Boring and The Gift of Time...Boring, bored, is a word I never, ever try to use with children. My daughter, at least as far as I know has never heard the word or even understands it's meaning. My mentor, Carol Moyle, used to tell children that "bored means you're not using your brain". I loved that and agree very much so! When children are given the opportunity to be "bored", which seems more and more rare in our highly stimulated culture, an imagination is born. What made me think of this was my belief in repeated exposure to similar experiences. I often start class with a drawing (scribbling) experience using pastels/charcoals, etc...Sometimes I wonder...Will the children grow tired of this?? As the director of Early Childhood at Shorecrest, Betty Gootson, used to say "Only the adults tire of repeated experiences, children (if not taught otherwise by "bored" adults) learn from the repetition. I've observed that when children are given these repeated experiences, they seem to learn something new every time as well as gaining more confidence and engage in more experimentation with the material. As they say in Reggio Emilia, they are learning a new "language", which takes time and practice. I know I am often so excited for my daughter to experience new things that I rush her into something else before realizing she sees the beauty and wonder in what is already in front of her. I remind myself often of the value of doing less, having less which I believe leads to more appreciation.
I am currently rereading, The Sense of Wonder, Rachel Carson. If you have not read this book, please do so. You can find it at the library and it is truely a beautiful, inspiring read! Here are a few of my favorite excerpts...
A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we read adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last a lifetime, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.
-Rachel Carson A Sense of Wonder p.42
I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to FEEL. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused-a sense of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration or love-then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response. Once found, it has lasting meaning. It is more important to pave the way for the child to WANT to know than to put him on a diet of facts he is not ready to assimilate.-Rachel Carson p.45
This set up clay is my new favorite. While the toddlers still mostly work independently they are observing very closely those children beside them. I noticed that they are listening to the other children even though they seem very intent on their individual scupltures.
This duo spent much of the clay experience interacting with one another, sharing, taking turns, and helping one another. C. is looking for a tongue depressor and Cr. is trying to help him find one.
A Snowman/woman Sculpture
There is something so beautiful about seeing multi-generations working together. Art is something everyone can explore together and learn together. This grandmother was no wallflower either, she was fully interactive moving chairs and tables, encouraging her granddaughter, what a wonderful role model for us all!
She sees something....
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