Month: July 2013

I am here in Singapore on one of my usual trips and this is always such a special time of the year for me. When I visit during Ramadan there is a special feeling here. Sure there are the delights of the Ramadan markets in Geylang Serai or the amazing Malay foods such as delicious kuih- but it is  and almost indefinable “something else” I am referring to.

That something else is about the uniting self-discipline of the Muslim faith- a faith where people from 5 years onwards can fast from sunrise to sundown and not complain or whinge! I have had many fasters in my classes during this trip and past ones and not once heard a complaint!

I think of my feeble efforts to fast at Lent and Advent and wonder! This ability to take united action and fast with love and self-discipline must be so good for children as well as adults. We are severely short of self-discipline in the world today and we can all learn from the steadfastness of our Muslim friends during this special time!

Each time I hear the call to prayer from a mosque my spirit is uplifted and I am reminded to nurture and recognise the sacred in each person I meet. We also need to do this with children. I have conducted many assessments during the last 2 weeks- both here in Singapore and in Perth. Each one of these children had truly different learning styles, personalities, dreams and yearnings and totally different cocktails of the various intelligences. Each one must be helped with love to reach their potential and accorded respect and honour.

Teaching is a sacred duty that requires heart, soul, prayer and a great deal of self-discipline as well as creativity. Once again I feel revitalised by being here at this special sacred time and I honour and salute all my Muslim colleagues and friends around the world!

We are in Singapore to train teachers and on the way here we saw and heard something wonderful!

We sat at the back of the plane and so did a couple with their 3 children-ranging from 3-8 years. These children had obviously not flown before and were very excited about the proceedings.

As we lifted into the air, the kids screamed loudly with absolute fear and delight. We all smiled and the mood was contagious and each one of us disappeared into our own private thoughts and remembered our first flight. We remembered the fear and the thrill and each of us wondered that we have become so deadened to the thrill, speed and sheer excitement of taking off into the air! Somehow I know none of us will forget that flight!We all gained from that experience and we all felt revitalised and more in touch with our inner child!

As educators, we need to be able to identify with the feelings of excitement and fear children feel when confronted by something new and challenging. These three kids coped well-their parents had assured them that they would be safe, strapped them in and trusted they would manage their fear. When the children screamed loudly they smiled indulgently and allowed the children to express their joy and fear.

If only we could always trust our children to manage challenges, assure them and provide support but stop wrapping them in cotton wool. Children are amazingly resilient and most definitely will achieve far more than we expect if we allow them some breathing space. There is a strong message for educators here. Stop putting limits on children. I hear so many teachers talking about the labels they might place on children and how they will not be able to achieve academically as they have these various “conditions”.

We make self-fulfilling prophecies. I ask my teachers to take the labels OFF children and find out who they really are underneath this plethora of limiting labels. Children need to be pushed slightly beyond their comfort zone- we all need this! They can do it and they have to learn to throw their heart over the bar and give their absolute best! Let’s encourage all our kids to all aim for the stars.

Come to the edge, he said.

 They said:  We are afraid.

 Come to the edge, he said.

 They came

 He pushed them……………and they flew.

 (Guillaume Apollinaire)

 

As a kid in Primary school I loved maths. I loved the equipment, maths investigations and the joy of finally solving the problem! What great astute and creative teachers I had!
I never thought I would feel the joy of maths again after I commenced high-school! JOY and MATHS were antonyms for me! I hated maths with a passion as it stopped making sense. Nothing related to the real world anymore and apart from the simple elegance of algebra and geometry- the rest seemed like such a chore!

And then I started teaching and you just HAVE to think in terms of patterns, “hands on”, practical strategies and fun ways to engage young children if you are to teach effectively.Teaching maths awoke curiosity in me about order, patterns of nature, properties of numbers and I found maths IS relevant-it is EVERYWHERE and helps us to feel the order and harmony of our universe.

I recently read an amazing book by Daniel Tammet Called THINKING IN NUMBERS- how maths illuminates our lives. With chapter titles such as POETRY OF THE PRIMES, SHAKESPEARE’S ZERO, ARE WE ALONE?, ETERNITY IN AN HOUR and the CATARACT OF TIME it re-awoke my longing to help children love this subject and revitalised our teaching approach to mathematics.

I want kids to discover the fascinating life and character of Pythagoras. Can you believe he expounded his philosophy and ideas to huge crowds? Secondary pupils would be totally amazed at this! I want to teach about the history and power of numbers and ways different cultural groups approach this area.

We have recently been doing more origami at ICE to help the kids understand geometrical concepts and they LOVE it! We have discovered the great power of the NUMICON system and how this really helps children to understand number and how the equipment can be used from Pre School throughout Primary school.

This maths journey is never ending and we are now sharing it with our ALL KIDS CAN LOVE MATHS workshop for teachers. Tomorrow we will be offering this to educators in Singapore and I can’t wait! Finally the pure fun of maths is back!

If we don’t kill it by only offering boring worksheets ALL kids can love maths and it will open up huge vistas of thinking in their lives.

Just watching Malala address the United Nations tonight. She was the courageous young girl shot at close range by the Taliban- but they lost and she survived. Now she has united the whole world and a 16 year old girl is addressing the United Nations- it is her birthday! What a special privilege to witness this!

Watching this well spoken and passionate, intelligent young woman- it is so apparent she is going to be a strong leader for her people and especially for women and girls.

She wants all children to be able to attend school and power to her!
Ban Ki-moon, secretary of UN pointed out Malala was targeted because she was determined to learn! Half of the world population are under 25- this world is young! They MUST have access to education.

These girls are not alone- let’s fight this good fight and win! 57 million of children are not in school. Most of these children are from conflict ridden areas and most are girls. The UN have undertaken a huge project -by the end of 2015 to have every child at school.

No child should fear to learn and no teacher fear to teach.
The Taliban are right to be frightened of this young woman. She is spelling out their demise.

In Malala’s own words: The pen is mightier than the sword!