This post has an audio and video recorded version for those who prefer to learn by hearing rather than by reading. Scroll to the bottom for the video of me reading it. Let me tell you a story about child-led learning, and about The Very Hungry Caterpillar. About one month ago, my coworker asked me … Read more
I grew up with a lot of technology. We had a home computer since before I was born and we had access to it pretty much whenever, as long as an adult didn’t need it right at that moment. I used to play simple clicking games when I was very young, like 3 and 4, … Read more
Once you start paying attention to how often adults say “listen” to euphemistically mean “obey”, it’s hard to get it out of your head. I think many of the adults I know are trying very hard to be gentle and respectful with kids, and they would feel wildly uncomfortable saying the exact same sentences if … Read more
A few years ago, I was working as an occupational therapist for a group institution/foster home for older children with disabilities. I could basically come once a week and do a group activity that anyone could participate in if they wanted to. It needed to be accessible to a wide range of ability levels. This … Read more
My kid saw me through the open door of daycare. Her face lit up, my face lit up, we both did a wiggly happy dance to see each other. She over-exaggeratedly mouthed, “Hi Mummy!”, because she’s been experimenting with what kinds of nonverbal/nonspeaking communication will be understood—gestures, mouthing, pointing, etc. I over-exaggeratedly mouthed back, “Hi … Read more
…I was going to put “play with scissors” and “play riskily” on here, too, but I thought that might freak people out TOO much. 😉 Seriously, though. It’s the start of summer break at the American schools I work at. I know English schools go awhile longer before having more of a break in August, … Read more
The kid I’m working with is a hardcore gestalt language processor*. I notice that they’re singing a song while the two of us work side by side on an art project. I can tell some of the lyrics are about characters from Mario, but many of the words are hard to understand. I think, “This … Read more
I had a student recently who I wanted to give a fidget to. He already had a fidget for his classroom, but I had recently got a big bag of fidgets and found a particular one I thought he’d enjoy, that I would gift to him. I set up a little scavenger hunt for our … Read more
Exerting power over a child just for the sake of exerting it is a threat to the child’s feelings of safety, and they know it. They’ve been living in this world for however many years, and they’ve learned it. They might not be able to say it in words, but they feel it innately. Children … Read more
I was going to take a selfie showing off my homemade bubble wands and it turns out that I’m incapable of blowing bubbles, keeping my eyes open, AND not looking mean or worried. Pipe cleaners/chenille sticks make great homemade bubble wands! I’ve found that they work best of all with any kind of bubble solution … Read more