“Concentration and distractibility are particular sensitive indicators of a variety of conditions affecting children. Highly concentrated activity suggests that the child’s finding satisfaction and challenge in a task. Distractibility suggests trouble of some kind, social, psychological or whatnot.” –Jerome Bruner, Under Five in Britain Zach began the 18th hole of miniature golf. Twelve-year-old Zach was […]
There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.—Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949 A visit to a toy store in a California beach town uncovered a new product, a mud pie […]
The troubling nature of censorship is clearer when it falls on the very young. A certain kind of silence, that which comes from holding back the truth, is abusive itself to the child. The soul has a natural movement toward knowledge, so that not to know can be to despair. In the paucity of explanation […]
Attention deficit to attention abundance Nine million prescriptions were written last year in the United States for school aged children for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). In 1975 roughly 150,000 children were taking Ritalin. In 2003, the latest figures available, about 6 million American children took Ritalin. Drugging children to get them to behave seems […]
“The manager’s job, then, is not to motivate people to get them to achieve; instead, the manager should provide opportunities for people to achieve so they will become motivated.” – Frederick Herzberg Charlie walked over with the teaching clock. “I’ve learned to tell time. Do any time and I can tell you.” Five-year-old Charlie sat […]
A fishbowl full of candy sat on the third grade teacher’s desk. “When you’ve finished your math assignment you can choose a piece of candy,” Ms. Marsh said as she handed out worksheets. All but two of the students went to work. Tamika and Jennifer looked out the window, math sheets untouched. Tamika began her […]
Six-year old Bobby walks into the kitchen from playing soccer. Bobby’s dad, Tom, had asked Bobby to take off his muddy shoes before entering the house. Red Georgia mud dotted the new hallway and den carpet. When Tom sees the footprints, he is furious about the mess and that Bobby had disobeyed him. “Bobby,” Tom […]
“Lisa is so different from Grace. Grace never broke anything when she was this age. Lisa breaks something every day,” Meg told me at our playgroup with our one-year olds. Meg, a long-time friend, was over 30 when she had her first child. Five-year-old Grace lived up to her name. Grace was gentle and content to […]
“Pretend that you just found out that you’ll have to be in a wheelchair for a year, possibly longer. What adjustment would you have to make to your home to accommodate this change? ” the instructor asked us. “ This week, crawl around your house, through every room, and make a list of changes that you would make. That’s […]
Mornings are cooler. The sun rises later. The excitement of school beginning wafts in the air. These are my memories when school started in mid-September. In two weeks, school resumes here, and for many young children, it will be their first school experience. The first day of preschool or kindergarten is probably more traumatic for […]