Self Portraits by Children

SELF IMAGE, CONFIDENCE AND SUCCESS

by Enrique C. Feldman, Founder and Director of Education of the F.A.M.E. Foundation 

and Co-Founder of Context Method®

Beauty is the eye of the beholder… we've all heard that saying and never is it more true than when referencing a young child.

Confidence is in the eye of the beholder… think about that.

______________________________________________________

Any individual who achieves ongoing success, sees them self in a positive light.  Even when things go poorly, when there are challenges, the successful individual is able to retrieve, remember, and embrace a positive image of them self, both externally and internally.

I visit so many centers and work with so many children, that I sometimes make the mistake of thinking I was at one site, when in fact I was at another!  This images, which I at first said were from the Sunnyside Head Start center in Tucson, Arizona, are actually from the Homer Davis center in Tucson.  The children went through the process of creating self portraits.  It's part of an overall focus on building young children who can think critically and creatively and who see them self in the larger picture of life.  One by product is academic success. 

Here's one self portrait of a child at this center.  Anamaria draws two eyes, what looks like either a mouth or nose, and the outline of her face.  What comes to mind to me is:

• Recognition of Shape
• Recognition of Parts of the Face

A nice first step… good job Anamaria!

Next we have a self portrait by Sebastian.  I notice definition and details in this image and I also notice a subtle expression.  What do you notice?  I wonder what the child noticed.  What kinds of things can be taught via self portraits?  Some of the more basic things could include:

• Fine motor skills
• Recognition of shapes
• Recognition of emotions

The child states : "I look good, I saw a hair and some ears and the mouth and the nose."

Next is a self portrait by Citlalli.  It's important to note that it's very helpful for certain kinds of foundational skills to be addressed prior to having children creating self portraits.  However, it's also important to note that's as adults we tend to over think the structure needed for children to be engaged in creating, and in doing so, learning on many levels.

Citlalli states, "My face, I have a crown, and eyes, the mouth and hair and feet and the clothes."

From my perspective as an early childhood educator, as an artist, and as someone who has worked with these very children over the past three years, I notice:

• a depth of details being created
• a sense of more emotion being present in the self portrait
• the unseen arms and hands of this self portrait seem to be implied as being behind her back
• the self portrait is signed by the artist!

When you ask an adult a question like "Who are you?" they typically respond with their name.  If you continue by saying, "Yes, I know you're name, but who are you?" some adults might be confused.  The younger the age of the person you ask these kinds of questions, the less strange it seems and usually the response comes more quickly.  The idea that our names are simply a place holder and that WE ARE MORE THAN OUR NAME, is an empowering idea.  For me, the process of creating self portraits is a great way to start this journey with young children.

Next is the image by Yazmiliana, who states, "I have eyes in my face, a mouth, hair and nose."  I notice more details, such as:

• defined lips
• defined eyes
• a sense of openness implied by the shape of arms and body
• a realistic version of hair

What would happen if you, as an adult guide, asked a child a questions like:

• What else do you wear?
• What do you look like when you're eating?
• How do you feel when you're playing?  Can you draw it?

The questions are the answers which lead to life long learning.  Ask more questions and you'll be astounded by young learners.

The following self portrait is by Catheryne, who says "I draw me.  I have a mouth, a nose, eye lashes and long hair."  Along with the addition of eye lashes, and what appear to be shoes, this image makes me wonder:

• "What's inside the stomach?"
• "Is that the stomach?"
• "You look very happy, and maybe even grateful, in this picture.  Why?"

The best frameworks, such as curriculums, in the world come groups of people who have experienced and studied "actual experiences."  I would love to hear your responses to my questions above and also your questions!  Feel free to post either on this blog or on Facebook group "Living Like a Child."

For the finale, we have the self portrait by Sissy, who says "I have two eyes in my face, a face, a happy face, a nose, one hair."  The idea of "one hair" is interesting.  Did she mean a single hair from each nostril?  Those certainly look like nose hairs.  Perhaps this comes from something she has seen.  Certainly, what Sissy shows us is a very clear interest in facial gesture, which is a huge part of social emotional growth.

I hope that I was able to convey at least a small part of the joy and depth of knowledge that can be achieved, not only through self portraits, but we trust our learners enough to ask more questions than the statements we make.  I'll leave you with the two word mantra of one of mentors, Mimi Chenfeld…

WHAT ELSE?

Live Inspired

Enrique C. Feldman

Founder and Director of Education, F.A.M.E. Foundation

Co-Founder, Context Method®

Early Classical and Baroque Music for Learning Environments

Redleaf Press Author

Two-Time Grammy Nominated Artist

Poem of Kindergarten Encouragement & Inspiration

Dear  Rainbow Debbie and our Family of Friends who love and care for and teach our children,

One of my favorite (and I don't know the source, sorry) quotes is,

"The best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person."
 I could spend my lifetime writing about the incredible persons I
know who have given their lives to teaching, to children. Today
Deb, I want to write about Sylvia Ann Walton Jackson, who recently-
retired after decades of teaching at the Indianola Informal K-8
School in Columbus, Ohio. Many of those years were spent with
kindergartners , often in mixed groups like K-1 or K-2 .

Sylvia embodies the ideas of caring, kindness, gentleness, creativity
and fun. Marlene Robbins, a colleague of Sylvia's at Indianola for over
twenty five years, describes Sylvia as THE kindergarten teacher who
"sees the light in every child, who makes school a magic place to come to."

When Sylvia retired, she was filled with the passion of teaching, the
joy of the children, concern for the directions early childhood education
was steering, the admiration and appreciation of her fellow teachers
trying to keep the light and love in this stressful, test=driven time. Her
commitments to teaching and children took form in a collection of
deeply felt and thoughtful poems . Her collection is called, 
Discussion On School Reform - One Poem At A Time. 
The collection includes over one hundred poems for teachers, 
for families, for any person caring about our children and their education.

She gave me permission to share one of the poems with your
wonderful readers who are also the best ideas wrapped in themselves
and all they DO!

                                           Teacher Power

                                                      

                             You are a source of energy

Wind power                  

Solar power                    

Electrical  power                   

Teacher power.                    

You generate energy                   

Teach what you love and you will generate                    

Enthusiasm                    

Excitement                    

Intrigue                    

An atmosphere of discovery                    

You are the power                    

That drives                   

Interest                    

Teach who you are                    

Teach what you love                    

You generate energy                    

You turn on lights                    

And make brains work                     

    One of a hundred good messages in Sylvia Jackson's poems.
                         Keep the lights glowing! Love and Peace,

                                      Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld

Letter of Encouragement for Diversity in ECE

Hi Deb Dearest and My Family of Friends Who Love and Care for Our Children,

In early November, Columbus, Ohio, celebrated our annual International Festival. Our huge Vets' Memorial center was colorful with booths of many cultures, crafts, clothes, delicious smelling food , activities for children and continuous performances in music and dance representing the diversity of communities living in central Ohio. As always, my eyes were on the children!

Many many young children were dressed in the clothing of their family's backgrounds. Bright reds and golds, tunics and saris, headbands and fishermen's caps, ribbons, lace and leathers, the children brightened every moment of the festival. For the first time in years, young children were part of the performances, singing and dancing their rich traditions . They brought down the house!

Through the festival days (I am always a performer, volunteer, MC, whatever they want me to do) beneath the sights and sounds of the festivities, an old familiar song kept flowing through my mind."You've got to be taught before it's too late, before you are six or seven or eight, to hate everybody your relatives hate, you've got to be carefully taught..." (from South Pacific.)

Here, at this wonderful event that brought together people from the many subcultures enriching our city, that song took on greater meaning. The beauty of all the children, all the races, languages, clothing, food, crafts, songs and dances was contagious! 

We needed to remember the powerful gifts each culture offers. We need to hear people speaking in the language of their homelands. We need to taste their food and appreciate their style of dress, listen to their songs (even though we may not understand the words , we feel the messages). Our children need to know that the world is made up of many kinds of peoples but we are all part of one incredible family- the human family.


Not all communities in our country are as lucky as Columbus,Ohio, to offer such multicultural experiences. That makes the challenge of helping our children learn about and love the wonders of the diverse citizens of our planet even greater. We need to start with ourselves --examine our own attitudes, honestly explore our own convictions.

"Before I teach others, I must teach myself." (Sylva Ashton-Warner) Our communication (verbal and non verbal) our behavior, our beliefs are demonstrated in everything we say and do. We can create communities of learning for our children where they learn to love and respect themselves, each other and others they meet in this ever widening world. That is our hope! That is our journey! 

Enjoy the adventure! Peace and Love, Mimi

Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld, consultant, teacher, author- 
Her books"
Teaching By Heart, Celebrating Young Children and Their Teachers
are available directly from Mimi.
Her text, Creative Experiences For Young Children is available by ordering from Heinemann

WHAT ELSE? Engaging Critical Thinking Skills. An INTERACTIVE BLOG!

REKINDLING DISCOVERY & WONDER!

"PLAY IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF RESEARCH."  Albert Einstein said that!  Really, he did. 

"FUN IS NOT FLUFF."  I said that... and I'm proud to say it every time I have the opportunity to work with teachers and parents across our country.  The words "What Else?" which come from my dear colleague, friend, and mentor, Mimi Chenfeld, speak to playing, discovering, wondering and doing so as we look for more depth in learning.

THE GOAL OF TODAY'S BLOG:
It's so wonderful to have you back and I'm so happy to be able to share with you some fantastic images which I hope will give you ideas on how to re-direct children's abundant energy in ways which elevates their critical thinking skills and so, so,  SO many other ways of learning.

There is something called the:

NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS.  They are so cool. They talk about things like big concepts that we want all young learners to start recognizing.  One of them is one we all know in the PreK and K world... Patterns!!!  Another I'd like you to think about with our first image is:

CAUSE AND EFFECT

Take a moment and really look at this next image.  Soak it in and then comment as to what kinds of things children would learn by placing objects inside the tubes.  I'm not going to give the answer away in the blog, but rather in my reply to your comments.  If you like, you can also email me directly at enriquehankfeldman@gmail.com.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

FOOD!!!  

I'm such a foodie.  I love to cook and I am the chef in my home.  I've even found ways to be much healthier and in doing so, I've lost 53 lbs over the past 4 years.  Below is an image related to food.  What can we learn from asking children about what their favorite food is?  Take a glance at this next image and read the comments from children when asked that question.  Feel free to comment and I'll be happy to reply.

A CHILD'S NAME

We all know a child's name is a powerful gateway to learning in multiple areas.  We usually think about it related to literacy and that's great!  What about math?  What about patterns?  Enjoy this next image and if you'd like to engage me with a comment, I'll be pleased to read your comment and reply back to you. 

SHAPES AND OUR WORLD

Children are so connected to life.  They are a great reminder to us adults that there is so much wonder and richness all around us.... all the time!  So, back to the concepts of the Next Generation Science Standards...this time think about "Stability and Change."  What is that?  Is it one or the other?  Do they co-exist?  Can we guide young children in playful ways so that they begin to understand this kind of a concept?  I used to think the answer was no, but over the last two years I've been asked to design play-based approaches that combine Arts Integration for PreK and K which connect to things like STEM, the Common Core, and these Next Generation Science Standards.... and yes, in playful, developmentally appropriate ways.  At first, about 20% of my brain said....ughhhhh, but the other 80% which is still like a child, said, "That could be fun!"  Guess what I noticed?  I was making decisions on what I thought would be good for children based on my own prejudging.  I'm no scientist, but I do know how to search for things on google.... I challenged myself and oh what fun!

Look at this next image and ask yourself:

• What is this child creating?
• How did they create it?
• What are they learning?
• Is it related to something this child has seen?
• What is stable about it?
• What could change about it?

ACTIVATING WHAT CHILDREN ALREADY KNOW

In my part of the country, you see lots of nature.  We can use things from nature to create different kinds of Art.  We can use these objects found in nature to classify, identify and compare!  Look at the image below.  

• What do you see?
• Can you make any comparisons?
• What could you and your children make from these things?

THE GREAT OUTDOORS!

When you think of a garden, what do you think of?  Some say food, some say plants, some say nature, other say the sun, others trees, some think of cycles and many other wonderful observations are in fact possible.  Have you ever taken your children through a project of sorts based on an outdoor space?

Related to this next image:

• What visual cues are obvious?
• What visual cues are not so obvious?
• What auditory cues might be obvious?
• What auditory cues might not be so obvious?
• What kinds of kinesthetic cues are obvious?
• What kinds of kinesthetic cues might not be so obvious?

LETTERS AND COLORS

This final image is so simple, but it's so powerful.  GIANT LETTERS hanging from the ceiling.  Think about the process that went into making these letters.

• What would children learn by co-creating these shapes?
• When would children see these letters?
• What might move these letters?
• How could you use this concept in other areas of learning?

I hope you're enjoyed today's journey.  It has been a pleasure being your guide.  If you like what you saw today and what you experienced, check out my newest book, "Living Like a Child" and check out my Foundation's newest partners, Arts Integration Solution!  Check out their "Ai Minutes!"

Cheers,
Enrique C. Feldman, Founder and Director of Education
Fostering Arts-Mind Education Foundation
Film Composer and Producer

Back-to-School Letter of Encouragement from Mimi

Dearest Debbie and Our Family of Wonderful Friends Who Love and Care For Our Children,

Uh oh! It's THAT time again! Zip up! Bundle Up! Rake those leaves! Turn on the heat! Return sleeveless shirts, sandals, funky hats and tie dye shorts back into the summer closet! Autumn! Plunged back into reality after the sunny season of outdoors, walks, campfires, festivals, car trips, picnics...the fun of summer!

Back to tighter schedules, benchmarks, parent conferences, curriculum guidelines, assignment deadlines, staff meetings...add to the list of stressful events and times, federal, state, local legislation (often passed by folks who rarely see young children) that impacts all our lives 
(example: Ohio's new law just passed calling for holding back all third graders who do not read up to third grade level by the end of their third grade.)

How on earth do those of us spending our waking hours with our youngest students keep our beliefs, faith, courage, strength and spirit with the bombardment of pressures from all directions heavy on our little shoulders?

Happiest Face Painting from Happy Child

It is a miracle that our profession -- that I describe as a 'sacred calling' -- is rich with awesome individuals who know that our time with our youngest students is precious and vitally important. Thank you research for supporting the importance of early childhood education . Folks like you who create environments of welcome: colorful and creative, safe and loving, are where our children learn to love learning! No matter what is going on outside of our 'world' with the children, you stand strong in your belief about enriched, imaginative, playful, delightful education that directly connects to all curriculum strands. Our children, with you, are learning important lessons by heart!

Our Debbie, Rainbow Girl, takes her songs, books, laughter, fun to teachers and children in ALL seasons! Wherever SHE is, her spirit brightens all who share time with her. People like Dr. Gay Ward at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls and her fabulous colleagues are planning a
beautiful conference titled, 'The Joyful Journey- Teaching In the Key Of Life.' I'm honored to be part of that delightful event that will strengthen participants in their committment to keeping the promise of playful, joyful learning experiences for their children.

We are all on a 'joyful journey' and when we forget that path, we break trust with those who need our steadfastness and affirmation the most. This autumn and in the winter months that follow, I hope each and every' one of you keeps the lights of wonder, curiosity, adventure, courage, creativity alive and well no matter the other 'weather' happening around us.

AS long as you and the children stay on the 'joyful journey' together, they will fall in love with learning....and with YOU. Good luck! 

Peace and Love, Mimi
          
             books: Teaching In The 'Key of Life'
                       Teaching By Heart
                        Celebrating Young Children and Their Teachers
                        Creative Experiences For Young Children

Summertime: Letter of Re-fresh-ment

Dear Friends of Our Children, 

Summer: the Season for JOY!

Happy summer to all! Summer is such a wonderful season and opportunity to celebrate the oldest and best ways to be with each other and especially our kids. Most of the year, we and they are programmed and scheduled and tested and stressed by a society marked by Developmentally-Inappropriate Practices! So here is a chance to relax a little, laugh a lot, sing, skip, feel hoppy and light hearted and hopeful. 

Most of us don't have the time to just do things for their own sakes! Like sing a song, paint a picture, take a walk, jog around the neighborhood, picnic in a nearby park or watch the stars at night. With our children, we
have so many possible joyful moments together. 

I was just on WOSU FM (our local NPR station) talking about creative education and I pronounced (in my usual impartial (??) way that I would rather have any child I love take a walk around the block with a person open, spontaneous, flexible, curious, cheerful and warm than take a trip around the world with a strictly programmed, stiff, close minded, authoritarian person. The walk around the block with YOU, wondering and wandering, observing and noticing, humming and singing, talking and swinging, stopping to smell the flowers, sharing and enjoying could be the GREATEST treasured day of summer for that child- for our children. 

So- as the days spin by too fast, I hope we don't lose this special opportunity to be with our children in loving, joyful and, yes ~~ tis a gift to be simple, ways!~~  

Happy summer, dear family of early childhood educators! 

Peace and Love, Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld

LOVE LANGUAGES and LEARNING

RECOGNIZING THE DIFFERENT WAYS 

IN WHICH WE LOVE

Hello!  If you're new to this blog, welcome and I encourage you to scroll through the many blogs of my colleagues.  From Debbie Clement to Dr. Danny Brassell to Mimi Chenfeld and many more.  My blog today is actually a vlog.  A story told almost completely in video.  Enjoy how teachers Melissa and Edith from the Santa Rosa Head Start program in Tucson, Arizona have used Dr. Chapman's Five Love Languages to elevate how they connect with children and their families.  You'll see how they have created a child-created resource that is helping parents understand their children in a deeper, more meaningful way.  Click and enjoy!


Buen Dia!  Si eres nuevo a este blog, bienvendio!  Te animo tambien a ver los blogs de mis colegas que estan escrito arriba en íngles.  Mi blog hoy es verdadermente un vlog.  Un cuento dicho con video, pero como algunos no hablan íngles hay mucho en español escrito para ayudar a mis colegas del mundo Latino conocer mas de esta tema.  Las maestras Melissa y Edith son de la programa prescolar Santa Rosa Head Start.  Ellos han usado la información del libro "Los Cinco Lenguajes de Amor" (Click para ver el libro en Amazon) de Dr. Chapman para elevar como ellos conectan con los niños  en su clase y sus padres.  Tambien, crearon un libro con los niños que se usa para ayudar a los padres entender mas sobre esta tema.  Con amor y un abrazo fuerte! 

Enrique Feldman
Founder and Director of Education, F.A.M.E. Foundation
Lead Facilitator, Arts Integration Solutions
National and International Presenter
Film Composer
Author

LOVE LANGUAGES and LEARNING - PART I (1:26)

LOVE LANGUAGES and LEARNING - PART II (3:14)

LOVE LANGUAGES and LEARNING - PART III (3:13)

I encourage you to know your love languages and use that critical information in how you invite children into learning environments.  Thanks again to Melissa and Edith!


Te animo a conocer los idiomas de amor para usar esa información crítico en como invitas a niños al aprendizaje profundo.  Gracias a las maestras Melissa y Edith!

Enjoy this screen shots from the videos which highlight how the children and families "knew they were loved."


Aqui tienes un imagen del video que te enseña que los niños y padres estaban aprendiendo sobre los idiomas de amor.

CAN YOU GUESS WHICH LOVE LANGUAGE EACH RESPONSE REPRESENTS?

Physical, Words, Quality Time, Gifting or Acts of Service?

PUEDES ADIVINAR CUAL ES EL IDOMA DE AMOR CON CADA RESPUESTA?

Físico, Palabras, Tiempo de Calidad, Regalos, or Actos de Servicio?

Each answer gives you an idea of how each individual child "recognizes" that they are loved.


Cada respuesta te da un idea de como el niño reconóce que el o ella están amado.


Below is one response where the child says his daddy gave him a telescope so he could see his daddy when he was away.  


Abajo la respuesta del niño dice que su padre le compró un telescopio y asi el niño puede ver a su padre cuando el no esta en casa....ahhhhh.

This response was in Spanish.  The translation is "My daddy shows me he loves me when he takes me to work and I get to be big.  My mommy shows me she loves me when she takes me to school.... she cares about me."


Abajo la respuesta es en español.  Puedes leyerlo y pensar sobre cual es la idioma de este niño.

How do you show others you love them?  How do you like to be loved?  Just thinking about these questions can create changes that improve the quality of life for you and everyone around you.  


Como enseñamos a otros que los queremos?  Como te gusta ser amado?  Empesando con estas preguntas podemos elevar nuestra calidad de vida y la calidad de vida para todos en nuestro mundo.


Below is an example of a child who's love language is "Acts of Service".  Enjoy Anthony's artwork and his response to the question "How do you know your family loves you?"  Keep in mind that this is very different from the question "Do they love you?"


Abajo tienes un ejemplo de un niño y su idioma de amor es "Actos de Servicios."  Goza al arte del niño Antonio y su respuesta a la pregunta "Como sabes que to familia te ama?"  Toma en cuenta que esta pregunta es muy diferente a la prejunta "Te ama tu familia?"

New images coming soon!  Nuevos imagenes pronto!

GIFTS: Giving of Ourselves

Dearest  Family of Friends Who Love Our Children,

          We ARE a culture of THINGS and material goods and gift cards and catalogues of STUFF = shiny, new, electronic, colorful, hi tech, sweet smelling, fuzzy-wuzzy, but, sometimes it is valuable to STOP and rethink the idea of GIFTS. 
          Walking through the halls at our Leo Yassenoff Jewish Center's Early Childhood Program, I noticed, among the drawings and projects brightening
all the walls, the saying from the Wisdom of the Fathers  (Pirkei Avot- old sayings and guidance):
          "Greet everybody with a warm, cheerful and pleasant countenance."
         It stopped me in my tracks and started heart pumping rhythms. I hummed the old church hymn, "Tis a gift to be simple..." and told myself I would write you a letter reminding us all of the importance of the most
simple, obvious, natural 'gifts' we can share with each other. 

          Before my usual twirly thoughts were semi organized, I remembered a beautiful encounter I had years ago with the famed African musician drummer, Montego Joe, who, with his group performed a powerful concert at the Museum of Natural History in my old home town, New York City. 
     The group began the program with a lively chant and seemingly 'connecting' dance. Montego then said, "Before we begin our program, we wanted to welcome you with our special welcome ceremony, wishing everyone a happy day and hoping that our day together will be joyful. We are so blessed to be together on this day."
        After the program, I asked Montego Joe if he always started his concerts with the welcoming dance.
        "Of course," he answered, "I would never begin any sharing without a welcome ceremony."

         I think these are the greatest gifts we can give each other and our children. A cheerful, warm and pleasant countenance to begin and sustain our time together. Welcoming our youngest  students, their caregivers, our colleagues each day with a bright and loving welcome --can make the difference for the rest of the day between life and death. Glad to be together, to share this sacred time with you, to enjoy, learn, have fun with you- what better 'gifts' could we offer?  Walk, talk, build, play, read, sing together- kindness to all and each- a learning environment of respect, trust, safety and joy where every child feels valued and honored. 

     These are the programs children "run to" (I have an article in one of my collections called "Schools Kids Run To")  --  Every single one of those schools begins and sustains the day with the special beginning of a loving welcome and celebrates the joyfulness of learning together in the time that follows. It's not a strategy. It's not a formula or a curriculum system. It's the WAY it is when you and your students and colleagues are together. It's the air you breath , the words you speak and every gesture, expression and action. It's teaching in the 'key of life'.   I wish I could be a young child again and be a student in YOUR class! 
That would be the GREATEST gift!

  Love and Peace, Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld
        (books: Teaching In Thje 'Key of Life'
                       Teaching By Heart
                        Celebrating Young Children and Their Teachers
                        Creative Experiences For Young Children  )

Giving our Children WINGS! Flying and Home Base

Dear Debbie and Our Family of Friends of Our Children,

A few of you have asked if Dan Brodsky Chenfeld, skydiver, author of the new book, "ABOVE ALL ELSE" (available at Amazon ) is related to me. Yes, dear ones, he is my youngest child and sharing this news with you connects to vitally important themes in our sacred calling of Early Childhood Education.

You guessed it, ours was a most permissive , encouraging family. Follow your passions. Follow your dreams. Courage! Don't worry about what others say. Do what is in your heart! No one is perfect! If you love something, stay with it. Keep trying. Process over product! The JOY of doing! 

5 Year Old Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld 'Flying'

Well, our Danny always wanted to fly! He wanted to be a bird! Yours truly never ever even heard of such a "field" as skydiving but this flighty child fell in love with the closest thing to flying by himself and that was the beginning of his lifetime adventure. He's still up in the air!

Now, this earthbound mother and teacher wants to remind Deb's dear readers that not all of our children are encouraged and hallowed by family. Many of our children look to us --teachers -- for welcoming, honoring, listening,  reassuring, celebrating- For so many of our young students, we are the ONLY people in their lives who offer such gifts in a safe and loving place. There is no real measurement to equal the importance of these relationships. I think of our work as Life Affirming! Teaching in the 'key of life.'
       
I was recently on our NPR radio call in show about creativity in education. A gentleman in his sixties called in to tell us that when he was a very young child, he had a wonderful teacher who constantly reassured him as he expressed anxiety and nervousness with so many projects. Her enthusiasm was contagious. Her support constant.   He told us that to this day, music and art are part of his life because she helped him love the arts!

It was a beautiful phone call. Wherever you are, you are  a city of refuge, home plate, an oasis for our children. Who knows? One of your little ones might be dreaming of flying right now?

Love and Peace,
Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld
Creative Experiences For Young  Children (Heinemann)
Celebrating Young Children And Their Teachers (NAEYC and Redleaf)
Teaching By Heart (still available from Redleaf)

An Open Letter for the Holidays + Teachers

Dearest Debbie and Each and All of My Friends who LOVE and CARE FOR our children:

 

Chanukah Candles

Source: lilteacher.com via Debbie on Pinterest

Christmas Candles

Source: google.com.au via Julie on Pinterest

These beautiful holidays of lights--Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa - are always filled with layers of memories and messages.  Yes, sparkling trees, glowing menorahs, flickering candles and gifts of all sizes and wrappings abound but the brightest flames of all are the shining sparks of wisdom that help us remember the true gifts we share.  Gathered from decades of being with young children in settings across the country, my resolutions for the coming year are rekindled by memories such as these.

Kwanzaa candles

Source: allthingschristmas.com via Betty on Pinterest

         

Our long ago program director, Linda, was looking out of her living room window and watched in

frozen shock her young almost four year old son picking EVERY flower in the garden.  As she opened the door for him, she tried not to show her dismay at the deflowering of her beautiful, hard-earned work.
          "Darling," she said, "You didn't have to pick ALL the flowers in the garden for me, you could have just given me one flower."

          "Mommy," he explained as he poured the flowers over her, " I love you too much for just one flower. I love you more than all the flowers."

         

Judy, one of our most beloved subs in our early childhood program, awoke one morning feeling very low, a real downer. She arrived at  the classroom of three and a half year olds with a heavy step and low energy. As she walked into the classroom, Josh welcomed her with a loud, enthusiastic greeting,

         "Hello GORGEOUS!" It made her day!

Dawn taught mostly children of poverty, dysfunctional families and transient addresses for many years in an urban school system. She was a devoted and committed teacher who felt a deep commitment to her chosen profession.  One day, one of her young students, who also had a speech challenge, stuttering, came up to her and said,

      "Mi...Mi...Miss Heyman, I  I  I have have a ri-ri-ri-riddle for you!"

      "What is it, dear?"

      "Wha-wha-what what has two two legs and says l-l-l-love you?"

      "I can't guess, tell me the answer."

       He pointed to himself and with a great smile said, "M-m-m-m-meeeeeee!"

So Debbie and Friends, You can guess what the blessings of the season and all seasons, this holiday and all holidays and all the every-days are......... yes, love!  Theodore Roethke wrote,"Teaching is the one profession that permits love."

In our so high technology driven era, with communication systems beyond the imagination and gaps-in-communication larger than ever (I still use smoke signals), with media dominated by mean spirited programs, speeches, video games, harsh campaigns, instant signals of alarm and violence, it is so easy to get lost in the tangle.

But, we, who are called to this "work", this sacred calling, have so much to remember and to keep at the top of our New Year's resolutions list. Our children NEED us more than ever. For so many of our most precious young children, we are the only safe, welcoming, loving  place they know. Not all of them are as fortunate as our flower child described above.

We have minimum effect on situations often beyond our control: home environments, family relationships, unemployment, dangerous neighborhoods- but we have GREAT control over the space we share with the children. And when that space is warm, welcoming, loving, encouraging, exciting and safe-at-any-speed for every child,  we are sharing the greatest gifts possible with each other and our youngest students.

It's always the season to keep our promises to strengthen ourselves, stay loyal to our beliefs and 

values, articulate to families, to administrators, to community, our way of "teaching in the key of life" so our children learn to be lifelong learners through every joyful path-- through fun, song, play, story, projects, books, trips, poetry, tricks- every way possible to help children succeed and love learning--to teach us to love with all the flowers and to remind us that the best way they learn is when we share our time and space with love.  

Happy holidays, dearest Debbie and Friends.    

Love and Peace,  Mimi

Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld

P.S. Friends, Teaching in the "Key of Life" is totally consistent and in harmony with Developmentally Appropriate Practices!

Here's another glorious image from Pinterest on a possible way to create artfully lit candles.

Source: thecraftycrow.net via Debbie on Pinterest