Today the door is open. My children are freely wandering inside and outside. I can tell that they are having a good time by the melodic tones of their voices, even small arguments are resolved as they practicing the art of negotiation with one another. I feel lucky that we have a yard, a haven for the boys to play and safely learn about the world.
Mom come here "look at the pollen!" says S. I wander out and see T playing with a small figure, dancing her in the pollen of a newly opened flower. The wildflower seeds we planted in late spring have just come into bloom. The boys are enchanted; as am I. Each time we walk outside we notice something new, something familiar and something of interest.
My most current reading has been a chapter called "Healthy Planet, Healthy Children: Designing Nature into the Daily Spaces of Childhood" by Robin C. Moore and Clare Cooper Marcus. It is part of a book called The Theory Science and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life: Biophilic Design by Stephen R Kellert, Judith Heerwagen, and Martin L Mador. I am inspired to be reading about urban planning with a deep respect for children and nature. This chapter gives great suggestions of how to get children exposed to nature in natural ways, especially by thinking about schoolyard designs and neighborhood parks. I hope to share this resource with my own community as we go through the design process of re-imagining our own play-field. It also reminds me that part of the reason behind our efforts of creating great playspaces for children is to create safe places for them to play independently. It must be connected to larger efforts of improving the walkability of our neighborhoods so that children can get there on their own and have their own play.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Summer Solstice
It is not how much you do in a day, but how you savor it. Today was a day full of rich moments. We started the day looking out the window, noticing that there wasn't a lot of sunshine for this longest day of the year. We sang the song Mr Sun and read the children's book The Way to Start the Day by Byrd Baylor and illustrated by Peter Parnall. Then after a bit of playtime we went to a Fiddleheads program at the Arboretum. As always it was a lovely walk filled with engaging activities for the boys. They especially enjoyed becoming beavers and turtles and acting out their behaviors. This activity really helped at a dinner time activity where the boys told Papa clues/ riddles of what animals we had learned about. Dad had to guess. "One of the animals had teeth." said T "Cut down trees." Said S "Made dams." Said T...."an Engineer?" said dad.
At dinner we also celebrated the solstice. For the last several days I had asked the boys what they wanted to do to celebrate the solstice. They had strong memories of lighting candles at the winter solstice and they suggest today that we light six candles. I said "wow" that's interesting since it is the six month of the year and so we agreed to do it. As we lit each candle we said what we remembered from each month of the year. When Papa said January, Theo said, Cold. We were off and the boys quickly came up with things for each month. It isn't a traditional way to mark this day of the year, but it worked for our family especially since we enjoyed a summertime meal with corn on the cob. We also know that it is now summer!
Last weekend Grandpa Mac said it is certainly a good idea to live with the light and to pay attention to it. We may not quite rise with the first rays and since the boys are only four and they definitely go to bed before the sun has set, however with our time spent outside the boys understand the passing of the year and even the hours of the day. As we went to bed we noted that this morning we were dressed in winter clothes and by evening we were in summer clothes: such is summer in Seattle.
At dinner we also celebrated the solstice. For the last several days I had asked the boys what they wanted to do to celebrate the solstice. They had strong memories of lighting candles at the winter solstice and they suggest today that we light six candles. I said "wow" that's interesting since it is the six month of the year and so we agreed to do it. As we lit each candle we said what we remembered from each month of the year. When Papa said January, Theo said, Cold. We were off and the boys quickly came up with things for each month. It isn't a traditional way to mark this day of the year, but it worked for our family especially since we enjoyed a summertime meal with corn on the cob. We also know that it is now summer!
Last weekend Grandpa Mac said it is certainly a good idea to live with the light and to pay attention to it. We may not quite rise with the first rays and since the boys are only four and they definitely go to bed before the sun has set, however with our time spent outside the boys understand the passing of the year and even the hours of the day. As we went to bed we noted that this morning we were dressed in winter clothes and by evening we were in summer clothes: such is summer in Seattle.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Developing a Sense of Place
Our closest natural urban park is Seward Park in Seattle. The Audubon runs the Environmental Learning Center which offers a lovely Toddler Tales and Trails program. It wasn't until I mentioned to my boys that the lead early education teacher Cadi was leaving that I realized what an influence this park program had had on my family. Even though we did not attend weekly; we went regularly over the years. They were sad about Cadi's departure and wanted to go to her last class and say goodbye even though they had aged out of the 0-3 year old Wednesday class. I am glad we went.
There is something very special about having been to the same place for years, walking the same trails, and seeing the same people. As soon as we got to the center the boys were ready to run up the stairs even while I paid the $2 per child fee. There is a comfort in going to a class whose routine is the same: from opening to closing. The boys knew what to expect, some songs, some stories, a bit of counting and a hike. The class didn't let them down. We even went home with a new song to sing about fish.
The nature walk is where I am most thankful that we have gone to one place again and again. The boys know where to look for the "squirrel log" with its telltale sign of douglas fir scales scattered about and the lightening tree which although burned out is still hosting young branches of big leaf maple. They hug their friend a newly planted Cedar tree and notice the differences a season makes along the trail. T even picked up two Douglas Fir cones and noted, "mama look one is open and one is closed. This one feels pointy." Although T may not know it he is developing scientific reasoning and skills that will be a scaffold to future learning about cones.
My children's deep understanding of this single path behind the education center gives my children confidence that they take with them when we go a little farther into the NW wilderness. When my boys feel the soft leaves of the thimbleberry plant or notice the pokey leaves of the oregon grape plant they feel a connection to home. David Orr writes about Place and Pedagogy in the book Ecological Literacy:Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World. He references the work of Paul Shepard who writes that writes about "terrain structure" and how it shapes how we learn and who we become. I am confident that by giving young children deep knowledge of place it offers grounding in a world that is often filled with dislocation.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Community mural
As some friends left; others arrived. The best thing about a chalk mural is that you can even dance and run around it... But please not while someone is still working on it requested the boys.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Stayed Awake to Finish this book
I just finished reading In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids' Inner Wilderness by Chris Mercogliano. It seems as the author has been influenced by almost all of the same researchers that I have been inspired by in these last few years of studying the benefits of nature, what schooling should look like, and the dangers of a society that is too plugged into electronic media. Although, my own personal conclusions may not always be the same as the authors. I do agree that we can do a much better job giving children a childhood that prepares them for adolescence and then adulthood as separate stages in life. It all begins in the basis of unstructured play, letting children follow their "inner voice" - which he calls wildness, and more time outside.
Something that really resonated with me was were when he described some of the memories he had of biking through huge piles of leaves with his friends, seeing who could get the farthest through them. It reminded me of how my children have recently taken to riding their bikes into the bushes at the bottom of our hillside. I feel so lucky that my children have the opportunity to play: that they have a safe yard. That they have balance bikes in good safe condition, and that they have adults around them who are able to find time to be with them.
Chris Mercogliano also has a chapter on the importance of solitude. This is something I value and yet have not always given my children. They are so often the direct focus of my attention that it is a practice to give them that space. I am trying more and more often to leave my children to have their own experiences, often in the peace of our own yard. I must admit that I still watch from behind the bushes or I leave the door open enough so that I can hear their banter while I wash dishes inside the house- but I try to leave them in peace so they can find their own passions and imagine without interruption.
In all I highly recommend this book. He has wonderful research. He writes in an honest way that shows he has been working with youth most of his life.
Something that really resonated with me was were when he described some of the memories he had of biking through huge piles of leaves with his friends, seeing who could get the farthest through them. It reminded me of how my children have recently taken to riding their bikes into the bushes at the bottom of our hillside. I feel so lucky that my children have the opportunity to play: that they have a safe yard. That they have balance bikes in good safe condition, and that they have adults around them who are able to find time to be with them.
Chris Mercogliano also has a chapter on the importance of solitude. This is something I value and yet have not always given my children. They are so often the direct focus of my attention that it is a practice to give them that space. I am trying more and more often to leave my children to have their own experiences, often in the peace of our own yard. I must admit that I still watch from behind the bushes or I leave the door open enough so that I can hear their banter while I wash dishes inside the house- but I try to leave them in peace so they can find their own passions and imagine without interruption.
In all I highly recommend this book. He has wonderful research. He writes in an honest way that shows he has been working with youth most of his life.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Kids Learning to Play
The twins are four years old and it seems like there is less time for writing and more time of doing. It also seems like of late we have been doing more urban outdoor adventures than "natural" settings. We live in a neighborhood with a great walk score. It means that within a mile the boys and I can do most everything we want and not even need to get in the car.
My contemplations these days are: how to make great unstructured play for kids work. Lately one place we have been going to for unstructured play is the neighborhood farmer's market. I have noticed that many young children are either in school group clusters already or they are kids who are hoping to connect with others, but may not have great social skills or know how to have appropriate play on their own.
For example, some children I have noticed will immediately use sword play and play fighting as their way to connect. Although, I applaud the outreach of those children I really think that it has often been influenced by too much tv/ possibly video game violence and it is not creative or even friendly. It is certainly not appropriate around young children which the market is full of or my children who have not yet had screen time.
So far my antidote to troublesome play has been to start some creative play. Last week I taught the kids a game of "everybody's it" and then a variation of "hospital" tag. It worked for a while and in fact there were probably fifteen children running around playing at once, but for the youngest children they didn't necessarily understand when to stop or when to go. "It" is still a new concept & more appropriate for slightly older children.
Play then gravitated to playing in our wagon, which was fine until the child pulling the others decided to "let go" while passengers were on a hill. We may be "helicopter" parents in that we are very attentive, but it was a good thing as my husband was able to run and "catch" the wagon. This is when I helped coordinate the play by being the train engineer. I would let two children on at a time and the rest would follow behind. When we would get to the next stop- which the kids named as California, and Chicago, Seattle and China, the two riders would get off and two more would board the train. Meanwhile all the rest of the line of kids was pushing the wagon or holding onto each others' waists as freight trains.
I realize that allowing children their own space and voice is very important. As a parent I want to give my children tools to find their independence successfully. I want them to know it is great to meet all sorts of friends, but that they make their own choices about what types of play they do and that they feel heard and valued when they have ideas. My boys' preschool practices this on a daily basis as the kids learn to play together. Larger public spheres are harder to maneuver, but my children are learning- and so am I about what role we each have in making unstructured play work.
As the boys fell asleep last night T was explaining a game he wished he could have played with the kids at the park the other day. It was a game involving a couple of wildflowers that he had gathered from the field. In the game he would give the flowers to someone and then they would hide holding the flowers. He would find them. They were not supposed to crush the flowers.
His game sounds simple and sweet. I hope that he can find friends with whom to play it!
My contemplations these days are: how to make great unstructured play for kids work. Lately one place we have been going to for unstructured play is the neighborhood farmer's market. I have noticed that many young children are either in school group clusters already or they are kids who are hoping to connect with others, but may not have great social skills or know how to have appropriate play on their own.
For example, some children I have noticed will immediately use sword play and play fighting as their way to connect. Although, I applaud the outreach of those children I really think that it has often been influenced by too much tv/ possibly video game violence and it is not creative or even friendly. It is certainly not appropriate around young children which the market is full of or my children who have not yet had screen time.
So far my antidote to troublesome play has been to start some creative play. Last week I taught the kids a game of "everybody's it" and then a variation of "hospital" tag. It worked for a while and in fact there were probably fifteen children running around playing at once, but for the youngest children they didn't necessarily understand when to stop or when to go. "It" is still a new concept & more appropriate for slightly older children.
Play then gravitated to playing in our wagon, which was fine until the child pulling the others decided to "let go" while passengers were on a hill. We may be "helicopter" parents in that we are very attentive, but it was a good thing as my husband was able to run and "catch" the wagon. This is when I helped coordinate the play by being the train engineer. I would let two children on at a time and the rest would follow behind. When we would get to the next stop- which the kids named as California, and Chicago, Seattle and China, the two riders would get off and two more would board the train. Meanwhile all the rest of the line of kids was pushing the wagon or holding onto each others' waists as freight trains.
I realize that allowing children their own space and voice is very important. As a parent I want to give my children tools to find their independence successfully. I want them to know it is great to meet all sorts of friends, but that they make their own choices about what types of play they do and that they feel heard and valued when they have ideas. My boys' preschool practices this on a daily basis as the kids learn to play together. Larger public spheres are harder to maneuver, but my children are learning- and so am I about what role we each have in making unstructured play work.
As the boys fell asleep last night T was explaining a game he wished he could have played with the kids at the park the other day. It was a game involving a couple of wildflowers that he had gathered from the field. In the game he would give the flowers to someone and then they would hide holding the flowers. He would find them. They were not supposed to crush the flowers.
His game sounds simple and sweet. I hope that he can find friends with whom to play it!
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