Monday, October 28, 2013

Fall Literature Guide




                    Here is a list of wonderful titles to share with your children during the fall season.






Wednesday, October 23, 2013

A Resourceful Costume

Halloween is just around the corner...do your little ones have costumes?

Growing up, my mom and dad always took the resourceful route with costumes; they taught us to use what we already had, and we made it work.

I am not sure why we look so scared; well, it was Halloween. I was wearing a handmade princess dress from a Christmas tablecloth (or something) and my mom's jewelry. My brother was wearing my dad's t-shirt, a belt around it (to make a tunic), and flip flops with shoe laces wrapped up around him (he was a young King David). 
Thinking back, creating costumes taught me as a child to see materials through various lenses.

Shouldn't we be teaching our students to do the same? Why?

Basically when you value an object/concept/idea from various perspectives, you draw from your schema (what you already know) and connect it to a new experience. This supports the learning of listening. Listening is the key component in learning.

Listening is not hearing, listening is understanding.

It's the difference between knowing how to use an algorithm and understanding how the algorithm works.

Give your children the time to make choices to solve a problem with a limited set of resources. You'll be surprised with what they come up with.

†kEh