FOSTERING CREATIVE & CRITICAL THINKERS - Transference of Knowledge!

BUCKLE UP!

The process of learning is amazing to behold.  Especially when you have the opportunity to collaborate for years with creative and progressive programs. One such organization is Child-Parent Centers, Inc., an exemplary Head Start program in Tucson.  

This blog is dedicated to their children, teachers and parents.

Enrique C. Feldman, Founder
Global Learning Foundation, Artist,
and Children's Book Author

I had taken a break for a from my blogging with so many wonderful projects which have taken my complete focus.  Those projects are surfacing now and so am I!  To preface all the beautiful images you're going to see, which are examples of children's work with materials, I want to make something very clear.  This blog and the children's work it highlights are much more than cute & cool.

The work you're seeing is the byproduct of weeks and in some cases months of:

• Teachers asking children great questions
• Children and Teachers having authentic conversations
• Exploring with materials before deciding on which ones to use

With that in mind... up, up and away!

The role of materials is essential to creating invitations for any aged learner to explore, consider, strive and eventually THRIVE!  Take a good look at the first image below.  Which do you think the child started with?  Which one took longer?  Why?  Notice that I love to use questions, even with you, the reader... why do I choose to do that?  (I encourage you to use the comment section below)

WHAT & WHY

As adult learners we quite often ask questions starting with "What?"  Nothing wrong with that and certainly, sometimes it is a great word to use.  What about why?  lol... couldn't help myself! 

What would the world look like if we asked "Why?" more often?  For example, with the next image, I could ask a infinite number of questions.  How about this one...

Why do you think this child chose to create this structure/image?  Is there a central focus, and if so, was this done on purpose?  Hmmmmm.....  I can hear you thinking and I love that sound... silence... the sound of thinking!  Let's remember to embrace the silence once we ask a question.  Many of us adults ask a question, followed by the sound of our own voice, again speaking.... I know I do sometimes.... embrace the sound of thinking, that glorious silence, especially when working with young children.

SYMMETRY and ASYMMETRY

Now hold on....these are pretty big words for preschool children, right?  Not really.  There was a time when I would have thought so.  In my many years of working with children, my experience has shown me that:

• When you embody the thing you are learning, you can learn anything, including advanced vocabulary.
• When you offer any aged learner the chance to learn with different approaches, you elevate their level of engagement.
• When you offer different ways of experiencing the same concept, you by default introduce the idea of "transference of knowledge" (understanding how concepts make sense in different areas of study).

3D and 2D

#Whynot? The ever popular fortress image!  I know I loved forts when I was little... but wait, is this a fort?  What else could it be?  How many different things could this represent?  And, do we take the time to have these kinds of conversations with our youngest learners.... how about our older learners?

The ability to see images in our own head in both 2D and 3D is very closely related to our ability to visualize.... so, is this just an image of a fort?  I think we should all think about how empowering this kind of work can be for learner and teacher/parent!

MATERIALS and COLOR

So what is a young child thinking when they choose a color?  Did they know that the blue and the red would provide fantastic contrast?  Did they first explore other colors?  Does that thing in the center turn or twist?  If so, why?

Are the questions we ask more important than the "answers"?  I have my opinion and I encourage you to consider your response.

BALANCE and FUNCTION

I wonder what this child knows about balance?  I wonder if the word "Fulcrum" was introduced?  I wonder if they first saw something like this in real life.

Should we keep wondering?  Should we model wondering?

hmmmmm...

Depending on your personality type, you might be wondering, "but what are the exact steps to take when having children work with blocks and creating visual art?"  May I suggest a different question? Perhaps...

• What kind of materials do your children enjoy the most?
• Have you asked them why?

• What kinds of real life objects excite your children the most?
• Have you asked them why?

• Can you find materials and objects that interest your children?
• Can you connect these materials and objects to words, math, and science?

I wonder and I hope you do to!

I'm looking forward to my July 10 blog, which will be a very special one indeed, titled "The Art of Living".... and now that I think about it, my August 10 blog will be just as special, titled "Sam the Ant - the hero in us all!"

Ciao!

Enrique C. Feldman
Founder, Global Learning Foundation
Performing Artist and Composer
Author, Living Like a Child
Creator, iBG, Intellectual Brainwave Games (coming soon)
Co-Creator, The Inner Journey Theatrical Show
Co-Author of Sam the Ant, a new kind of children's book series (coming soon)
Producer, Kaleidoscope (Children's Album in consideration for a Grammy 2017)

Motor Skill Activities for Children

Hi! I'm Carolyn Kisloski from Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together.  For many people, this is the beginning of a new school year.  I thought it would be a good time to share some of my favorite motor skill activities for children.

Pre-writing exercises not only help children warm up their fine motor muscles, but also help them to focus on using them the best they can. Here are some fun warm up activities that don't take long, but help children transition into an activity using fine motor skills, like Writer's Workshop.

1.  Windshield Wipers- Children hold their hands above their head and cross straight arms 10 times.  Then, they place the bottom hand over the top hand, and repeat.

2.  Door Knob Turns-  Children pretend to turn door knobs with arms straight out in front of them and rotate toward the midline for 10 repetitions.

3.  Rainbows-  Have children hold their elbows with opposite hands.  They lift their elbows overhead in a single motion and return to their waist. Repeat 10 times.

4.  Mickey Mouse Ears-  Children put their fists by their ears, open hands, and close tightly.  Repeat 10 times.

5.  Desk Push-Ups- Children put hands flat on desks, with thumb and index fingers forming a triangle. They bend their elbows, put their nose into the triangle, then straighten their arms.  Repeat 10 times.

Coloring and writing use fine motor muscles, but aren't best for developing these muscles and making them strong.  Young children need lots of opportunities to develop these muscles so they don't get tired or frustrated completing activities that use these little muscles. It's just like any muscle that you need to strengthen so you can use it confidently and with best control. Children want to do their best work, enjoy it, and  feel proud of it. They don't want to feel clumsy and do sloppy work. Lots of opportunities to develop fine motor skills, both at home and at school,  are important for young children.

I made a paper that I send home to parents with some ideas that they can use at home to work on developing fine motor skills.  Lots of times parents want to help, but aren't sure what activities would be best.  Click HERE if you would like a copy.

We had a very informative class  with our OT, discussing the book Teaching the Moving Child by Sybil M. Berkey.

She shared some great ideas for fine and gross motor activities for children.

1. Use golf pencils or broken crayons to help children use correct finger grip.

Broken crayons kind of make me cringe.  I could have named my blog "Sharp Pencils and Brand New Crayons,"  because those are two things I LOVE.  OK- even more honestly, it could have been named "Sharp Ticonderoga Pencils and Brand New Crayola Crayons." But that would never fit on a button.

However, cringing aside,  I do see the benefit of using these smaller writing tools for children who need help or reminders using the correct grip.  If a crayon or pencil is small, children can't get all of their fingers around it, and therefore are "forced" to use a correct grip.  This is an especially good tip to remember at the beginning of the year.

I didn't have too many golf pencils, but that wasn't a problem by the end of summer- because this is my husband and son on a typical weekend!

2.  Have children write in a prone position (lying on the floor with a clipboard) or standing and writing on a wall space to put their wrists in proper position.
















I tried this one and you can see it does position the child's arm and wrist correctly.  I did have a couple children who have "floppy wrists" or who bent their wrists around when they wrote.  Lying on the floor made them rest on their forearm and keep their wrist in the right position.  This isn't practical all the time, but I could definitely have them do this more during center times or certain writing times.  I didn't like the wall writing as much probably because I don't have much wall space and the paper has to be at the perfect height for them so they aren't reaching up  or stooping down, which defeats the purpose.


3. Have over-active children do "chair push-ups" or push against a wall to remain calm and more focused.

   

We do like a good "Chair Push-Up" break now and then!  My whole class does this together. I always have a couple children who benefit from this the most, but it is fun and helpful for everyone- as well as a challenge! They love to see who can stay up for a long time. 

We have a ball with the Wall Push.   I don't have much wall space, but we all line up quietly and walk around the corner in our hall, where there are no classrooms.  We try to push the wall as hard as we can.  I tell them we are trying to make Miss Quick's classroom smaller by pushing in the wall!   They really think we have moved that concrete wall over.  Sorry, Miss Quick, for your shrinking room!

These activities are also great for developing some shoulder strength.

Again,  this is a great brain break for everyone in the class!  Who doesn't feel like pushing a wall every now and then? One good thing about doing this in the hall is that I tell them we have push really hard, but be quiet, so they aren't screaming- but putting the effort into the physical exertion.

Mean Soup is a fun book to read before you practice some gross motor exercises- and if your class is ever in a sort of picky mood.



The story is about a boy who had a very frustrating day. His mother suggests that they make soup together, which he does not want to do at first.  She boils water on the stove, adds a little salt,  and screams into the water.  Then, she has him do it. They both scream louder into the "soup" until they feel better.  After that, the mother decides they should stick their tongues out twenty times into the soup- which, we, of course, did as well. (I actually made tally marks each time we stuck out our tongues-  MATH!)  What a fun idea to get out some frustration! We also took out our frustrations on the wall.  Again, sorry, Miss Quick- we are SURE your room is at least a foot smaller by now. 

                                        

It's such a fun way to teach children a safe, productive way to relieve stress.

  

Other good suggestions for an overly-active child were to have him/her do more physical jobs for you in the classroom, like wipe down tables, push in chairs, or carry heavy objects (like a small stack of books) for you in the hallway.  Kids love to be helpers, and this is a way for a child to be a helper and have some physical stimulation. 

(ok... maybe just a small stack!)

 

Go Noodle is FULL of great brain breaks and activities for getting children moving.  It has everything from Zumba to Yoga.  If you haven't used it yet, you and your kids will love it. It's free! Go check it out! I posted about it HERE.

I hope you found some new activities to use in your classroom! Thank you for stopping by! I'd love you to visit me at my blog, Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together. 

Have a wonderful school year!

                                    









RUDY DRAWS A MAP!

WHEN IS A CHILD MOST ENGAGED?

That's quite a question.  Hopefully there is a different answer for each child, and in general hopefully we are looking for constant clues from the child related to what they say and do to recognize the invitations to learn which we can present as guides.

Welcome back to my blog!  For those who are new, my name is Enrique and I'm the Founder of the F.A.M.E. Foundation.  We work with children, teachers and parents all over the world with organizations like our partners in Los Angeles, MyTown Music, Arts Integration Solutions and many others.  One of our long time partnering organizations is Child-Parent Centers Inc., in Tucson, Arizona.  Thanks to all my colleagues and friends there... you are brilliant human beings!

To kick off this blog, read the following which documents the basic's of how Rudy, age 4, was engaged by his teacher. 

Pretty amazing, right?  There is so much that these teachers do so well.  Among them is the asking of questions which engage the child's natural sense of curiosity.  Below you can sense the body language of Rudy.  Off to draw a map to the garden he goes... oh and there is so much more that happens in context!

Along the way, Rudy notices new things that perhaps he had not noticed before.  The experience of how observing is different than looking is a huge life skill.

Revision is another fantastic skill Rudy experienced by observing things more than once, drawing them, observing some more, and then making changes to show more detail.  What if every young learner was excited when they heard the word revision?  Hmmm...

Rudy notices colors, shapes and begins to attach this a growing vocabulary... and all the while acting as an explorer, a scientist, an engaged learner.

Rudy continued to experience the idea of "What Else?"  Looking for depth of knowledge over time transfers to growing our depth of being.... profound and all experienced in a play-based setting.

I LOVE this image of notes!  My Foundation has been working with this center on many things, including how to write music, write songs, and connect that to math.  Well... it looks like Rudy noticed that on his journey of creating a map!

It looks like Rudy has arrived at his destination... the GARDEN!

I present to you Rudy's Map of how to get to the garden at his center for learning, his home away from home.  Bravo Rudy and Bravo Child-Parent Centers!

LIVE, LOVE, AND LEARN LIKE A CHILD

Cheers!

Enrique