- Still one of the best articles I have read on parenting and education. A must read for anyone who wants to preserve… https://t.co/1OnkZtNLXR
- RT @MyProfectum: RT @VinceGowmon Latest research reveals the more you hug your kids – the smarter they get https://t.co/U0GSvOecjz https://…
- RT @MaryFleming12: The Right Brain Develops First ~ Why Play is the Foundation for Academic Learning https://t.co/AMy7Rn9OLo via @VinceGowm…
- The Joyful, Illiterate Kindergartners of Finland: https://t.co/RWsuAqu6CQ
- Stretching out recess: One Alberta school doubled its breaks and is finding more focused kids https://t.co/gkr7dDnsd6
Education
Resting in Connection ~ Slowing Down Enough to Heal and Form Secure Attachments
Healthy relationships require us to rest in connection. In resting we come home to ourselves and into the arms of another. We soften enough to open our hearts and trust and receive the love we long for. This resting state is experienced to the extent that our nervous system allows for it. Our parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for calming) must be engaged and our sympathetic system (responsible for arousal and mobility) must be disengaged enough to allow for what Peter Levine calls “homeostasis” or “relaxed alertness”. In other...
Most of What Kids Learn in School They’ll Never Use ~ Making Room for Wonder, Intrinsic Motivation and People Skills
“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” ~ Oscar Wilde A few months back I was walking along the streets of Kitsilano when I happily ran into one of my favourite people—Sandra, a grade 9 student. I hadn’t seen her since she began year two of high school so I seized the moment to ask her how it was going. A sour look fell upon her face, followed by, “It’s boring....
Connection Precedes Learning and Self-regulation ~ Why Relationships are Foundational in Education and Life
Note to the reader: If you have already read my previous articles on connection and the right brain, you may wish to skip further down to the section on co-regulation. Connection precedes learning “Putting your students’ emotional needs first is important because without feeling safe and understood, no instructional strategy will be effective.” ~ Jasper Fox, Sr. How often and in how many ways do we make learning far more important than connection? The school system has been designed to make learning paramount and so often at the...
Nothing in Nature is Linear, Yet We Push and “Ready” Children Along Straight Pathways
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” ~ Albert Einstein “(A) study, titled ‘Is Kindergarten the New First Grade?,’ compared kindergarten teachers’ attitudes nationwide in 1998 and 2010 and found that the percentage of teachers expecting children to know how to read by the end of the year had risen from 30 to 80 percent. The researchers also reported more time spent with workbooks and worksheets, and less time devoted to music and art.” ~ The New Preschool Is Crushing Kids | Erika Christakis,...
It’s Not More Anti-Bullying Measures Kids Need, but Rather Kindness
“When faced with the choice of being right or being kind, choose kindness, and you’ll be right every time.” ~ Richard Carlson The above image offers a couple of reminders about the wisdom of teaching kindness instead of anti-bullying. Taking into account how easy it is to focus on the negative (especially in today’s world), as well as the inherent goodness I feel in kids, I certainly believe it’s kindness that needs nurturing, not greater attention to problems; its kindness that needs confirming in the spirit of kids...
