Karen shared the story of Louis Braille (1809-1852), the inventor of the Braille alphabet.  Kids broke into teams to play decoding games to get a better sense of how the braille alphabet works.  We gained a better  understanding of how a person uses a white cane or enhances their lives with a seeing eye dog.

This week at home, our family will be taking turns blindfolding each other and counting how many steps it takes each of us to get to the bathroom, bedroom, refrigerator and our mailbox.  Find your own ways to help your children experience life as visually-impaired.

This understanding builds awareness, compassion and normalcy for those with differences then themselves as well as instilling them with a sense of accomplishment for taking on a new challenge.

Have Fun Exploring.  And if your kids come up with a great idea - Go For It!

Thank you Karen for all the fun and unique ways you got our kids (and parents) excited about Braille.  This is a wonderful way to understand more  people in our community and the world who experience life differently and the same as we do! Thank you!

Coloring a Giant Get Well Card for our Friend in the Hospital

]]> https://lifelearnersla.com/2011/10/breaking-the-braille-code-1013/feed/ 1 https://lifelearnersla.com/2011/10/dont-underestimate-the-molecular-scientist-in-your-child-106/ https://lifelearnersla.com/2011/10/dont-underestimate-the-molecular-scientist-in-your-child-106/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:45:59 +0000 https://lifelearnersla.com/index.html%3fp=8627.html 2009 Not just holding hands; Aran is Oxygon covalently bonded to the two hydrogen atoms

A few years [...]]]>

2009 Not just holding hands; Aran is Oxygon covalently bonded to the two hydrogen atoms

** SUPPLIES REQUEST**   We will need balls to play our games and replicate molecular bonding, create a visual for electron orbits around nuclei, and possibly even track atomic particles in our bubble chamber. Artsy Bubble Chambers.

A few years ago, I realized how most kids (as young as four) are budding molecular scientists.  First off they are interested in what is in everything – matter.  They seem comforted to learn that everything is made of one type of thing – atoms.  These small building blocks makes sense to them – as do Legos.   The idea that our world (matter) can be broken down into smaller and smaller pieces as well as built up into massive structures is consistent with their growing awareness of the world.

They are learning how does a carrot grow? It starts as a tiny seed and gains more building blocks.  And last year my daughters were excited to learn about the parts to their bodies (bones to support them, blood super highways, brains with nerve highways, and skin to hold it all together).  Alot of little things make the magical people they are.

Moreover, many children are intrigued by the moon, stars and the idea that other planets like their own are orbiting in space.  They can’t see these giant objects orbit with their own eyes, nor can they see electrons orbiting the nucleus of atoms, but they don’t have to see them to envision them with excitement.  And I believe that if you are excited (as adults or kids) – learning becomes fun and most likely – permanent.   Smiles demarcate the success of conveying concepts by playing games with toys as well as letting the kids go wild with arts and crafts.

This week we will revisit the basics of atoms using Legos and run-around ball games before taking my molecular scientists on a hunt for valence electrons.  Some children will be atoms that make Ionic molecular bonds (give up an electron in making the bond with atoms), whilst other kids and parents make Covalent molecular bonds (share an electron with another atom).  Don’t let the big science words scare you, they consist of the same alphabet building blocks of small words.  Look at this great tutorial of how the chemical bonds of salt, water and sugar work on a molecular level.  I will be recreating this for the kids with legos and the balls they bring.  Determine @ home which dissolves faster into water: salt or sugar?

Can we only practice open-ended questions around the clay play?

What happens when kids draw or paint?  Oftentimes, parents, teachers, or elders say – “What is that?”  Due to past experiences for the child, I witness the energy shift and a struggle begin with in the child.  Bodies slump; they take deep, preparing breaths; and sometimes art supplies drop from their hands.  They are pulled out of “being in the art”to fulfill someone else’s need.   Who has witnessed a child’s frustration when a well-intentioned comment about what they have drawn doesn’t match at all to what they were creating.   Have you also ever noticed, that when kids are working in proximity to each other, they OBSERVE each others work, and usually wait for the actual artist/owner to speak about their piece before offering any comments.  Most young kids are intuitively aware that the journey as well as the end product belong to the person who is creating.  Hmmm…

Are our inquiries stifling the creative juices flowing through their hands holding crayons, pencils, or paint brushes?  And why does the art piece have to be something? The stimulation of the process is the main event for these early years: the bumps on the paper, the firmness of the tool in their hands, the way pigment thins as it is smeared across the page. All these “mini-experiments” are impacting their brains along with the smell of the room, the rumble in their belly, and the light casting shadows.   And if the artistic idea they started with isn’t spoken aloud, a child will confidently, freely, let it morph into something else.  Or maybe the magical journey of blurring colors into oblivion or the intense release of rubbing a crayon to a nub becomes so uplifting, the initial image is unwittingly sacrificed.  We parents, waiting in the wings for evidence of burgeoning Picassos, may be coveting that initial image too greatly.  With emphasis on genius, we could be preventing a more natural education of their world from developing.

In my mind, clay is powerful in the World of Art for Children.  It reeks of PLAY, not expectations.  Children (and adults) who mistrust the looming liberty of 2-dimensional art, are willing to give this crazy, squooshy mud a chance.  Even if a child has tightened their expected reign of reality in drawing or painting, a child might explore imaginatively with clay.  And did you know that by working with a piece of clay in your hands and not on a table, helps us readily pull a shape out of the lump instead of attaching pieces to it.  This calls upon more organic deductive reasoning, similar to how we find shapes in clouds.  This is minimizes frustration and maximizes creativity.  Clay can be pinched in here and smoothed over there, allowing their imagination and experiential knowledge to wish the artwork into existence.

To inhibit critique and foster maximum creativity, I am asking everyone (including myself) to practice open-ended inquiries with each other during CLAY play.  (This can be done with drawing and painting as well.)  The idea, is that through active listening to thoughts and ideas, our children will feel that their unique perceptions and ideas are worthy.  But to do this , we have to convince them we will patiently listen to whatever they choose to share.  You can do this with an open-ended question that invites them to share and respectfully await their response.  Not responding isn’t necessarily a cue to repeat the question louder, but a opportunity to witness your child deeply engrossed “in the art.” As you wait, you can just breath and watch or grab your own clump of clay and work beside them.

A good question to start with is, “What is happening now?” This might seem uncomfortable if you don’t often find yourself asking your children for updates.  Adults are used to naming things, identifying and communicating what we see to our kids.  But phrases that encourage more than a single word response, tell the other person “I really want to hear YOUR answer.”  This communicates that we are prepared to wait as long as they need to respond.  Another good line is, “I would love to know how did you do that?” Yes, you probably know how they did it, but we aren’t listening for the specific answer, but opening their gates of creativity.  We are empowering them to feel content with their expression.

Some of  you may recognize that your kid doesn’t have a problem opening up and instead tells you EVERYTHING.  That is great!  Bu there will be a time when this free sharing of thoughts and questions will end. Usually because they think you don’t listen enough or they think they or their peers know more than you do.  And as pre-teens or teens in a world filled with dangerous temptations, you will wish they would tell you everything again.  Honing this skill now, is exactly how you will bridge those years.  Here is your chance to build a foundation that you can both tap into down the road, because they will know the difference between you patiently listening versus just going through the motions.

With follow up question like, “Can you tell me more about it?“ and their delight in sharing freely with you lets you know that you are on the right track.   And then, all of sudden, you are tempted to correct the way they made something.  Don’t point it out.  Instead focus on their body language and how they are feeling.  If they are building an animal ask, “What would it be like to ride a creature like that?“ Help them conjure their feelings or experiences.   Or, “What would it feel like to pet that animal?” Or if it was a place, “What would happen if we traveled there?“ This may bring their attention to a detail they haven’t gotten too before or maybe not.  Paintings and sculpture, hold less internal restrictions if children are tapping into their past experiences and perceptions of how the world works and not by surfing our expectations of what the final product should look like.

If playing with art supplies (or sports) ends up with us feeling empty, misunderstood or lacking, why try anything new?  My goal with this activity is to help M&B kids to feel that their voice and perceptions are appreciated by parents, peers, friends and society.  And as their caregivers, we represent the world who believe that art (and life) is not a world of right and wrong, but can open up wide to respectfully hold many things in between.    And even if the piece of art doesn’t end up fully-realized to match their image in their head, the experience of thinking about it, manipulating it, and sharing can hold positive feelings for us all.

Recipes for two types of reusable play clay.  And 50 questions to spark fun & communication!