Day: June 6, 2017

Posted on

The ABC of Child Whispering: Q is for QUESTIONS

We are all curious about our world, about possibilities, what ifs?

What if I did that?

What if I am wrong?

What if she does that?

Most of us imagine multiple possible scenarios dozens of times each day.

Forming questions leads us to problem solving and ultimately we decide which questions to follow, form a hunch, hypothethise and try to order our inquiry.

This questioning attitude is an essential part of kids’ minds. Unfortunately, we dull their minds by not encouraging their questions.

We learned about question marks last week and I was astounded!

 WHY IS GOD THERE? asks a 7 year old.

 WHY DO YOUNG KIDS SOMETIMES DIE? asks a 9 year old.

 WHY ARE TEACHERS SO STRICT? asks a feisty 6 year old youngster.

 WHY DO WE HAVE TO LIVE FOREVER? asks a six year old who attends a Catholic school and on and on to totally mind blowing and obscure questions about the Mosasaurs.

My brain hurts but I know it is my job to awaken their curiosity not dampen it.

The link provided here is an excellent blog post on improving our ability to teach kids about questions. Both teachers and parents can benefit from a careful reading!
http://amorebeautifulquestion.com/encouraging-student-questioning/

 

 

 

Posted on

A positive spin on FIDGET SPINNERS!

Yesterday I was given my very own fidget spinner and I am SO enjoying it!

So far I have “spun” before breakfast, through breakfast and while organising tasks, generating ideas for a creative writing program and now while writing this and it’s only 10:30am.

I love it. It seems to help me focus and feel less stressed.

Researchers are running around telling us how wrong they are for children, how right they are etc.

It’s not a big deal!

Crazes have always been with us. Marbles, dinky toys, slinkies, hula hoops, conkers, clackers, knuckle bones trolls slime  football cards, Rubik’s cubes, Transformers , slap bracelets, Tamagotchis,  Pokemon , Yo-Yos …………………….
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/5/3/15529506/fidget-spinners-trend-science
Wise teachers know what to do- “Your spinners live in here!”  as they produce a special FIDGETS HERE basket!

Then we get on with it- just like our teachers did and their teachers before that.

Maybe or maybe not it is good for ADHD or Autistic kids. Who knows? The next craze will be here soon so we can all obsess about that while the kids just get on with the job of being a kid and having fun and avoiding homework.

We could actually learn a thing or two from the kids.

If you can’t beat them- join em!

During the next fortnight we will be studying the science of fidget spinners and making them- check our Pinterest page for ideas!

https://au.pinterest.com/victoriacarlton/fidget-spinners/

We will use them to revise seconds, circles, revolutions, moon around the Earth etc

Anyway- back to my little idea generator- my spinner!

Posted on

We DO have a choice

We are  acting like lemmings when it comes to our obsession with social media. We are ignoring our kids!

I am truly frightened about the poor oral vocabularies and poor language patterns of many of the children we see. Simply put- we are not talking to our kids enough and they are suffering!

We have choices and we need to really think about this. Teachers cannot possibly compensate for the way kids are being ignored, unnoticed and made to feel invisible.

I believe every child born is a gift from God and they deserve to be nurtured and cared for- not treated as if they were an annoying interruption to games, texting or face book.

Yes, I do know many of you don’t do this but many do and it’s just not fair to kids.

We are all texting madly and ignoring people we are with and when we ARE with the people we were texting, we text others. What is stopping us from BEING WITH each other?

It has gone beyond a joke and now kids are really suffering. Wake up. Your kids are lonely and they need you to be 100% present.

Many kids are completely addicted to social  media themselves- it is MUCH harder for kids to control this but we CAN!

Watch this and make up your own mind- we CAN turn this around and be there for each other- REALLY.

Watch this video and wake-up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1gRRiViOdU

 

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)