Warning. All children start off as artists. Humans create. Children start off creative. What do we have to do to keep their creativity alive throughout life?
Merry Lanker’s students at Muffley School in Decatur, Il.,2012
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One day, Carol said to her five-year-old niece Emma, “My that is a beautiful stuffed lion you have there.”
“I know, I saw it in the store and Mommy bought it for me.”
“That’s nice.”
“Yes. Well, she wasn’t going to.”
“Oh?”
“No. She wasn’t going to. So I went,” and screwing up her face Emma acted out, “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” then said, “She took it off the shelf and bought it for me.” Read More…
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Joan Fitzpatrick’s room was a beehive of active learning all day long. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that each child was being optimally challenged.
Joan taught a mixed group of 18 first and second graders on her own. Read More…
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- Musa age 3. Abdallah age 5.
I love No Child Left Behind.
In May of 2002 I visited our local public school, hung out on the playground and just generally lurked. As the kids were waiting to go home at the end of the day, I asked a kindergartner, “What are you looking forward to in first grade next year?”
“Homework,” he said. The girl standing next to him said, “I know!” and the other kids nearby nodded, smiled and gave their assent.
It’s part of a fun, little research project I have been doing ever since I asked this question and got this response from a kindergartner thirty-five years ago. Read More…
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What can you trust kids to do on their own? Almost anything if you play your cards right. Read More…
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The soft, non-cognitive curriculum is neither soft, nor non-cognitive, nor a curriculum.
One afternoon I met a fifth grade teacher grading papers and writing report cards in a café. When I greeted him he didn’t say “Hi,” but waving Maya’s report card in the air said: “Now this is what a model student looks like.”
“What’s so great?” I asked.
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My son Peter supervises, manages, teaches and leads 90 teachers who teach English in 45 different schools in the Tokyo area. In talking about what he does in this 56 second video, he nails the essential distinction between education and mere schooling, between leading and mere managing, between leading a life and just going through the motions of living.
Would you agree?
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My daughter and I take turns behind the wheel driving south through Virginia on I-81 with my 10-year-old granddaughter in the back. Riding shotgun, Brooke calls home to tell her 13-year-old daughter and husband that we will be arriving tomorrow around noon.
After the mutual exchange of passionate I-can’t-wait-to-see-you’s and it’s-been-so-long’s and I-love-you’s the teenager says: “Can you take me and Elizabeth to the mall tomorrow?” Read More…
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May I Ask Where You’re Going With All This?
A New Yorker cartoon shows a teacher at a blackboard with numbers on it: 2 + 2 = 4, and 5 – 3 = 2, and 2 + 3 = 5, etc. The students are in their seats and one hand is up. The caption reads, “Please, Ms. Sweeney, may I ask where you’re going with all this?” Read More…
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I never let my schooling interfere with my education.
–Mark Twain
Parents just took another unfair hit from people who don’t understand education and the role schools play in education.
Recently in the Huffington post Tim Elmore reported that “According to Joan McVitte, president of the Association of School and College Leaders, ‘to instill values and responsibility’ now has to be a top priority. The Harvard Graduate School of Education shared a recent poll indicating that 70 percent of public school parents want schools to teach ‘strict standards of right and wrong,’ and 85 percent want schools to teach values.” He used this as a launching pad for an article entitled “Teachers: Your Job Just Got More Important.”
Read More…
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Welcome to my blog about the delights, mysteries, and challenges of educating our children. These stories and reflections are based on my 40 years of experience working with students, teachers, and parents as a principal, father, and education consultant. Join me as we journey down the road of discovering how to bring out the best in our children!
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