"I met a Pediatrician in the woods..."
Hello all! Ms. LJ here. We have been talking so much about kindergarten readiness here, both as discussions in our blog and in our kindergarten planning meetings. For many of us it is a passion project, a calling to find a way to reintegrate the joy of childhood with the delight of curiosity, of hunting for answers in this beautiful world of ours.
Learning IS a joy that fuels the fires of our existence. Our children are subjected to the fears of failure early, of “falling behind” or being measured against their peers with a single yard stick and being found wanting. These anxieties become inextricably linked to education as they get older, convincing them that it is something they have to endure, rather than tools given and honed to become our best selves.
Why? It is our very ambitious belief that it is because we have cut off curriculum from play. Particularly in the American education system for young children we have turned away from the most natural, efficient source of teaching.
BACK TO MY ORIGINAL POINT: I MET A PEDIATRICIAN IN THE WOODS…
On Friday morning last week I found myself home with my two children. I had just received my second covid inoculation and was feeling a bit run down myself, but I did not want to squander this rare opportunity to spend alone time with my kids! The Covid-19 pandemic as a whole has been a tragic, frightening event, but I will always cherish the summer I got to spend every day outside with my babies. I took them to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, one of our favorite “safe space” hangouts from last year, to walk the grounds and kick the slush around under a blue sky.
It was here on one of these particularly wet paths that I ran into two women, one of which commented that it was nice I brought them out on such a nice day. I laughed and said flippantly “I figured they didn’t need to sit in a classroom today.”
In response, this woman gestured around her and said with utter sincerity, “This IS a learning space.”
I grinned, even though I knew she couldn’t see it behind my mask. “I think so too.”
The lady laughed and turned back to her friend, ”And I’m a pediatrician, so you can quote me on that if anyone asks.”
It’s not just our career teachers that are seeing this. It’s not just the parents who know their “energetic kids” focus better when in motion. Doctors who specialize in children are urging for parents and educators alike to integrate consistent, long-form play into all aspects of children’s lives. Physically, they are stronger. Mentally, they are more able to pay attention and less likely to have sensory issues.
Social competencies and emotional resilience suffer greatly without consistent peer-interaction in a playful and imaginative setting as well! Children often work out a lot of their big questions and anxieties of the day by integrating it into safe-space imaginative play reenactments. Without being able to work these issues out themselves, children are unsure of their own abilities to problem solve, and those anxieties and dependencies grow.
Here is a fantastic article from The American Academy of Pediatrics all about The Power of Play if you would like to read more:
The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children
It’s not that wrote learning, memorization, and standardized long-form curriculums don’t work, it’s that they miss the point of education entirely. They leave behind many and narrow the focus of the rest, curbing creativity, independent thought, and resilience to the necessary process of failure.
Think about any lesson you still remember 10, 20, 30 years later. Which ones stuck with you?
For me it’s almost always the games. My sixth grade teacher had us turn our entire classroom into a bunch of cardboard houses to mimic Hoovervilles. She dunked our feet in cold water and drew cards with battlefield injuries to give us a taste of war on the front. In third grade, multiplication songs and games stuck with me way longer than any flashcard work. Watching pumpkins rot, playing with baby chicks hatching from eggs and experiencing them grow was a poignant way to learn about the life cycles of living things. One of my favorites was pretending to be sound waves bouncing around a back alley. Even “Which President was it?” trivia tag helped facts that HAD to be memorized something fun and worth doing.
To reinvigorate education as a whole we have to reunite the JOY that should come with it, the fascination, the wonder. Let the kids run off in their excitement and experience a lesson with their whole bodies. Let them learn more than you thought, more widely than you thought. You’ll be surprised what you learn when you’re muddy and out of breath too.
Go Play! Keep Learning! Most of all, Have Fun!
Miss LJ
CG Challenges: A Mile a Day
Hello Everyone!
Miss Liz and I have been noticing the incredible benefits of daily, extended outside time on our students. They’re sturdier and more resilient. They have more energy but are simultaneously more able to pay attention.
With shorter days and bitter winds it is often harder to get out, especially after school and work. We totally get that. It is why we have started our own mile a day challenge. One mile of walking or running each day. That’s a twenty minute walk on average! It has been such a refreshing incentive to get out there even when we want to stay under our blankets and cuddle our dogs!
THEN we thought… do you know who would love this challenge? Our school-aged kids. They have to sit in front of the computer all day for school. Even if it’s cold, there is no better way to shake the sillies out than a brisk walk in the fresh air.
Monday through Friday, every day, we are going to get those kids out there, and we want you to join us! Walk a mile on your lunch break. Take a walk after work around your block or cul de sac. You’d be surprised how much energy you have for the rest of your Saturday if it begins with a mile in your shoes! It’s as good as a cup of coffee.
What do you think? Join us? We still have 26 days of January to go! You could also go from January 10 to February 10, or March 15 to April 15, every day is a new day to start something wonderful for yourself.
We will be posting our journey through January. Every day will be a little adventure, and while we are sharing ours, we hope you will share yours too! Do you have a little park by your house? Do you walk the trails? Do you prefer to bike the mile with your kiddos? Do you have a four-pawed companion that comes with you?
Post pictures or stories and use the hashtag #CGMileADay so we can see them all!
Show us what your mile looks like!
One mile a day… take that first step!
Miss LJ
Thanksgiving, a kids perspective
As an adult, it’s easy to get caught up in the ideas we have about holidays. But what do the kids think?
We asked a few of our school aged kids to weigh in on Thanksgiving.
What is Thanksgiving?
D: Giving thanks about all the things. Being kind to your teacher and your family.
J: Is a time of year where you tell everyone what you’re thankful for.
C: To give you something that you give to other people
H: It’s a weekend.
E: It’s a holiday to celebrate thanks.
What should you do on Thanksgiving?
D: Go to sleep for the whole entire day, except for the Thanksgiving part - giving thanks to all your family and friends, except in the coronavirus, not your friends.
J: Eat turkey and sing songs.
C: Eat turkey.
H: Eat nothing and have dessert and have pickled pie.
E: Be thankful for things, instead of buying more things. Like be thankful for the stuff that you already have - that you have family members, especially when they bring you candy and stuffies.
What do you eat on Thanksgiving?
D: Turkey and pie and nothing else.
J: Turkey!
C: Turkey, but I don’t wanna eat turkey, I want blueberries and strawberries.
H: I eat turkey and mashed potatoes, but no gravy.
E: Turkey and mashed potatoes, I think my family makes pie, maybe?
Non-Screen Life: Training your Inner Ear
Hey everybody! We are here to talk to you about:
PLAYING OUTSIDE!
GETTING DIRTY!
Finding that SAFE DANGER!
We know with the pandemic, 2020 has been a year of hand sanitizer and indoor quarantine. But it has also been a year of finding your own fun! Going into the woods and rolling down hills. Climbing trees and hanging upside down. Going out in fields and spinning like tops.
According to Pediatric Occupational Therapist Angela Hanscom, not only are these things incredible for attention and sensory issues, they are a KEY ROLE in developing The Vestibular System. This is the system our bodies use to know where we are in space! It is even more important than it sounds. Without serious play, children are more frail, more clumsy, less able to pay attention, and much more likely to struggle with emotional regulation.
Our children spend a long time sitting upright with little movement. Help them train their inner ears by:
Going Upside Down
Rolling Down Hills
Spinning In Circles (10x in each direction ought to do it… with hilarious results)
Climbing Trees
Jumping off Swings
Tossing them in the air
Sliding down slides on their bellies
Teachers and Parents should be life guards in play rather than consistent active participants. We want to ensure the children are safe and healthy, but too much structure and restriction has been shown to be detrimental! Let the kids fall. The dirt can offer so many essential lessons to growing up healthy!
We will be posting more on the benefits of outdoor play here so keep your eyes out! In the meantime, go have fun and WORK THOSE EARS!
For more on Angela Hanscom’s research and Timbernook Program, click here!
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