Play is more than fun

"Play is more than fun," says Stuart Brown, a pioneer in research on play. According to Brown, play has a biological place just like sleep and dream. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults - and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age.

Absence of play will make us more vulunerable to various of emotional problems. Brain is in search of the hand and hand is in the search of the brain. Play is the medium. Social play, body play, rough and tumble play all play an important role in child development.

Bible verses for children

Here are some child bible verses that may be of interest to kids:

Proverbs 22:6

Proverbs 22:13

Proverbs 22:15

Proverbs 23:24-25

Proverbs 29:15

Proverbs 29:17

Ecclesiastes 4:13

Isaiah 7:15

Isaiah 11:6

Jeremiah 1:6-10

Matthew 18:2-6

Matthew 19:4

Matthew 19:13-14

Matthew 21:15-16

Mark 9:36-37

Luke 1:76

Luke 2:40

Luke 9:47-48

Luke 18:17

II Timothy 3:15

Mark 10:15

Psalm 127:3

Ephesians 6:1-3

Colossians 3:20

Jeremiah 29:11

Identifying the 4 goals of misbehavior

Identifying the four goals of misbehavior

How do you feel??
Bothered, annoyed.

What do you usually do?
Remind, nag, scold.

How does your child usually respond?
Stops temporarily. Later, misbehaves again.

Goal
Attention


How do you feel?
Angry, threatened

What do you usually do?
Punish, fight back, or give in

How does your child usually respond?
Continues to misbehave, defies you, or does what you've asked slowly and sloppily

Goal
Power

How do you feel?
Angry,extremely hurt

How does your child usually respond?
Misbehaves even more, keeps trying to get even

Goal
Revenge

How do you feel?
Hopeless, like giving up

What do you usually do?
give up, agree that the child is helpless

How does your child usually respond?
Does not respond or improve

Goal
Display of inadequacy

Source: Step - The Parent's Handbook

March 4, 2011

Adora Svitak

Writer, Poet and Humanitarian

Posted: February 28, 2011 10:00 PM

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Changes Schools Should Make to Better Serve Students: A Student's View

Read More: Adora Svitak , Education Innovation , Education Reform , Higher Order Thinking Skills , Site:Www.Huffingtonpost.Com Adora Svitak Changes Schools Should 82940 , Education News

My mom once asked me about the first steps I would hypothetically take to make a "better school." I don't claim to be an education expert, but I do have personal opinions about the ideal school -- one I'd like to go to. Among many other things, I said that I would change school starting times, improve cafeteria lunches, and bring back recess. These would be good first steps because they help a lot of students a little bit. And they can have wide-reaching impacts.

Starting Times
Studies have repeatedly shown that everyone, especially children with developing brains, need a good amount of high-quality sleep. It's difficult to get when you have to worry about waking up at 7 in the morning to go to school. Not everyone is a morning lark, and by starting school so early, not only students but also educators have to stave off yawns throughout the day.

I was at a conference where a well-respected sleep researcher, Dr. James Maas, revealed that adolescent sleep cycles tend to begin at 3 a.m. and end at 11 a.m. Yet we're starting school at 7 or 7:30 a.m. While I wouldn't quite change school start times to 11 a.m. (since we have to consider parents who have to go to work), I think it would be reasonable to move them to 8:45 AM or after. Then hypothetically a teenager could go to bed at 12 a.m. (as many often do), wake up at 8, shower and eat breakfast, and go to school with eight rather than five or six hours of sleep.

Lunch
Another step: improve cafeteria lunches. Put a cap on the amount of sodium, fat, and calorie content allowed in each lunch. Mandate nonfat or 1 to 2 percent milk (and in smaller containers -- who really drinks that much milk?) instead of whole milk. Get rid of chocolate milk, soft drinks, and vending machines with unhealthy items. Require a certain percentage of food served be organic and/or local, and have smaller portions to help minimize cost (we all know how much food gets dumped out). Have the school's cooking classes (or maybe the entire student body) help make lunch on certain days.

A bigger step: I think it would be a good idea to have randomly assigned seating during lunch. This might be controversial among students, but the social division that occurs when students simply pick out where they want to sit can be hurtful and exclusive to students new to the school or children with difficulty making friends. Also, it seems that teachers rarely eat lunch and converse with the students. I've learned a lot from being able to have conversations with adults. So, teachers would be required to eat lunch with the students -- at least on certain days -- (and really, if they really can't stand students to the extent that they can't eat with them, should they be teaching?)

Recess
While making nutritious school lunches would be an excellent way to start combating childhood obesity, bringing back recess, at all grade levels, could do even more (as well as markedly increasing cognitive ability). In middle and high school you might have a somewhat more organized approach (depending on students, because it isn't hard to envision students simply standing around and talking to each other instead of exercising.

Perhaps instead of a dreaded required class one semester of junior high, physical education could become a fun, daily 15 to 20 minute class -- where healthy behaviors, like calisthenics, frequent exercise, jogging, and hiking, would be modeled every day. Students could get involved actively in the "curriculum," by submitting their favorite exercise activities and voting on which new things to try.

"Big" Changes
I want to talk about "big" changes I would make in education (if I were in a position of incredible power!) -- multiple, age-independent, subject-based grade levels; online learning; and authority hierarchy in school.

Age-Independent Grades
I took two electives recently at Redmond Junior High. Everyone asked what grade I was in. It would go something like this:
"Adora, what grade are you in?"
"Ninth grade."
They look incredulously at my apparently seventh-grade style of dress (i.e., sweaters and shirts vs. tank tops and jackets) and say, "You're in ninth grade?"
"Yeah," I nod quickly, and explain, "I skipped a grade."

[Actually, it's feasible that I skipped two grades, since 12-year-olds are often put in seventh grade (depending on when your birthday is) but usually I say I just skipped one, since I'm now thirteen.]

One's grade in school decides what you'll learn and the level at which you'll learn it. It decides when you'll graduate from high school and even the friends you'll make (most of your friends are probably in your grade or close to it). My question is why your age, not your aptitude, should determine your grade -- and why grade covers all subjects, when people have varying degrees of ability and interest across subjects. (Yes, there's a reason kids are always asked, "What's your favorite subject?")

I am at a loss as to the benefits of putting a group of people of approximately the same age -- but of varying aptitudes -- into one room where they will all learn the same thing. The quicker students will sit bored while the teacher re-explains a concept they already know from their voracious reading, while the slower students will be confused and left out by the rapid pace at which everyone else seems to be progressing.

My parents homeschooled my sister and me for many years. Why? Because the local school insisted that I, being three, should go to preschool, and my sister, being five, should go to kindergarten. The problem? You learn your alphabet in preschool, and I was already reading chapter books. At the same time, however, I was not so far along with math and science. In other words, I was not "advanced" in everything. Yet many gifted and talented programs try to put students into all-around advanced classes.

Wouldn't it make more sense to be able to take some kind of test (oral, written, multiple choice, or informal discussion with a counselor) to determine what level you would be? Maybe then I could have taken a test which would have allowed me to learn at second grade reading and history level, and kindergarten or first-grade math and science.

To me, this approach makes far more sense than sorting students into grades based on when your birthday is. Would you ever tell a son or daughter, little brother or sister, "You weren't born before September 1st, so I'm not going to help you learn your alphabet"? Yet that is what our school system does every year.

Placement tests to sort students into levels would put students with a larger knowledge base into higher grades, but a large knowledge base doesn't necessarily mean a love of learning. I'd propose that honors/gifted status would then be determined by a student's desire to learn and exhibition of independent learning traits (i.e., reading a lot outside of school, tracking current events, etc.). For instance, if you're a 10-year-old who's been advanced to seventh-grade level mathematics, you'd be placed in the honors math class. The material covered would be the same as the seventh-grade level math (because honors classes would no longer have to serve only as a means of providing harder material -- you'd be placed in a higher grade if you had that large knowledge base), but there would be more discussion, extracurricular activity, etc.

I personally think that there is no compelling benefit to having an age-based grade system. It could be argued that some poor little advanced 3-year-old, taking language arts classes with 8-year-olds, will feel different and lonely--but 10 years ago, you would have found 3-year-old Adora Svitak taking classes at Renton's H.O.M.E. Program (a public program offering classes for homeschooled children)... with 6, 7, and 8-year-olds, among others -- and feeling fine. Diversity should be more than a buzz phrase. If students are prepared to make friends with and learn from those younger (or older) than them, we have made true progress in embracing diversity.

Authority Hierarchy in School
I definitely think that students need to get involved in decision-making on a deeper level, beyond simply being on an associated student government or student council. At the TEDx conference I organized last year, TEDxRedmond, several speakers (all of whom were under 18), spoke movingly on their opinions about education and certain ways their schools had supported and/or failed them.

In many countries, schools are preparing students to participate in a democratic environment; yet schools themselves tend to be extremely autocratic, with all high-level decisions being made by adults. Let students have a voice -- use online technology to have students give constructive feedback to their teachers and school administrators. Implement student suggestions. Put students on school district boards. Allow students to help form curriculum and get their ideas on which assignments work best for them. Hold regular meetings where students are invited to speak to their school officials.

Online Learning
Every school district should have an online learning framework, so that "blended learning" (partially online, partially in-person) can be an option for students. Students could read more of the fact-based lesson material online, so that when they came to class in-person, time could be used on higher-order thinking skills like experiments, projects, and the like. A lot of excellent learning takes place when students are face-to-face with each other and a teacher, yet there are situations where students may not always be able to make it to class. Should students not be able to continue doing any of their work simply because of a school flu epidemic, school staff on strike, snow days, or absences?

Other obvious benefits of incorporating online learning:
- Teachers could post assignments, students could submit responses, and teachers could grade them, all online, without worrying about endless stacks of paper.
- Students could keep up with what was going on in class and see instant grade updates.
- Teachers could post multiple-choice tests, which can be easily computer-graded, online, and save themselves from the tedious work of checking multiple choice answers.
- Students could review materials from past lessons before a test.
- Teachers could easily post links and resources online for students to view.
- Parents could keep updated on what was happening in class.
- By using tools like Elluminate, Skype, GoToMeeting, chat, Google Voice, etc., teachers could easily stay in touch with students (particularly when students had questions).

As a student at an online public high school, I see my teachers using many of these tools. Many of my teachers have Google Voice as well as embeddable chat tools, so we can quickly get in contact.

Of course, all these changes, big and small, will cost money. Where will that come from? By shifting more content online, we could cut some of the spending that would go toward giant reams of paper and industrial-size printers and copiers. Maybe we could levy a tax on soft drink and junk food purchases, to pay for healthier school lunches. (We could call it "Buy a Twinkie for Yourself, Give a Whole Wheat Sandwich to a Student!")

Finally, students should take international studies classes, since it's often shocking how little Americans know about other countries. Let's do a pop quiz. I bet most Canadians can name our president. Can you name the prime minister of Canada? It's rare to find someone who hasn't heard of "California" or "New York" before. Can you name a single state of India? It's easy enough for most people to find the U.S. on a map. Can you find New Zealand, recently affected by a devastating earthquake? Or Afghanistan, where we're currently at war?

I know this post is quite long, and because of the extreme municipal-level management of schools, many of these changes are seemingly impossible. In the coming days and years, I'm hoping we can work together to create a better school -- not just for today's kids, but for tomorrow's.

Huffington Post

学习是一种享受

My second write up on learning.

学习是一种享受

上星期在图书馆，看见一个妈妈跟她约八岁的儿子在桌子上读书。妈妈选择了一本时下男孩子很喜欢的书，打开第一页，请儿子读。儿子不太愿意，但因妈妈要求，他便开口读。可读了才几句，男孩就对妈妈说：“不读了，这本书很没趣。”妈妈回答说：“继续读下去吧，你读得不错啊。”孩子见妈妈坚持，无可奈可地读了几句，又停了下来，说：“我真的很讨厌读书，为什么我每天都要这样读书？”妈妈很苦恼的回应：“这是必须的，你还是快快地把书读完，就可以玩你的电脑游戏吧。”男孩听到电脑游戏，便马马虎虎地把书读完。妈妈看到儿子这样的读书态度，脸上显得很咀喪。

看着这位妈妈和儿子，我心里很不舒服。学习本来是很开心的一件事，为什么会让妈妈跟孩子那么痛苦？在我家，我的两个儿子都很热爱学习，对很多方面事物的求知欲很强，喜欢发问，遇到有兴趣的项目，便去看书或者上网找资料。他们对这个世界充满好奇，学习对他们来说，是一种自发的追求，是一种享受。

教育家蒙台梭利认为每个孩子出生时都存在着与生俱来的“内在生命力”和”内在智慧潜能“。这种内质是在不断发展的，教育者和父母的任务就是要促进和激发孩子的内能。孩子天生就喜欢学习，看看他们怎样学习爬行，走路，说话，都是自发的。他们不断炼习，失败又从头再来，一天一天地进步，直至他们学好为止。在整个学习的过程里，父母是扮演一个观察者，鼓励支持者，关心接纳者，和環境设计者。以上这些角色可以直接影响到孩子是否能够从内心享受学习。

1．观察者

孩子不是成年人可以任意造型的黏土。每个孩子都有他们的内心世界，有他们特别感兴趣的事物，有他们对学习方式的偏好，也有他们内在的时间表。父母只有通过细心的观察和了解，才可以发现整个内在过程的起点。每个孩子都有他们独特的起点，我们必须尊重及顺应他们不同方面的智慧潜能的自发倾向，及时为他们设计一个合适的环境。

小心留意孩子对玩具、书本或者是其他活动的选择，便不难发现孩子的内在兴趣，父母要小心不要让自己的偏好影响了孩子的选择，不然就很难看出孩子的内在兴趣所在。


2。 鼓励支持者

父母应当给与孩子恰当的鼓励和支持，以保护他们的学习兴趣及其自发的动力。专注可以让孩子遵循自己的生命规律去发展，能够专注自己的兴趣是孩子成长中最好的学习。但是如果孩子的专注经常被打断，那他们会慢慢地失去了那股学习的热诚。举一个简单的例子，当一个三岁的孩子全神贯注地用积木建飞机，他尝试用不同的方法去建。这时候，爷爷觉得孩子的方法不行，就去“帮”他一下，这样，孩子的专注被打扰了，失去了体会不同方法建造的效果；又一会，奶奶看到孩子建飞机的样子很可爱，去逗他一番，孩子的专注又一次被打断了；在过一会，妈妈说要吃饭了，叫孩子不要再玩了。。。就这样，孩子的专注经验一次一次地被打破。如果孩子在成长的过程里，没有机会去专注他们的兴趣，他们怎么能发展其内心的兴趣？慢慢地，这些本来可以发展到热诚的内在兴趣就被永远埋在心底。所以，让孩子可以按自己的兴趣专注学习，是父母给与的重要支持。

每个孩子都有自己的内在时间表，只要我们不采取强迫或外在的动力如奖罚去打扰孩子，他们的内在动力是会按他们各自的时间表表现出来的。很多研究报告说明这些奖罚的外在动力不单负面地影响孩子的学习过程，不断地用奖罚方式，会使孩子逐渐失去学习的内在动力，他们慢慢地会相信学习是为得到外在的东西如奖品，称赞，或是逃避惩罚。利用外来动力可能会收到快速的效果，但其效果是短暂的，不会长久的，因为当失去这些外来动力的时候，孩子就会停止学习。更可悲的是，孩子内在的学习动力会慢慢地消失。反之，我们可以用内在动力去鼓励孩子，让他们明白做每件事的目的，感受学习的过程及学习带来的满足感。这样的支持，才可以使孩子享受学习的乐趣。

鼓励孩子的方式对孩子的学习也有很大的影响。我儿子小时候觉得自己钢琴弹得很好，因为每次他弹完钢琴，很多长辈朋友都赞他很厉害，所以他认为不须要花太多努力去练琴。后来经过我们多次的解释，他才明白到长辈朋友是在鼓励他，他要用心去练习，才会有进步。用过多的称赞如“你很棒！”或“你很厉害！”都会误导孩子。时间长了，孩子会把称赞视为学习的目的。当没有称赞时，学习就可能停止了。 鼓励是给与肯定和有意义的称赞，比如说，孩子给爸爸看他刚画好的画，爸爸看了说：“你这幅画用了很多颜色，色彩很丰富，我很欣赏，我也看到你花了很多时间去画这幅画。”孩子会感觉这样的称赞是具体和真诚的，也看到他的成果是跟他的努力有关的。除外，跟孩子一同学习，让孩子感受学习的乐趣，更是一种最好的支持。


3。关心接纳者

孩子需要安全感。在学习的过程里，父母除了提供鼓励和支持外，也是很重要的关心接纳者。当孩子遇到失败，我们应当明白他们的感受，不要责怪或再施压，应该用非判断的态度去接纳他们。接纳是指接纳孩子本人，接纳他的感受、个性、想法，并给予孩子尊重和关注。接纳使爱变得稳定。孩子在现代社会里，面对各方面对他们的判断，心里的压力很大，父母应当是他们觉得最安全的角落。我经常都跟我的儿子说，“无论发生什么事，即使是你们不当的行为使我很生气，我只是不喜欢你们的行为，但我都是很爱你们的。”儿子从小就听我这样说，所以他知道他们的行为是不会动摇在家的安全感。

每个孩子都有他们的独特的爱好和能力，不是每个孩子在语言数学都有天赋。有些孩子对艺术、运动或其他方面有天赋，父母要细心观察就不难发现。父母应该可以接纳每个孩子都有他的独特之处，而不依据社会价值观为孩子订立目标。按孩子的内在指引去帮助他们发展，内在的学习动力就会继续加强。

一个被接纳和不被判断的环境可以产生安全感。孩子的心理和情感得到平衡的发展，他们就可以在学习过程里放胆去尝试，愿意冒风险，感受到自己可以掌管自己的学习，学习满足了他们的内在求知欲。

4。环境设计者

一个合适的环境可以让孩子享受学习。在这环境里，他们可以自由地投入内心世界里，没有压力，没有限制的学习。这环境让孩子拿到各样他们有兴趣的材料，给他们一个安静不受打扰的角落，让他们有一段尊注的时间；孩子可以有机会到外面去学习，如去公园感受大自然，用眼睛看看书本里说的毛毛虫；去沙滩里看看网上描述的潮汐；和朋友玩，学习互相帮助、分享和尝试不同方法解决问题。

现代社会是以金钱，地位，学位等为成功。父母为了不让孩子成为社会上的“失败者”，就拼命地为孩子塑造一个 社会模范，如医生、律师等，忽略孩子本身的理想和能力。一个合适的环境应该没有分数的标签，不会盲目地以社会模范为目标。

学习可以发生在任何时间，任何地方。举一个例子，如果没有限制的话，我的儿子星期六早上可以花超过一个多小时去洗碗，他会测试不同食具的重量和特性，观察水和油之间的关系，和各种各样的物理小实验，非常陶醉这个洗碗过程。如果我不停地催速，要他十五分钟之内完成，这个自发的学习过程就被压住，我也错过了发现儿子对物理有很大的兴趣的机会。孩子需要一些“空闲”时间去寻找、了解和追求他们的内在兴趣，才可以享受这个学习过程。但如果把孩子的生活安排得太忙碌，他们就失去了进入自己内心世界的机会，渐渐的，生活和学习就变成了只为外在动力。所以“空闲”时间不是一种浪费，是一个保贵机会寻找自我。

环境设计应该全都是以保留孩子的内在动力为中心，让学习不跟高分，奖品，取悦别人等的外在因素挂钩，而是为自己的兴趣去学习。可惜在现有教育系统下，很难找到这样理想的环境。但是如果父母相信学习可以是一种享受，在家里是可以实现的。

家庭教育在孩子的一生中起着奠基的作用，父母的态度直接影响孩子，父母享受学习，孩子也会享受学习。

What is good practicing?

What constitutes a good practice for an instrument? According to Robert A. Cutietta, author of the book "Raising Musical Kids", a parent can help the kid in the following ways:

1. Planning the practice time
- Warm up
-Synthesis/analysis/synthesis of a work in progress
- Synthesis/analysis/synthesis of another work in progress
- Work on a new piece
- Cool down

2. Fixing a specific mistake
- Back up to several measures before the problem note. Begin there at the slow speed at which the child can successfully play the problem notes. The child should then continue a measure or two beyond the problem notes without speeding up.
- when hear a mistake, point it out, then have the child go back to the start of the chain and correct it.

3. Whole versus parts
- divide the piece into logical sections.

4. Mental practice
- the child works to hear the music in his head while actually moving his fingers on the instrument. The child has to actually concentrate on hearing the music.

5. Modeling
-Recording the teacher at the lesson to let the child hear the music piece at home.

6. Using an accompaniment tape or computer

7. Using a metronome

8.The role of parent
- Get involved to answer questions, keeping the child on task, or listening out to the lesson and pointing out obvious mistakes.

9. Learning to hear own mistakes