch+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6VgkWQ7wwcY26ouSy0Os-wqE0xh2uR8E1R9z8WVia3dxOR5qL6sW_h4sEzfUNHlEPvF3aAQQUSwiJKWDRPrLBkqOQrkBE3iHf6dOeJpH-vEeI6CQkmVf2aEmMLTDTsTkdzdQQnS13DnA/s320/From+Skitch+2.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Father of Grade 3 Student Reading to Other Parents and their Children </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo Credit: Nivedita Paul</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2ZB2NVVZ6LFFaxOqTiTvld3KUrd5b89eAH2w5ZF2ex5PiL_nh2Gzx2rfuBXFTD7mWwk-BYJjB5N1iV0wxwIxI9BefPvsC2b_bDFMbdkDMdn-irR36kBDRo3GQxdjyGDmnG0o2nhI_XSh/s1600/From+Skitch+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2ZB2NVVZ6LFFaxOqTiTvld3KUrd5b89eAH2w5ZF2ex5PiL_nh2Gzx2rfuBXFTD7mWwk-BYJjB5N1iV0wxwIxI9BefPvsC2b_bDFMbdkDMdn-irR36kBDRo3GQxdjyGDmnG0o2nhI_XSh/s320/From+Skitch+1.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mother of Grade 3 Student Making an 'Upside Down' City</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo Credit: Nivedita Paul</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvWsMXwTKwiFXqkpU1WDPU8MsmsZxF3Mcn80Szwi1_ebosAF8_zyAsQuo95xRI6rudpQslRKidIiKXmhe1jAizDP9zx32ZFNnVu3gjAap6E1Gz_dcmAEtupLROTPgRQqY5yP7nkteNcog/s1600/35fd7a76-62e0-4d95-8593-02534c143397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvWsMXwTKwiFXqkpU1WDPU8MsmsZxF3Mcn80Szwi1_ebosAF8_zyAsQuo95xRI6rudpQslRKidIiKXmhe1jAizDP9zx32ZFNnVu3gjAap6E1Gz_dcmAEtupLROTPgRQqY5yP7nkteNcog/s200/35fd7a76-62e0-4d95-8593-02534c143397.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Floating City</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo Credit: Nivedita Paul</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Air City</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are always keen to get
feedback on our programme from parents and regularly ask for their opinions. At
the end of a unit our teachers will ask for parent views on how the unit went
and what they might like to see in the future. In each orientation session we
get some good data on parental concerns and clarify areas of confusion. At the
end of the last academic year at the time of our annual curriculum document
review, we tried something new, which was to invite parents in to contribute to
the Programme of Inquiry review. Although, admittedly, the choice of parent was
fairly undemocratic, we aimed to get a spread of viewpoints by inviting parents
whose expertise came from diverse backgrounds. The process of conducting the
review along with parents was beneficial in many ways. While teachers were
presented with fresh perspectives on old units and were challenged to defend
why particular components held relevance, parents felt validated by their
contributions and gained a much deeper understanding of the complexities
involved in designing a curriculum framework. Both parties found the experience
enriching and learnt so much from each other so we will definitely we
continuing the practice in each annual curriculum review.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJT0I4srgiI-vRLdXEbVubKlnqccKein3SK8FVchjZYKa6853x5KZLiK926GR4n4p1lPD_qgrWYDd8LPVufh8vfrCD8TJDmwOITCb4PhnBXJWUhgkajXI3YM3VfMioadBMmB6xnQ5Rmqy/s1600/From+Skitch+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1280" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJT0I4srgiI-vRLdXEbVubKlnqccKein3SK8FVchjZYKa6853x5KZLiK926GR4n4p1lPD_qgrWYDd8LPVufh8vfrCD8TJDmwOITCb4PhnBXJWUhgkajXI3YM3VfMioadBMmB6xnQ5Rmqy/s320/From+Skitch+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One big focus area this year has
been re-imagining our understanding of ‘play’ and, along with many other
play-related initiatives we have been developing our outdoor play spaces. We
decided that the enhancements might have more impact on the learning community
if we involved students and their parents in the donation of items to enhance
the playground. Our first donation drive so far has been items for our mud
kitchen, with parents sending in all kinds of pots and pans, bowls and spoons
which the children have joyfully utilised making mud soup and mud pancakes and
more. The latest request to go out is for interesting-sounding items from which
to create a sound wall and other outdoor experiential music stations. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These examples represent a new
commitment we are making towards enlivening and strengthening our learning
community. We already have an incredibly supportive and involved parent body
and hope to further bolster this essential relationship in various innovative ways.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-66566487174311206362019-10-28T04:40:00.000-07:002019-11-03T05:57:32.757-08:00Snapshots of Play<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Photo Credit: Mita Mohanty</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In August of this year we launched our <a href="https://chloe4learning.blogspot.com/2019/08/developing-vision-for-play-time.html">play initiative</a> in the Junior School, building upon some earlier moves in this direction the previous academic year. Three months in, we can see some tangible successes. Dedicating the last lesson of the day to play - a time for curriculum outcomes to be explored explicitly through playful approaches - and also re-envisioning our lunchtime play has really made a difference.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the main aims of our re-look at play was to increase the hours spent in play outdoors, either unstructured or teacher-directed. Even though the weather has been unseasonally hot and humid, everyone has made efforts to plan for time outdoors and, for some teachers, this is now becoming an integral part of the day. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A small investment in play equipment and some simple storage solutions has made play time so much more attractive for our children. Having a hundred-acre campus really helps too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The garden area, with the recent addition of a mud kitchen still proves to be a firm favourite across the age ranges. There has been an on-going project of trench-digging which has captivated various groups of children as they delight in digging a watercourse and an ever-widening pond. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo credit: Sheila D'Souza</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Photo Credit: Mita Mohanty</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Play time offers the opportunity for strengthing relationships between children and adults and many teachers have been playing alongside the students at break time. Teachers have been building dens, skipping, playing ball games, dancing and enjoying Indian wrestling to name just a few activities. What an energising way to spend a break time!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZzneFnfDORGI5c9uWa3xDeFwLaSHeSO9nyJs7ZHV7sMl5JfpWnkDxiESNgHXlmffxs2bqo4_0n1WOgf1rxd-mpSOVLE4eL6vp70MrRn-4T3iB1zLf_HmTi73cDQbXecKhtL1yIRmbvw2/s1600/Dance+fun+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="932" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZzneFnfDORGI5c9uWa3xDeFwLaSHeSO9nyJs7ZHV7sMl5JfpWnkDxiESNgHXlmffxs2bqo4_0n1WOgf1rxd-mpSOVLE4eL6vp70MrRn-4T3iB1zLf_HmTi73cDQbXecKhtL1yIRmbvw2/s320/Dance+fun+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Latha Kumar</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The dedicated 'play time' at the end of the day has impelled teachers to think of creative ways to explore academic areas. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Grade 5 students, in their unit of inquiry on 'Innovation' explored buoyancy, weight, balance in their designs and prototypes of rafts made from plastic jerry cans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Grade 4 students, regularly to be found outdoors doing Maths, explored 'frog-jumping' with empty number lines outdoors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Language lessons can be made more fun with the simple addition of some costumes.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iMV5SveHdlpdYRYZLGOwjduDpFCX8kdOF-1fWzFcSDZKavHBhTKPzMrt9ZYLSh15jf7T4mSUKDKfmzqi6Ym_c5yJpWPAake8elvxv0KNrcJlMNXn7wIteuTQ4d56OHvMdhXXE05WUepz/s1600/Dr+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="1110" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iMV5SveHdlpdYRYZLGOwjduDpFCX8kdOF-1fWzFcSDZKavHBhTKPzMrt9ZYLSh15jf7T4mSUKDKfmzqi6Ym_c5yJpWPAake8elvxv0KNrcJlMNXn7wIteuTQ4d56OHvMdhXXE05WUepz/s320/Dr+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Photo Credit: Meena Uniyal</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Skills like problem solving, communication, social skills and teamwork are obvious spin-offs from play. Here, some of the youngest members of the school were working out how to get from one side to the other with limitations:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjg2lz3gqB7Hpohyphenhyphendqd-mi4W45VVGkYvW6JguyAZ08RFLELkRGZjhdRt3-XfkgjTtao0K2BkaHf6_fHygeRUNYdPmejrecEjcEvu35onA53TiifbPfdMnBRIunI5B_dw65JfvoVrjjrTc/s1600/Problem+solving+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="783" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjg2lz3gqB7Hpohyphenhyphendqd-mi4W45VVGkYvW6JguyAZ08RFLELkRGZjhdRt3-XfkgjTtao0K2BkaHf6_fHygeRUNYdPmejrecEjcEvu35onA53TiifbPfdMnBRIunI5B_dw65JfvoVrjjrTc/s320/Problem+solving+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo credit: Rozina Syal</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxVnsGpqZCZmw5cWa4ncaoF1-a83MYEgpRJC1U13xRzkWrPLctf213rDlpGlzlRNzVsOtt50MWYjl0G_4ap8_QLDX4zczvNHp2ma4-Fs3RbvlvnOkkALlYIjp9vKp-ZibyKQup2H1m2bO/s1600/Problem+solving+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="765" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxVnsGpqZCZmw5cWa4ncaoF1-a83MYEgpRJC1U13xRzkWrPLctf213rDlpGlzlRNzVsOtt50MWYjl0G_4ap8_QLDX4zczvNHp2ma4-Fs3RbvlvnOkkALlYIjp9vKp-ZibyKQup2H1m2bO/s320/Problem+solving+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo credit: Rozina Syal</span> </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Getting parents on-board with play and outdoor learning is going to be vital to the success of this initiative so we are taking every opportunity to share our approaches with them, engaging them in playful learning and/or outdoor activities when they come for orientation sessions.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-W7zRd4U-IFWcteTMN2uqZiS9JsFMXuiGpyvFdypeCyV_S7IiKXeISe0vBNAavTPSyH9On-cBODpODDPsR8iPVdv86deQrdfXRkUVnFwafG4qZZKjuK-Q2UiK3JbxTqErrGKFQxLUbtT_/s1600/Parents+at+play+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1280" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-W7zRd4U-IFWcteTMN2uqZiS9JsFMXuiGpyvFdypeCyV_S7IiKXeISe0vBNAavTPSyH9On-cBODpODDPsR8iPVdv86deQrdfXRkUVnFwafG4qZZKjuK-Q2UiK3JbxTqErrGKFQxLUbtT_/s320/Parents+at+play+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo Credit: Ekta Lilani</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgey0KUkHgLI2c32jfBdy2R9IYp5RL3VeGE1oJ_DxlAvdjFGDuqHQ5yrQRpEULWhbCdy3B2irXtK4wcJNeHtxqJGR9gOLBFBf65w7-ZH89fAGNVVOWUSy2cRsEabBosDoZhT1X3THjzJYBX/s1600/Parents+at+play+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="1208" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgey0KUkHgLI2c32jfBdy2R9IYp5RL3VeGE1oJ_DxlAvdjFGDuqHQ5yrQRpEULWhbCdy3B2irXtK4wcJNeHtxqJGR9gOLBFBf65w7-ZH89fAGNVVOWUSy2cRsEabBosDoZhT1X3THjzJYBX/s320/Parents+at+play+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Photo Credit: Ekta Lilani</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These are all just snapshots of the wonderful experiences children in our Junior School are having on a daily basis. Of course, there are challenges in embracing this approach but I'm sure that in a year or so, those teachers who have really taken it on whole-heartedly will be feeling very pleased with what they have acheived. As the leader of the initiative, I also have low moments, not in doubting the validity of play or outdoor learning, but because of the seemingly slow pace of change. I have worked through the process of change with various projects in this context and others and with each project witness the same patterns of behaviour and have learnt to anticipate and plan for the difficulties that will inevitably arise. What I can say with full confidence is that we are making real and lasting changes in our students' experiences of childhood, which I personally feel is priceless.</span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-42436887763130802902019-09-04T05:10:00.002-07:002019-09-04T05:10:19.386-07:00Supporting Learners in Becoming Independent <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Observing
my own teaching approach develop over the years, I have seen myself move from
fast-paced, highly structured lessons, packed with varied teacher-led learning
engagements to slower, freer lessons in which students explore ideas at their
individual pace, continually reflect on their learning and find which
approaches to learning best suit themselves. I’m still on a journey with this
but I think I’m gaining a much better understanding of how better to support my
students to be successful, independent, learners.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One
key understanding I have come to is that, even though my students may relish
the idea of freedom to learn, they do not necessarily posses the wherewithal to
use the freedom effectively. They can actually find the freedom baffling and
lose themselves under their own and others’ expectations. My job now is more
weighted towards supporting students to work within their ‘zone of proximal
development’ (Vygotsky, 1978) and to help them set their own level of
challenge. I am learning to anticipate issues which may arise, particularly in
students who have had little opportunity to develop agency. Some things which I
have found aid in supporting students as agentic learners are:</span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being comfortable with struggle and failure<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teacher and learner reflection<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teacher-learner discussion and feedback<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
first point, being comfortable with struggle, is as much something for the
teacher as it is for the student. It is so easy to step in when I see my student
making errors or getting frustrated when she/he doesn’t find an answer
immediately. I have to deliberately hold back and allow my students to work
through a problem at their own pace. Maths Professor Jo Boaler, draws upon the
<a href="https://www.youcubed.org/evidence/mistakes-grow-brain/">latest findings from neuroscience about the brain actually growing and creating new pathways through mistakes</a>, as she promotes learning through struggle. For
this to be most effective the teacher must create a classroom culture which
supports mistakes and confusion as an important part of learning.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
tool which complements struggle and failure is reflection.
This metacognitive tool is extremely powerful, both at an individual and group
level. It is so important to be able to articulate the process of learning, to
make connections with prior learning or with the larger conceptual framework,
to critically analyse what led to success or failure. Again, t</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">his
process of reflection is as much a tool for the teacher as for her students.
Anecdotal record-taking is so valuable for the educator who strives to gain
real insight into the learning that is taking place. The subject I teach is
music, so it is very helpful for students to audio/video record themselves and
refer directly to the recording in their written reflections or reflect within
the recording itself. For any subject area, exploring audio/video recordings
for reflections is worthwhile because it impels the learner to be concise and
to-the-point and it encourages ways of demonstrating understanding beyond
written form, perhaps using objects or physical movement. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Entering
into feedback discussions with students is often supported by the
reflection. Reading my students’ reflections and giving them written/audio
recorded feedback informs my own anecdotal record-taking. I can then use my
given feedback as a starting point for talking and listening to the student,
probing further into misconceptions, making suggestions for improvement and
aiding students in planning next steps. What I am now going to commit to this
year is one more step in the feedback loop - ensuring that students reflect on
the feedback given. I have found that those students who are doing this
instinctively are the ones making the most personal progress. Ensuring that <i>all</i> students are doing this as a
regular habit is going to be one of my goals for the upcoming year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These
three tools are not quick fixes or magic bullets; rather, just like the
aforementioned slower-paced lessons, they are slow-burn, long-term-use
supports for the learning and teaching process and require a good amount of
refinement to be truly effective. Building self-efficacy in students certainly
is a challenge but is perhaps one of the most valuable gifts we can give as
educators.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">References:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(n.d). Mistakes Grow Your Brain. Retrieved from https//.youcubed.org/evidence/mistakes-grow-brain/</span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</span></span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-88111050044914102042019-08-28T02:59:00.000-07:002019-10-13T02:47:01.522-07:00Nature Tables<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Bringing
nature into our home is something which my son and I have always enjoyed and we
take great pleasure in showing off our finds on a permanent nature table. Creating a designated area
like this puts value on his curiosity and love of nature, on his choices as regards
what and how things could be presented, plus it puts value on the items
themselves.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My role in this ongoing project is to support him with finding props which might aid him in designing an interesting display - a new cloth, a plant, or suggestions for ways he can use his own toys to add something different. Many times when we greet each other at the end of a school day, one of us is excitedly waving a new treasure we've found, ready to incorporate it into the current display or start off a brand new one. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiiqthKxOR2zWjT54xpm61U7gpXkO9i4WPN92cx4sAtIeAfjkcOxPtJ7IkaN_0ZFblTT3-VaoeNsmLWT4yHw9hAd5KmXs-R5iZaZmcg0Y8faSwMyC4ULz1umJf8TbR1gjT5JZoZJiw0kd4/s1600/2aca6ce9-c7c2-4e38-8462-a348322efb4c+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiiqthKxOR2zWjT54xpm61U7gpXkO9i4WPN92cx4sAtIeAfjkcOxPtJ7IkaN_0ZFblTT3-VaoeNsmLWT4yHw9hAd5KmXs-R5iZaZmcg0Y8faSwMyC4ULz1umJf8TbR1gjT5JZoZJiw0kd4/s400/2aca6ce9-c7c2-4e38-8462-a348322efb4c+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The tables reflect both the changing seasons and the changes in areas of interest. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">As he grows my son becomes more inventive with the way he chooses to display items.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Sometimes the table has a theme which guides our collecting process. The table below was limited to feathers and bark. Looking for just these items really gave our walks focus and a very deep appreciation of the detail and infinite range of textures and colours these presented. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Exploring variation of levels has been something of interest since the early days of these creations, as have patterns and symmetry. One particular display might last for weeks, with new items being added and old ones moved or removed altogether. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This one below shows the interest in the method of display. Interlocking wooden slats have been used to create a long, stepped showcase. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">This year my son has really been enjoying exploring writing and the nature table has given him a purpose for doing so - carefully labeling</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"> the items for others to see.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Of
late, the table has reflected his collection of rocks and gems. It is so
wonderful to see him carefully positioning each one 'just so' and while
passionately discussing each one's features and name.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The
display below evolved from a life-size showcase of gemstones, into a
small-world gemstone museum for his play people. He enjoyed moving his mini
museum visitors around from rock to rock, and voice their awe of the giant gems
on display with cries of 'Wow! Look at that enormous crystalised agate!"
or "Ooh, see the ginormous iron pyrite!".</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Personally,
I have really enjoyed spotting items while out and about which I think would be
of interest and I have certainly deepened my appreciation of the bounty
provided daily by nature. As for my son, I hope that this has helped to develop
his aesthetic sense and inventiveness plus that he feels that his passion for the natural world is being valued by
significant others. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-5107061659400914122019-08-10T03:49:00.000-07:002019-08-10T23:54:26.790-07:00Developing A Vision for Play Time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">INSET Day of Outdoor Fun Begins</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the tail end of the last academic year I
simultaneously launched the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6293737251847310630#editor/target=post;postID=7400366624590482413;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=7;src=postname"><span style="color: orange;">Loose Parts Playground</span></a> and claimed and opened a
large <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6293737251847310630#editor/target=post;postID=6861144083233697685;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=5;src=postname"><span style="color: orange;">garden space</span></a> for the Junior School. Both were an
instant hit with the students. Along with many discussions and mini workshops
on play last year, and the set-up of our maker space, we had begun, as a staff,
to re-think our approach to play time.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This August’s INSET provided me with the platform to share
my vision of how we can really take play to the next level. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are numerous amazing examples of play facilitation but there were two that I was itching to share with the PYP team. The first is of </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm7IfAEsjqI" style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">St Michael's School</span></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in the UK, whose play time has been completely re-vamped by OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning), an organisation which supports schools in improving the quality of play.The second example is of the truly inspirational approach to kindergarten by </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV0JIjxisUc" style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">Anji Play</span></a><span id="goog_1808291841" style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/" style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"></a><span id="goog_1808291842" style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, a revolutionary programme being rolled out across the rural Chinese province of Anji. The two examples share many commonalities - an incredibly rich variety of play materials, stimulating all areas of children’s development, respect for children’s capabilities, acknowledgment of the importance of being outdoors, and the underlying rationale of returning to children the right to play. The PYP teachers were as wowed as I was and the two videos provided the inspiration for refreshed thinking about our own re-envisioning of play time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the first things we agreed upon was that we needed
more time for play. Our existing schedule allowed for twenty minutes of morning break
and forty minutes at lunch but that included eating too, so perhaps, more
realistically, twenty minutes tops for those that gobbled their food down fast. So
we agreed to add on ten minutes to the lunch break, moving Drop Everything And
Read time to earlier in the day. Then (and I’m still beaming about it) the BIG
change: we have dedicated the last lesson of the day (fifty minutes!) to play time
too, so a total of an hour and twenty minutes minimum per day, not including scheduled P.E. time. It is far behind what the varying recommendations by world health bodies give but it is a huge step in the right direction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, merely allocating more time for play is not
all that is required for a radical shift. It requires careful planning and a
change in attitude on behalf of the facilitators. Firstly, rather than
playground duty being just that, a ‘duty’, in which the teachers huddle
together and sip tea while casually making sure no-one gets hurt. Now we have
to see ourselves as playworkers, enablers of playful activity, ready to play
alongside and with the children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The INSET session unlocked memories of favourite games,
childhood adventures experienced and the associated feelings of being
thoroughly absorbed in play. While we played Hide-and-Seek, searched for words
hidden around the playground, sang songs and built dens we stepped into the
shoes of children for a brief moment. Re-imagining play requires us to step
outside of our adult selves and experience things as children do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmDAbbH11xk7lfg-uctBpurTqPje-GqUHXHwDgP6p6b3FVUu3FqTLnI7zriJ1MYXxsFSKb2m_zSS6nFFTrldiMjwUy6eJ6vSq2KxzQ0KVsZXLMvzOimccowGPokdJaGjvXIZjouRzgSf0/s1600/Den-Building.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="428" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmDAbbH11xk7lfg-uctBpurTqPje-GqUHXHwDgP6p6b3FVUu3FqTLnI7zriJ1MYXxsFSKb2m_zSS6nFFTrldiMjwUy6eJ6vSq2KxzQ0KVsZXLMvzOimccowGPokdJaGjvXIZjouRzgSf0/s400/Den-Building.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Den-Building</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DtzY8DyBwJdatUYU17or-aibbWdlG2AbAm2o-CMD07gVVlZpMwUDCzmQzjTT6YfuFtD_Jq-xQk9XIKMV8fjbJHcmH-yjcId31XRmvsgCmBaLJqPzTd2vuIJvMY-kiHvEUvqZqqTAXhSV/s1600/Hide+and+Seek.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="675" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DtzY8DyBwJdatUYU17or-aibbWdlG2AbAm2o-CMD07gVVlZpMwUDCzmQzjTT6YfuFtD_Jq-xQk9XIKMV8fjbJHcmH-yjcId31XRmvsgCmBaLJqPzTd2vuIJvMY-kiHvEUvqZqqTAXhSV/s320/Hide+and+Seek.JPG" title="Hide and Seek" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hide and Seek</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0b-1t1Zvvs7coRmq3egxR_8gG89vBr-xT_CwkmGG7_2mKP8DUDtTAZEpDUGF0Z2PJoVF53qjZCVo7SS8IDgdv2MoFobvZxFqvugPEGOM3uKLd3DwpVscW0f7RmPcELeEEg-HvTDTqoHH/s1600/Sentence+Treasure+Hunt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0b-1t1Zvvs7coRmq3egxR_8gG89vBr-xT_CwkmGG7_2mKP8DUDtTAZEpDUGF0Z2PJoVF53qjZCVo7SS8IDgdv2MoFobvZxFqvugPEGOM3uKLd3DwpVscW0f7RmPcELeEEg-HvTDTqoHH/s320/Sentence+Treasure+Hunt.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Build-a-Sentence Treasure Hunt</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrr1eivCtEZR_UZofr5hBqayZNPxiFcuzTROAvm70CHjQZrCzyNXeXv2-CzmQVQwS7X6-iQEjxO6CETHPLLFu3_VBR2J4Nm-X4N0Hl19XUNzhBfs8G5VlOanV8e14SvmaI9zsmP9MRC2DD/s1600/Word+Sentence+Treasure+Hunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="1157" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrr1eivCtEZR_UZofr5hBqayZNPxiFcuzTROAvm70CHjQZrCzyNXeXv2-CzmQVQwS7X6-iQEjxO6CETHPLLFu3_VBR2J4Nm-X4N0Hl19XUNzhBfs8G5VlOanV8e14SvmaI9zsmP9MRC2DD/s320/Word+Sentence+Treasure+Hunt.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Build-a-Sentence</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So how will this translate into change at playtime?
Teachers were able to think of wide possibilities for play opportunities
including art activities, dance, drama, classics like skipping, hula hoop and
Chinese elastic, den-building, gardening and many more. Just as the Loose Parts
Playground launch posed challenges for staff and students and essential
agreements were formed, this new approach to play time will necessitate new
behaviours and continuous reflection. Children certainly don’t require
instructions on how to to play but they can really benefit from passionate
adults who can set up imaginative experiences and share in the unbounded joy of
play.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBd4Mc4kgUYYWbJQRlBGnhsmLSaqoT0jIkm6JjrSQZZiYdv-k9Qylvzoctt_dTWlsk2176M1cP7AP3n8aNLAdsMynHWj3RD24Qd4Az4gjq3FaGT9aOG57g18bg6pz2jtXYbjYDkucx0HDP/s1600/Play+Activities.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBd4Mc4kgUYYWbJQRlBGnhsmLSaqoT0jIkm6JjrSQZZiYdv-k9Qylvzoctt_dTWlsk2176M1cP7AP3n8aNLAdsMynHWj3RD24Qd4Az4gjq3FaGT9aOG57g18bg6pz2jtXYbjYDkucx0HDP/s400/Play+Activities.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lunchtime Play Activities</span></td></tr>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Having brought the school management and the staff on board,
the next step is to bring parents into the discussion and make them a part of
the vision. As well as hoping for donations in the form of unused household
items to supplement the play resources, we will need them to understand the
thinking behind our pedagogical choices; our belief about the health benefits
of play (particularly outdoors), our stance on risk, our understanding of ways
play develops affective and cognitive skill plus our support of the child’s
fundamental right to play.</span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-1349038400484636642019-05-16T06:03:00.002-07:002019-05-16T06:11:55.007-07:00Sedentary Activity Trends in Preschool Children<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of late, I have been reading a
large amount of literature on the importance of play, outdoor learning and
physical activity levels of children, but the findings referenced in the 2012
research study by Copeland, K. et al really made me stop and think hard: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“<span style="background: white; color: black;">Children
spend most (70%–83%) of their time being sedentary in child care—even when
excluding time spent in naps and meals—and only spend 2% to 3% of the time in
vigorous activities”.</span></b><span style="background: white; color: black;">
What irreparable damage are we doing to our young children, setting up such patterns
of behaviour for their lives ahead? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Figures from the World Health
Organisation report a tenfold increase in worldwide childhood obesity rates in
the last four decades. The report published in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lancet </i>in 2017 found that the number of obese children and adolescents
rose from 11 million in 1975 to 124 million in 2016 and that an additional 216
million children were overweight. Along with the report the WHO published
guidelines which makes recommendations to reduce these obesity figures,
including a reduction in ‘sedentary leisure activities by promoting greater
participation in physical activity through active recreation and sports.’ But
it seems that the opposite is happening and, most disturbingly, from the
earliest years of child care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">The study by Copeland et al. </span>involving 49 child-care
providers working in 34 child-care centres in Ohio, U.S.A, sought to find out
the reason behind these and other such striking statistics. They found three
main barriers to physical activities in child care centres to be 1) injury
concerns, 2) financial constraints and 3) a focus on ‘academics’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With the study having been
conducted in the U.S. the first barrier, ‘injury concerns’, is undoubtedly a
result of the litigious culture that has grown up there and is fast spreading
to the rest of the world. Also, the rapidly changing attitudes towards child safety
and societal pressures on parents and child care-givers to eliminate risk have
greatly altered the play opportunities given to children in recent years. The
second barrier, ‘financial constraints’, seems like a no-brainer to me. How
much does it cost for children to run, jump or dance? The participant responses
cited lack of funds for play equipment and resource allocation favouring
particular curriculum areas. Don’t these just seem like excuses rather than
concrete reasons? Barrier no. 3, a ‘focus on academics’ is, in a way, connected
to the first barrier in the sense that it is also driven by a societal pressure;
that of de-emphasising play in favour of formal learning, often characterised
by large amounts of seated activities. Behind <i>that</i> is a climate of competition
and high-achievement, thrust upon children of increasingly early ages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As an educator, it is this move
towards focusing on academics, readying children for school in favour of
developmentally-appropriate, whole-child nurturing, that really bothers me.
Something I find myself repeating in parent orientation sessions or staff
professional development workshops is that we should stop regarding each stage
of education as a preparation for the next stage but view each stage as
complete and self-contained. But isn’t it the case that, actually, secondary
school is seen as preparation for university or the world of work, primary
school as preparation for secondary and, most worryingly, nursery or kindergarten
as preparation for school? I regularly trot out John Dewey’s words, ‘Education
is not preparation for life, it is life itself’ (the quote I’ve chosen at the
bottom of my blog) as I converse with teachers and parents sharing anxiety
about children being ready for the next stage or beyond. This notion of
‘preparedness’ is also limited to a narrow performance-orientated conception,
focusing on academic abilities – how well a child can read, write and compute.
The supporting skills that go along with this in many early childhood
programmes are how well a child can sit and listen, hold a pencil and recite
letters of the alphabet, numbers and number facts – all focused on the
cognitive areas of development. The UK government’s plans to roll out statutory
testing for four- and five-year olds in the areas of language, communication,
literacy and numeracy are further evidence of the performance-driven education
culture we have drifted towards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With societal and governmental
pressure to focus on academic learning, it is inevitable that early years’
settings are going to lean further towards sedentary activities and that vigorous
physical activity will be further squeezed out in the timetable. The negative effects
on health and well-being – mental as well as physical – are already being
clearly seen but a collective awakening needs to take place in order to turn
things around in time for our youngest members of society. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">References<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Copeland et al. 2012. Societal
values and policies may curtail preschool children’s physical activity in child
care centrers. </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3269117/"><span style="color: windowtext;">Pediatrics</span></a></span></i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">. 129(2): 265–274</span>.</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">WHO, 2017. Worldwide trends in
body-mass Index, underweight, overweight and obesity from 1975 to 2016: a
pooled analysis of 20416 population-based measurement studies In 128.9 million
children, adolescents and adults.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-44067449977236422162019-05-14T05:29:00.001-07:002019-05-14T05:29:32.238-07:0030 Reasons Why Free Play Benefits Child Development - Infographic from AAA State of Play<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8r1MbDgRc7DFKpPYktf3-GLHXjGlV9-ku54s2dd9YaJfabxiOpxAQnGmfVgGeZMtBDsPcQwkDuNpzQODDj-J7BeddEDcWiQ9qMjl0hZQ_LVynsDH8UhcH54VgNUP0kLqVnlsZN2cYl7Pj/s1600/30-reasons-why-free-play-benefits-child-development-2_85per.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8r1MbDgRc7DFKpPYktf3-GLHXjGlV9-ku54s2dd9YaJfabxiOpxAQnGmfVgGeZMtBDsPcQwkDuNpzQODDj-J7BeddEDcWiQ9qMjl0hZQ_LVynsDH8UhcH54VgNUP0kLqVnlsZN2cYl7Pj/s1600/30-reasons-why-free-play-benefits-child-development-2_85per.jpg" /></a></div>
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A great info-graphic by this commercial playground equipment company. You can see it clearer here: <a href="https://www.aaastateofplay.com/30-reasons-why-free-play-benefits-child-development/">https://www.aaastateofplay.com/30-reasons-why-free-play-benefits-child-development/</a><br /></div>
Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-30657233250554450612019-03-27T08:25:00.001-07:002019-03-28T03:10:25.425-07:00Equality for All<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In
this era of narrow-mindedness and fear-mongering, it is all the more important
that educational establishments take on the responsibility of challenging the
status quo and opening young minds to different versions of the same
story. I felt that our Junior School did just that this term by inviting
a transgender woman in to speak to our students. This may not seem such a
big deal to some readers, but our school is situated in India, a country in
which transgender people live almost exclusively on the margins of society and
are frequently the subjects of abuse, discrimination and </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">atrocities</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ms
Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli was invited in as a guest speaker to talk to our Grade
5 students and address the whole Junior School from the crèche upwards. Although
more used to audiences of college students and adults, Vyjayanti, a well-known
transgender community activist and </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">former</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> student of Public Policy at
the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, pitched just right her
presentation to our youngest learners. She had everyone gripped as she
explained what it means to be a transgender person, how the law and society has
historically treated the community and how things are changing. She
shared her personal experiences (minus the harrowing detail) and challenged
everyone in the audience to think differently.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vyjayanti
certainly wasn’t looking for our sympathy - why would such a poised, articulate
and confident woman require that of us? - but her request was clear and simple;
she wanted, for herself and the transgender community, respect and
equality. Unfortunately, in India, these two things are yet generally denied to this community, whose
members are ostracised by their own families and have historically and structurally been constrained to be dependent
on just two to three sources of livelihood: begging, sex work and/or
blessing for alms. Vyjayanti’s
situation is more fortunate than most in that she has been able to receive an
education denied to most transgender people. Having faced enormous
struggles herself, she is now using her advantage to advocate for those unable
to do so for themselves and provoking discussion on gender equality through
public presentations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While
I can’t say for sure that <i>all</i> that she spoke of was fully
understood by her young audience or that the prejudices ingrained in many of
them would have been instantly reversed, but I certainly feel that everyone
grew a little in the time we spent in her presence. I was very keen that
our youngest learners attended her assembly presentation because I feel
strongly that one’s earliest experiences are deeply profound and form the way
one looks at the world. I asked my 4 year-old son to share with his
father what he had learnt and he was pretty clear - treat everyone, whether
male, female or transgender, kindly and equally. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With
pluralism sitting at the core of our school’s value system, this simple message
resonated strongly with all of us present. The Grade 5 students who
presented a week later on their chosen issue of gender equality in their PYP
Exhibition were able to share the message with the wider school community. For
10-Year olds in conservative India to be able to speak so freely and advocate
for transgender equality is a small step in many ways but it gives hope that
change is on its way and we can hope for a brighter future for all marginalised
communities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To
hear Vyjayanti speak on transgender rights and the current situation in India,
please check out her presentation, ‘Trans-cending Stigma’ at the 2018 TEDexCBIT
event in Bangalore. <a href="https://youtu.be/dcRN51_V_a4" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/dcRN51_V_a4</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connect with her via: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/VyjayantiMogli" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">https://twitter.com/VyjayantiMogli</span></a> @Vyjayantimogli </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">E mail: <a href="mailto:vyjayanti.vasanta.mogli@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">vyjayanti.vasanta.mogli@gmail.com</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/v.mogli.7" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">https://www.facebook.com/v.mogli.7</span></a> (Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli) </span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-83666212048417630132019-03-16T23:25:00.000-07:002019-03-16T23:25:57.430-07:00No Chair Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckRo5V6c1Cy_6Fe-nLeLYIh18wlZSGgkGDDqXmfBl0g6WP0-WPgOKevlA0aoOXUoK8ci49zpDMMpqvbwbAU-a5Q8sYHBIx5jHHhNIGyj6rH2WYVVbx4h3zOvKXLfEHTfsi56vrbyQHqD6/s1600/FD125264-ABB7-44B9-A7D4-249665121D37.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckRo5V6c1Cy_6Fe-nLeLYIh18wlZSGgkGDDqXmfBl0g6WP0-WPgOKevlA0aoOXUoK8ci49zpDMMpqvbwbAU-a5Q8sYHBIx5jHHhNIGyj6rH2WYVVbx4h3zOvKXLfEHTfsi56vrbyQHqD6/s400/FD125264-ABB7-44B9-A7D4-249665121D37.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Browsing through the website of The Early Years
Alliance, I came upon a piece by UK-based music and movement specialist, Helen
Batteley (</span><a href="https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/music-and-movement-encouraging-physical-activity" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/music-and-movement-encouraging-physical-activity</a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">).
She was advocating for ‘No Chair Day’, an initiative to provoke teachers to
think about the importance of physical activity for children and about
alternatives to sitting in classrooms. The simplicity of the campaign appealed
to me and I floated the idea to the Junior School staff. To my great pleasure,
many took up the challenge, pitching the idea to their students and
brainstorming ways learning could be re-designed without the need for sitting.<a name='more'></a></span></div>
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The amount of time children spend indoors and sitting actually scares me. At
such a crucial time in their physical development, young people the world over
are sitting at desks and spending enormous amounts of time engaged in sedentary
activities. Picture a classroom - where children spend, on average, 6-7 hours -
and you think of a room with 4 walls, desks, chairs and a whiteboard/chalkboard
as the focal point. Hardly any time is given over for children to refine the
gross and fine motor skills needed for healthy development. ADHD diagnosis
rates are at an all-time high and the ability to sit still and listen seems to
be the mark of a good learner. </div>
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At our school the classrooms are actually very dynamic with plenty of choice
for children in where and how they learn but, on the whole, the majority of the
time students are, indeed, seated. Many also have a bus journey of at least an
hour or more each way so that’s another 2-3 hours sat down, inactive. We have
been focused on learning through play and outdoor learning this year so many
teachers embraced No Chair Day immediately; and they did so in consultation
<i>with </i>their students. I put together a display for our staff room with some facts and figures about the importance of physical activity, challenging our teachers to think deeply about how we can boost the amount of daily movement our children experience.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8kcT2o66VatFgyyZD3FYzRSYKHW34cR9qBMZnMSjG5a4ljLBEAaTFs0xbHpiTUX1g2WIenFr-ywbDLELqivccZtEL_sOX3B3VwXYzF-zfPfTxPcQjD7y9trjoICN79Lx-7cktDptlHKC/s1600/Staff+Room+Display+Movement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8kcT2o66VatFgyyZD3FYzRSYKHW34cR9qBMZnMSjG5a4ljLBEAaTFs0xbHpiTUX1g2WIenFr-ywbDLELqivccZtEL_sOX3B3VwXYzF-zfPfTxPcQjD7y9trjoICN79Lx-7cktDptlHKC/s400/Staff+Room+Display+Movement.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Staff Room Display on Physical Activity</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No
Chair Day is really an invitation or an incentive to re-design the whole
approach to learning and teaching. It isn’t about removing the tables and
chairs from the classroom for a single day and sitting in the floor instead. It
provokes us to think about how the whole body can be involved in the learning
process and how physical growth and development must become a priority in the
holistic education of young people.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It has been really satisfying to support a fellow educator’s campaign and I
really hope it gains traction. There are some encouraging initiatives at the
state-level which give hope that things are changing. One is the Singapore
government’s campaign to raise awareness of the link between spending too much
time indoors and increased risk of myopia. Another is the mandate by the
Finnish government stating that for every hour spent in the classroom, children
must have 15 minutes of break-time. Grassroots level campaigns like
Helen’s are perhaps where the effect can be biggest as they force educators to
re-think the design of the learning spaces and pedagogical approach. I wish her
all the best and will continue to reflect on ways to implement No Chair Day
with our young learners.</div>
</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-68611440832336976852019-02-28T05:54:00.000-08:002019-02-28T05:54:20.089-08:00Creation of a Children's Garden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgByGmhUjsY0i_8dIWjv0mkjujo1B6B3Cn2ocVLAhpd96cpm-4AgEh3Fk47tLF2k6ryjAFDySsbKUhQc8iMWFTwTXvAWtCvmOSWuoNj6j9B5lpgmTlCKYB-hs0PikAqdokLlb1vwwY0dgxv/s1600/Garden+from+above.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="637" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgByGmhUjsY0i_8dIWjv0mkjujo1B6B3Cn2ocVLAhpd96cpm-4AgEh3Fk47tLF2k6ryjAFDySsbKUhQc8iMWFTwTXvAWtCvmOSWuoNj6j9B5lpgmTlCKYB-hs0PikAqdokLlb1vwwY0dgxv/s320/Garden+from+above.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd had my eye on a particular patch of greenery for
quite some time and had been observing it through the seasonal changes to gauge its
potential as a children’s garden. It sits at the end of
the Junior School corridor but the puzzling fact that it was surrounded by a
thick hedge meant that we couldn’t access it. A number of reasons why we
couldn’t use it had been given, but only ever anecdotally and none of the reasons
seemed insurmountable. So I designed a proposal as a part of an
outdoor learning and play spaces revamp, got the go-ahead and, one fine day, a
entrance way cut appeared in the hedge and we were allowed in!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stepping inside this space for the first time was truly
magical. It is a well-established garden with trees and flowering shrubs and is
a haven for birds and butterflies. Though not a huge garden, once inside, you
feel far removed from the rest of the school as it offers a deep feeling of
calm and connection to nature. Staff and children took to it instantly; the
crèche children could be heard squealing in delight as they crawled under and
through the bushes, playing hide-and-seek and as they scaled the trees. Before
the summer weather turned unbearable, teachers were able to take their children
out in this natural classroom. There so much potential in this garden for our
children, many of whom live in city apartments, to engage all their senses and
explore nature in various ways.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_rgzjPwHksS56lf6kswtFAMXmJoHVnAbS8mSaYx7-py5SMN2V-N8yMUB6kl8m-YQqLJ-73CZN_1SmTwYAyFeYN8Pcxhnu_dTB8VM_ZL4_zkWhM0pcBXS3S91d4o7rlKNXn2VMNugfkQt/s1600/IMG_6622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_rgzjPwHksS56lf6kswtFAMXmJoHVnAbS8mSaYx7-py5SMN2V-N8yMUB6kl8m-YQqLJ-73CZN_1SmTwYAyFeYN8Pcxhnu_dTB8VM_ZL4_zkWhM0pcBXS3S91d4o7rlKNXn2VMNugfkQt/s320/IMG_6622.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj46XLO72mIwGGF5uW7CliKzZ7KGPBzD6wPjHZC1e-NIEoOcrOxCM5BkfndMDadhK6J2Z-qcwFCAoJwq4rL1bpW7uZe_ZzzYYdVJ1gacK_6kOOgd-MPF18duJVIxGwgJlnmOeW_78yooCRs/s1600/Garden+trees.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="629" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj46XLO72mIwGGF5uW7CliKzZ7KGPBzD6wPjHZC1e-NIEoOcrOxCM5BkfndMDadhK6J2Z-qcwFCAoJwq4rL1bpW7uZe_ZzzYYdVJ1gacK_6kOOgd-MPF18duJVIxGwgJlnmOeW_78yooCRs/s320/Garden+trees.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In our takeover of the the garden we have built two huts
out of natural materials. Both are made from branches, bamboo and palm leaves
and exude the most delicious, earthy smell. They provide wonderful play and
learning spaces and children have been able to observe the construction
techniques involved in their creation.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0ER6BPXoKKfO_Mm2lAiRTlWXYdZc_3ZtWaUoftgWSCCCjbHpt6R0aRSdH92Ph3sMunDeKKfOsO508-aKwI1zA7dosfFkx_tXPJAvVWwY23_BGB2y3Z-9kqUwunhNuNwGbD8V5mRsqfWP/s1600/IMG_6545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0ER6BPXoKKfO_Mm2lAiRTlWXYdZc_3ZtWaUoftgWSCCCjbHpt6R0aRSdH92Ph3sMunDeKKfOsO508-aKwI1zA7dosfFkx_tXPJAvVWwY23_BGB2y3Z-9kqUwunhNuNwGbD8V5mRsqfWP/s320/IMG_6545.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Teepee</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J_qNyu4kJh_sJrjHV2eeWHn__iHxtDChEan9l862GJgrsg5IqetKx0Aro-FCdembbGfd3I4PzkM5LEkd4zBkgV8-RjRfFIztfR2NrchR72FOkVdczZcli5ZzjI3tNhm4QBSXzUydPPFm/s1600/Mudhut+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J_qNyu4kJh_sJrjHV2eeWHn__iHxtDChEan9l862GJgrsg5IqetKx0Aro-FCdembbGfd3I4PzkM5LEkd4zBkgV8-RjRfFIztfR2NrchR72FOkVdczZcli5ZzjI3tNhm4QBSXzUydPPFm/s320/Mudhut+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Mud Hut</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">We’ve also put in a log obstacle course for scrambling and balancing. Of course, the items from the loose parts playground make their way in and out of the garden every day and children escape into the richness of their imaginations. As I’m writing this, sitting in the garden, I’m overhearing the pretend play of two four year-olds as they create a ‘campfire’ and sing improvised songs while they build together. The drama has taken a new turn with one child being ‘chased by a wolf’ and in need of rescue. The wolf has turned into a ‘robber’ and now a ‘monster’. Somehow the experience of being outdoors sparks the creative mind in all sorts of unexpected ways. Even the teachers have been enjoying holding our collaborative planning meetings out here too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">We have many other plans in the pipeline for engaging in this wonderful space. Once some logistical hurdles have been overcome, we will be able to create plots for flower and vegetable growing and hope to see artwork, music, creative writing, construction nature observation, science/tech projects and pretend play continuing to blossom in the garden.</span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-11891471459262660352019-02-08T05:00:00.000-08:002019-02-08T05:42:21.703-08:00Joining in with Global School Play Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(https://www.facebook.com/globalschoolplayday/)</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of our new focus areas in our Junior School is that of play so I was really keen for us to take part in Global School Play Day this year. Each class from Grades 1-5 were involved, incorporating play into the school day in the form of free play and more teacher-led activities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This wonderful grassroots celebration of play really aims for children to be engaged in purely unstructured activities as this is increasingly stolen from them in our race for them to be achieving and busy the whole time. I took this as an opportunity to also encourage our teachers to come up with ways they could design play-based learning engagements during the day in addition to the free play. It was also another invitation for more movement-based and outdoor activities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Of course, the children had a really fun day, and the teachers also enjoyed the challenge too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fun with ozobots!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So great to see the teacher involved in the game of Hide-and-Seek!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The day kicked off in Assembly with a virtuoso performance on the tambourine by man of many talents, Mr Sai.</span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-74003666245904824132019-02-01T04:27:00.000-08:002019-02-02T22:18:30.140-08:00Loose Parts Playground Launch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This week sees the launch of our ‘loose parts playground’! I’ve been working on a re-vamp of our outdoor spaces with a focus on re-directing the way we play and learn in them. One initiative I have been keen to bring in is the concept of providing children with outdoor play items which will provoke creativity, new ways of using the body, teamwork and communication. These items will supplement the existing fixed-to-the-ground playground equipment pieces and will consist of collections of random items which children can use to build structures of their own choosing. Logs, planks of wood, tree branches, tyres and fabrics are just some of the things we are including in our loose parts playground.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Imagining certain boisterous or clumsy children let loose with rough-cut planks of wood and pointy branches may fill some with horror but the concept behind this is that children learn to negotiate risk and command greater control over their spatial awareness plus gain greater understanding of how weight distribution and balance etc. work in a real-life context. As societies have become more risk-aware they have also become perhaps too risk-averse and children are given fewer and fewer opportunities to figure things out on their own and play with items which are not ‘toys’. Many children have an innate need to work with big items - lifting, carrying and pushing - but get very little chance to do so. Quite often, these are the children who ‘act out’ in class or can be quite physically rough with peers, perhaps because this is an area of need not met.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The open-ended nature of these play materials means that children will see limitless creative possibility in the items. I’m sure we will soon see a variety of structures created - dens, bridges, ships and shops - and I look forward to seeing how children play together in different groupings and how they sort out the inevitable issues which will arise. Solving the problems, both creative and interpersonal gives an opportunity to develop leadership and looking after the items will encourage stewardship and responsibility.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After brainstorming potential problems that could arise from the loose parts playground, the student council members presented the potential issues in assembly, enacting some possible scenarios in still photographs and suggesting ways of solving the issue. More ideas came from students and teachers and we all came to a common understanding of how to play in the space.</span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-57577473034926991492019-01-25T05:36:00.000-08:002019-01-25T05:47:47.300-08:00An Enlightening Visit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">For a teacher, a visit to another school always brings in fresh ideas and perspectives. This week I was privileged to visit a very special school indeed, a Waldorf school in Hyderabad, India. It is one of those schools where, as soon as you enter, you are aware of a tangible atmosphere or energy and, by the end of the visit, you feel slightly changed in some way. This school radiated a distinct feeling of calm and happiness and both the children and the staff welcomed us with smiles and openness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The school environment is set up so that the outside spaces seem to be the most important. Classrooms look outwards to the greenery seen through every door and window. Each of the built spaces is linked by green areas; plant- and flower-lined paths and archways inviting possibilities, and shady play spaces under the canopy of trees. Students share their grounds with livestock including cows, rabbits and chickens.Throughout the day the air was filled with the chatter and laughter of children given freedom to play and learn and just to ‘be’. Children are given a lot of time and space to follow individual pursuits. We engaged with some Grade 3 students at free play time and saw how they were involved in a variety of self-chosen activities, one was building a wooden model, another practicing her recorder, while some others had got hold of some ribbons and were choreographing a dance. A few were sitting outside the room simply chatting. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The kindergarten teacher kindly let us sit in and join in with her class and it was here that I felt my educator horizon expanding hugely. Over the morning with this group we saw the children engaged in a variety of activities, some adult-facilitated, such as the beeswax modelling, singing and story-telling and also the free play time in which children engaged themselves in self-chosen play. The teacher spoke very few words during this time but invited children to transition between activities with gesture and song. Most of the time she and her colleague hummed, simple melodic fragments with notes based around a fixed tonal centre and (though more research into this is required on my part) seemingly emphasising the interval of a fifth. This humming, and the particular notes chosen, gave the classroom atmosphere a kind of warm, ethereal feel and I felt myself becoming balanced and centred.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">At no point in this time with the kindergarten (or in the whole day across the school) did I see or hear any teacher reprimand any child; every interaction between child and adult was one of gentleness and care. The teachers exuded a distinct calmness which was mirrored directly in the behaviours of the children. It was interesting to see the way the kindergarten children played in free play time, some engrossed in one activity for the entire session and others moving between activities. Adult intervention was rarely required as children negotiated and shared, moving in and out of each other’s games with ease.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">As well as the freedom to play, it was also evident that children were seen as highly capable beings. Tidying-up and rearranging of furniture was done seamlessly with children taking on full responsibility with very little adult direction. The little girl who had placed three long strands of wool into my hands as a open invitation to engage in finger knitting came back to me at the end of the free play session and quietly informed me that it was time to tidy up now. I saw her do so with a few of her classmates too, gently whispering that the session had ended. The teacher, still having maintained that same pitch centre throughout now sung some phrases about making the room look beautiful, while quietly picking up the odd item here and there from around the room as a model. After a story session it was time for children to put their chairs back and it was impressive to see them carry the chair, negotiating three steps down without need of adult support.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Whether I could ever take the plunge and relearn to become a Waldorf educator remains to be seen but I felt that with this brief visit, a whole new way of thinking had opened up for me. I was unsettled by the lack of books in the classrooms and have more questions about when and how does the more cognitive aspect of learning take place. The colleague I went along with, a ex-Waldorf teacher herself, explained that focus in the early years is the education of the heart and soul and less on the mind. I wondered how my young son, a facts freak with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge would find stimulation in such an environment. Would that desire be dampened or would a deeper, more spiritual side of him be unearthed? I’m not sure, but I do feel that even in my short time spent at the school, I could understand that a special place had been created that somehow captured the essence or soul of childhood and that many things can be learned from this philosophy of education</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">.</span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-46932168525161401682018-12-14T05:44:00.000-08:002018-12-14T05:47:09.253-08:00Real Tools and Materials<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Being the daughter of two exceptionally skilled craftsmen (jewellers, to be precise) I might have also developed fantastic artistic skills but, sadly, these largely passed me by. However, I did develop a deep appreciation for the value of craftsmanship and design along with transferable attributes of creativity, perseverance and attention to detail. Now, as a mother of young child and educator I am all the more cognisant of the multiple values of handwork and exploration of diverse materials. Two skill areas I have been particularly keen to explore with my own child are sewing and woodwork, both of which he is really hooked on. Dexterity, focus, muscle strength, perseverance, problem-solving, joy... just some of the many benefits I can see have been developed in him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), founder of the kindergarten movement, was an active proponent of teaching children practical skills of these kinds. In his kindergartens a central focus was on children engaging with materials in order to build their individual understanding of the world. His influence on the education of young children had a very long reach but over time elements of his philosophy were obscured and by the late C20th the madness of health and safety had taken over, so very few preschools offered ‘risky’ engagements with real tools and materials. However, in recent years there is a resurgence in giving young children opportunities to engage with objects that might be sharp or pointed or heavy etc. Negotiating challenges and learning to pay attention to possible injury is a way of learning and, if well supervised, offers a wide breadth of creative possibility for children.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I introduced sewing to my son when he was two. He used a thick, blunt needle initially and we just focused on the up-and-down action of the needle creating stitches. His first ‘pieces’ were inclusions for a book on Space which was busy with at the time. A whole collection of constellations were created, initially with cardboard and then with various fabrics:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As such crafts require a certain amount of support in the early days, I was keen not to impose too much of my decision-making or creative designs. His pieces have always been very personally relevant to him, either as gifts for others or meeting a need or interest in his life such as the shoulder bag (again, Space-themed), the monster soft-toy or the sleeping bag for his smaller soft toys:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The same can be said of the wooden items he’s created. His ideas are always the starting point for each project and I just guide and help him out when he asks. One item he made fairly recently will stand as a reminder to me about non-interference; he had made a wooden robot and when it came to attaching the legs, I found myself giving advice regarding their placement, suggesting that the robot would look ‘better’ if it were seated. My son, however, insisted that the robot should be lying down. After failing to convince him to go along with my idea, I asked him why he wanted his robot to lie down and was floored by the response. He had this whole narrative worked out in which the robot was lying down because he was watching a bird in a tree, a friend, who was learning to fly! Well, I immediately understood that my conventional idea paled in comparison to his detailed and highly personal creation and also saw the potential to turn this into an animated story. He got the idea straight away and we set to, setting up shots and recording the voiceover. Here is the result:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here are a couple more videos we've produced recently:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Combining low and hi tech in this way, making little movies has been something we’ve enjoyed for a long time and the woodwork has just added to the repertoire. I’m sure that as he grows up, the depth and finesse of the products will improve but the seed of creative possibility has definitely been sown. Technology is here to stay and rather than either see it replace craft or mechanics or avoid it entirely, I feel it can enhance learning and creativity and provide another dimension for expression. Many of the creations my son and I have worked on have been designed using items we’ve found or conscientiously saved for the ideal project. It has become so ingrained in us to store things up, just in case they come in handy, and a familiar refrain in our house is, ‘Ooh, we could do something with that!’. While my husband groans at the amount of junk we store, I think even he would agree that instilling the concept of re-imagining and ‘upcyling’ in the next generation is really valuable, as humankind is just beginning to grasp the scale of the damage done by the use-and-throw culture we’ve created. </span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-68537680116389678382018-11-10T05:23:00.000-08:002018-11-14T16:58:41.676-08:00Changing Teacher and Student Roles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two texts I’ve been reading recently have led me to reflect on a thorny
issue within teaching and learning - the gap between what the teacher <i>intends</i> for
students to learn and the learning that actually takes place. The studies I’ve
been reading are <i>The Hidden Lives of Learners</i> by Graham Nuttall, published
posthumously in 2007, and the fascinating study of reading, <i>Inquiry into
Meaning: An Investigation of Learning to Read</i> (2001) revised ed. by Bussis, Chittenden
& Sallinger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nuttall’s research tracked students in classrooms through hours of
detailed data gathering involving audio/video recordings, anecdotal records,
observation, and interviews. The findings showed that what was typically learnt
from a lesson varied considerably from student to student and in most cases was
indeed not at all what the teacher had planned for them to learn. Reasons given were
various - insufficient knowledge of students’ prior knowledge, lack of student
motivation and students retaining little from the planned engagement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reading this, I connected with the theories of Kelly (1955), used by Bussis et al. as a framework for their study of reading. Kelly proposed that an individual’s personal constructs dictate the way he/she
perceives information. Here is an explanation from the first edition of the book by Bussis et al quoted in the revised edition:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...two people exposed
to the same events may construe them in very different ways and come away from
the same situation with two quite disparate sets of learning and experience. Likewise,
individuals may construe different events in much the same way and thereby
share similar meanings and exhibit similar behaviours. It is similarity in the
construing of events that provides the basis for similar perceptions and
actions, and not similarity or sameness in the events themselves. (Bussis et
al., 1985, p. 15)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">There are many parallels between the two studies of Nuttall and Bussis
et al., the main one being the data collection method. Both are unusual in that
they focus on a few selective, representative students and track them
intensively, building up a picture of how learning takes place and in what
ways. No-one can climb inside the mind of another but this technique of such
close observation not only provides revealing data but also a model for
teachers to use in their own practice. As Bussis writes, "the lines between assessment and research are blurred" and that "the teacher's intention is a stance of inquiry and of considering more closely what children bring to and take from their classroom experiences" (p. 9). If teachers are to come to an
understanding what their students have learnt, not learnt or misconceived, they
need a) a rich variety and systematic collection of documentation and b)
detailed analysis of the documents in order to plan next steps. Without this
data gathering and examination, teaching and learning can just be a series of
activities and learning engagements. There needs to be solid knowledge of where
the child is at in their current understanding in order to enrich their
knowledge base and move them on at the pace appropriate to the individual. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nuttall’s research also demonstrates that students
learn a significant amount from their peers. However, much of what they learn
this way may be incorrect. His findings showed that the influence of peers was
far stronger than the influence of the teacher. Additionally, he claims that at least
50% of what teachers present as new information is actually already known by
students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reading Nuttall’s work, it could be concluded that the teacher is
practically redundant these days and students will learn <i>inspite
of </i>their education. For some children this is possibly true, but what
about the students who don’t posses the prior knowledge or aptitudes required
to engage meaningfully in learning experiences? The teacher still plays a vital
role, but for it to be an effective one, it needs to change in a variety of ways. I sense that there is huge shift in thinking on the
way, which revolves around students taking ownership of their learning and
consciously drawing upon their schemas to share and work though understandings
and confusions, guided by their teachers. If students are to become the main protagonists in their learning experience, they need to be equipped with metacognitive skills and if teachers are taking on the role of guide and researcher, they need to develop highly effective skills in the areas of research and analysis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>References:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nuttall, G. (2007). The Hidden Lives of Learners. NZCER Press.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bussis, A. M, Chittenden, E & Salinger, T. (2001). Inquiry Into Meaning: An investigation of learning to read. Teachers College Press. New York.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Bussis, A, Chittenden, E, Amarel, M., & Klausner, E. (</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">1985). </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Inquiry Into Meaning: An investigation of learning to read. Hillsdale, New Jersey.</span></span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-70082549261424467582018-10-13T02:28:00.001-07:002018-10-13T02:38:49.373-07:00On (Re)discovering The Golden Rule<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">In this world of information overload which we navigate
daily, it’s so rewarding to come across something that resonates with you for
its sheer simplicity and deep worth. While listening online to Karen Armstrong’s
enlightening speech at the Global Centre for Pluralism’s annual lecture, I was
re-introduced to the The Golden Rule; “Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you”. I’ve only known this as a bible verse but I was delighted and and
humbled to learn that this principle is to be found throughout the world’s
religious texts and has been used by the the greatest thinkers and writers
throughout history. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To really get an understanding of the scale of the breadth
and depth of The Golden Rule’s appearance across time and geography it is
really worth a look at Rev. Dr. Harry Gensler’s chronological history of the rule, reproduced with permission by the Charter for Compassion, (</span><a href="https://charterforcompassion.org/share-the-charter/golden-rule-chronology" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">https://charterforcompassion.org/share-the-charter/golden-rule-chronology</span></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Buddha, Confucius, Aristotle, Muhammad and many, many other thinkers from
ancient to modern times have shared the rule, re-wording and re-contextualising
it in literature and speeches, religious and philosophical texts and political
documents; Gensler’s chronology presents a truly awe-inspiring list of the Golden
Rule’s usage. One of the most interesting use of the rule I found was its role
in the movement for the abolition of slavery. It’s simple appeal for empathy
towards others was an ideal provocation for changing the hearts and minds of
the white slave owners and it was much-quoted and discussed at the time. John Newton, the
famous slave owner-turned abolitionist and writer of the hymn,
‘Amazing Grace’, quoted the Golden Rule in the opening of his book, Thoughts on
the African Slave Trade’.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Golden Rule has been depicted in artwork across the
ages too and I was drawn to two examples in particular. One is the illustration
by Norman Rockwell which is now hung in the UN Headquarters in New York. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq972II2lHIa8sQX1jg40Irt9NneHC-zii-f61HhIaPgQ0AJRwu9WBcttNNfPuKkkw5IFYSrcW5VRCUeV5ESgIY-zFv2uRlokY470dYpaHhA9ItctoHg-ovz5HSL2m4GuFMaryR7Vr1OwY/s1600/Golden+Rule+Norman+Rockwell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="650" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq972II2lHIa8sQX1jg40Irt9NneHC-zii-f61HhIaPgQ0AJRwu9WBcttNNfPuKkkw5IFYSrcW5VRCUeV5ESgIY-zFv2uRlokY470dYpaHhA9ItctoHg-ovz5HSL2m4GuFMaryR7Vr1OwY/s400/Golden+Rule+Norman+Rockwell.jpg" width="365" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Norman Rockwell (18984-1978), <i>Golden Rule, </i>1961. Oil on canvas, 44 1/2" x 39 1/2'. Story illustration for <i>The Saturday Evening Post, </i>April 1, 1961. Norman Rockwell Museum Collections. SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another visual depiction of the Golden Rule is found in a
poster design in which the rule is displayed with contributions from 13 of the
main world religions. This visually striking display is the work of interfaith
minister, Paul McKenna, who led this collaborative project involving faith
groups, individuals and graphic designers. The poster also hangs in the UN headquarters, in the Vatican and also countless numbers of schools, interfaith churches and community centres worldwide.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHiJTdq3qgKMcpPHWVTYAef2jlvbPNGpxOh0vul-aYdEMNiC6c6ElQcE4oIW64AXDoft9_qcGtCePbUVJHWvZ3e9UBml_hGlxGz1Jni9s22Qjq8DsVvMhLdid3c3jAq5iFvDw3YqbkjTl/s1600/Golden+Rule+Paul+McKenna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1388" data-original-width="1050" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHiJTdq3qgKMcpPHWVTYAef2jlvbPNGpxOh0vul-aYdEMNiC6c6ElQcE4oIW64AXDoft9_qcGtCePbUVJHWvZ3e9UBml_hGlxGz1Jni9s22Qjq8DsVvMhLdid3c3jAq5iFvDw3YqbkjTl/s640/Golden+Rule+Paul+McKenna.jpg" width="481" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Designed by Karth Vankoon. All rights reserved. Paul McKenna. 2000.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Working for the Aga Khan Development Network, which has <b>pluralism</b> at its heart, I have been gradually gaining a better understanding of what this term means. Today I felt
that I went a step further in that understanding and for me it was the
revelation that I had known this bible verse from childhood and unquestioningly
held the belief that this was solely a Christian principle, but was truly
awakened to learn that it was a central tenet that stretched across time and
faiths. For me, this was a learning moment in which I had experienced coming to an understanding of pluralism as not merely embracing difference in others, but
finding the commonality among us.</span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-71186676849098910302018-10-02T04:59:00.000-07:002018-10-02T05:03:59.678-07:00Positivity and Passion Towards Nature<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">T</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">oday I was glad to come across an interview on YouTube with
Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the
Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder", in which he
highlights the need for <i>positive</i> interactions between children
and nature. One of his key messages is that rather than filling young
minds with a doom and gloom portrayal of the future in regards to climate
change and environmental destruction, we should aim to generate positive feelings
in our children towards the natural world. His point is that if children have
developed a love of nature, then they are going to be more likely to want to
protect it. It's a pretty simple theory really but an essential one for
educators to get to grips with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Here he is in an interview for Global Voices for Justice:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I have long wondered whether
topics like pollution, climate change, species extinction etc. really
have a place in primary school education but they seem to have become as
entrenched within the curriculum as fractions or story-writing. Firstly, these issues are simply enormous for young children to really get a grasp of; youngsters have no real understanding of the numbers involved, the size of the Earth,
the rate of destruction and the role of politics and economics behind many of
the issues. But really, the thought that's bugged me for a while is, how sad it
is that for many children, some of their early engagements with the environment
will be, through multimedia and books, how humans are destroying the planet.
Being so new on the Earth themselves, they cannot be held accountable for this,
but are frequently involved in explorations of how our planet is in a
crisis and headed for a certain catastrophe. Early negative messages about the environment might just lead young people into thinking that this is an inevitable ending and that nature is a 'problem' rather than a thing of beauty and wonder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Yes, the future is in their
hands, but for today's youth to take on the responsibility of sorting out the mess, our
education systems need to first inculcate within children a deep connection
with nature, a compassionate attitude and also the problem-solving aptitudes
required to fix issues their predecessors have created. Only if these are developed
in children can we expect that they might engage with the environmental issues
they will undoubtedly face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The deep connection with nature can be made if young children are
given opportunities outdoors in the natural world to observe with all the
senses, wonder and inquire, play and explore. They must gain an understanding
of how their minds and bodies are connected to the environment and must develop
passions for nature around them. Once the passion is developed, compassion will
follow and after that, the desire to take action and resolve an issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">As a primary school administrator I have made outdoor learning a
focus for our Junior School this year but we have only just touched the surface
in bringing change to our approach and collective mindset. Reflecting on the thoughts of Richard Louv,
I’m thinking that we must make engagement with nature a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">central</i> part of our children’s school lives and take a re-look at
our curriculum documents to see whether we are planning for ignition of passion
towards nature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-22424270632221147862018-09-30T15:10:00.000-07:002018-09-30T15:10:58.297-07:00Tree Climbing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Leaves rustle softy and whisper and sway: Can you see in the tree who is hidden away? Green branches, green birds' nest, green grass or green sea, there's nothing so green as the world of a tree."</span></h3>
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This is a page from one of my most-treasured childhood books, ‘<i>A Child’s Book of Seasons</i>’ by Satomi Ichikawa. Her enchanting illustration shows the wonder of tree-climbing, one of my favourite pastimes as a child. My young son has suddenly become fascinated by climbing trees and, for me, watching him scrambling up amongst the branches has been bringing back so many memories of special trees I delighted in exploring. Each tree offered unique gifts - a spectacular view, a hiding place, a thinking spot, even fruits to snack on at the right time time of year.<br />
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The tree in my primary school playground really stands out for me - a huge evergreen, tall but stout with numerous sturdy branches projecting out on all sides. The lowest branch gave the platform to scale the tree, requiring us to hang from it and haul ourselves up. The large number of branches provided multiple pathways up and also allowed for large numbers of children to be up the tree at any one time. We must have been quite a sight and sound each playtime, like enormous chattering birds or a band of noisy monkeys!<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I think about it, climbing a tree truly is a multi-sensory experience. Crystal clear in my olfactory memory is the smell of each tree I enjoyed climbing and the particular feel of it’s bark and branches. Once up and into a tree the climber is offered a different way of seeing and sensing the world. Of course, height gives a new perspective, but also a new sonic world opens up with faraway sounds sometimes muffled and sometimes unexpectedly clearer, leaves rustling and branches creaking. The ways light filters through the foliage is one of the real treats of being up a tree. It comes through in shafts, dappled, and producing an otherworldly glow so that within a few scrambles it feels like you are in another place altogether.</div>
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I’m so glad that my son has taken so enthusiastically to this pastime and also that his crèche teacher values it so much, allowing her brood to clamber up and amongst the branches of the numerous trees on our wonderful school campus. Her enthusiasm is noteworthy because tree climbing had, for some time, gone a bit out of fashion. It was deemed too risky, and with these crazy days of perfect parenting, had been replaced by soft play centres and other organised activities. However, the pendulum is apparently swinging back again with the perfect parent brigade embracing the benefits of outdoor learning, risky play and unsupervised activities. A brief search online produces all sorts of interesting tree-climbing related hits - tree-climbing therapy, courses, vacations and even research-based evidence proving that climbing trees improves hand-eye coordination, creativity and problem solving.<o:p></o:p></div>
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All fascinating indeed, but anyone who has been lucky enough to spend their childhood days up in trees simply knows that this is a wonderful, thrilling, joyful activity which all children deserve to regularly experience.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-71520459712057597482018-09-15T08:41:00.003-07:002018-10-11T03:42:55.092-07:00Edubabble<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">“What does a lessin look like? Lessin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">They keep them in the glassrooms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Whole rooms made out of glass. Imagine.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">This is an extract from the wonderful poem, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">First Day at School</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> by Roger McGough, illustrating a child’s confusion regarding school vocabulary. I was reminded of it during a heated discussion recently on the choice of a particularly difficult word used daily in our curriculum which one colleague in the group felt was far beyond the comprehension of children. The word was, ‘transdisciplinary’ which is at the root of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. Though me and my colleagues staunchly defended the use of the word during the discussion, I did begin to reflect afterwards on exactly how much of the curriculum jargon our students actually understand and to what depth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Further to that, during a student focus group session for a school-wide research project, our PYP students were asked to explain what a ‘line of inquiry’ is (another word used daily in our programme) and disappointingly, they could not give any answer. Our curriculum prides itself on focusing on real-life connections and meaningful engagement but I’m wondering whether we might have just replaced one set of limited and potentially outdated knowledge with a new set of arcane, ‘school’ language.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With most IB international schools attended by children of diverse language backgrounds and competencies, there might be a large number of students who are also struggling with the curriculum jargon and the curriculum concepts. Time needs to be spent on explicitly teaching what the elements are and how they help in the learning processes. Whereas in traditional education systems knowledge was organised into subject disciplines each with their attendant lexicons, modern educations systems favour the blurring of subject boundaries, bigger concepts transcending subjects and extending into real life. This is definitely to be applauded but much of this curriculum terminology is actually non-existent outside of school life and will no doubt be supplanted in a few decades by another glossary of edubabble. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To avoid my students drowning in a sea of school-speak I am paying extra attention to ensuring that my students are fully understanding the classroom language and vocabulary and linking this to the ‘why’ of the learning engagement. I am very conscious of the above in regard to new students and will endeavour to pace explanations of the essential terminology and not overwhelm them with jargon. Then there are new teachers and parents to bear in mind... Maybe the K.I.S.S. principle can be applied here: Keep it simple, stupid.</span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6293737251847310630.post-51663569971591790922018-09-06T06:31:00.000-07:002018-09-07T01:21:18.789-07:00Listening to Students<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: black;">A new angle I am actively pursuing this
year in my teaching is encouraging students to drive their own learning. One of
my first steps is a commitment to taking feedback from my students. Having
recently been involved in a number of research projects in which I had to
gather data on student views and experiences, I’ve been really awoken to the
importance of listening to students and trying to see things from their
perspective. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The days are long-gone in which students
were passive recipients of our wisdom and experience (ha!) and now the
understanding is that learning takes place best in an open forum which
emphasises partnerships, sharing and debate among students and teachers. Even
in the best planned and executed lessons there is always the potential for a
gap between what the teacher <i>thinks</i> is happening and what is
actually taking place in the minds of the students. I believe that listening to
my students more will help me to plan my next steps more carefully,
particularly with differentiation in mind. But perhaps more importantly, I feel
that it models humility and the reflective habits we wish for in
students. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">So I've set myself a few guidelines which
may help me in using feedback effectively:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">- Write questions carefully - think about
the information I really want from students. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">- Share the feedback with students and
discuss ways I or we can act upon it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">- Take feedback regularly
throughout the course so that there is time to make changes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">- Use varied formats so the
students don't find it tedious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">- Take negative feedback positively!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">This neat quote from author and spiritual
teacher, Ram Dass, is a good place to begin: "The quieter you become, the
more you can hear".<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Chloe Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05276992644913892007noreply@blogger.com0