Does your face light up?

Dear Wonder'ers,

A few thoughts going into week 8... Sometimes it takes years and years before we can see or hear from our children how our parenting has affected them.

My 10 year old son recently has been a carline safety patrol at his school.

This has been so important to him. He loves helping his peers and the younger students into their cars each afternoon.

The other day he came home and said, "Mom, thanks for always smiling when you pick me up from school." He explained that he has noticed many parents are on their phones or don't acknowledge their children when they get into the car.

I'm not telling you this story to brag because I promise you there have been plenty of times I have been a distracted parent.... but I will tell you one of the most important things I heard years ago that I think of almost everyday.

From Brene Brown's Website: https://brenebrown.com/blog/2019/08/07/what-toni-morrison-taught-me-about-parenting/

Oprah said, “Toni says a beautiful thing about the messages that we get about who we are when a child first walks into a room,” and she asked her to talk about it.

Toni Morrison explained that it’s interesting to watch what happens when a child walks into a room. She asked, “Does your face light up?”

She explained, “When my children used to walk in the room when they were little, I looked at them to see if they had buckled their trousers or if their hair was combed or if their socks were up. You think your affection and your deep love is on display because you’re caring for them. It’s not. When they see you, they see the critical face. What’s wrong now?”

Her advice was simple, but paradigm-shifting for me. She said:

“Let your face speak what’s in your heart. When they walk in the room my face says I’m glad to see them. It’s just as small as that, you see?”

I remember seeing this conversation on the Oprah show way before I had children of my own, maybe even before I was a teacher. But, this has always remained my goal each and every encounter with a child, whether it's my own children or yours.

It's why the greeting at Wonder Studio is so very important to me, I want your child to see me so very GLAD to see them. It doesn't matter to me at all if they hide or are shy or even ignore me.


We can't hold ourselves to perfection and I won't promise it, but this is an aspiration I put into my daily life.

I am trying more and more to apply this to more than just children... how am I when I see my own parents, my friends, my husband?

Am I slowing down enough to honor the people I am interacting with.

This morning, I had to stop for a new car battery, I got out my phone to scroll while I waited for the person to install a new one. Then, I stopped, put my phone away and silently wished this person well who was installing a car battery. I didn't say much but I decided I would be "THERE" with her. I'm not sure what it did for her, but I know it did me a world of good.

The Eyes of Children : Child -Led Learning at Wonder Studio

Dear Wonder-ers,
I am fascinated by the eyes of children as they enter Wonder Studio. Some go to the first spot their eyes land on and they immediately engage.

Some children carefully look at each area as they slowly walk to the bathroom to wash their hands. And, some children look down or at their caregiver, as they anticipate the social interaction they might have as they enter. 

I could describe about 100 more ways that children cross the threshold of Wonder. It's my first introduction to the learning style and interest of each child.

The entrance of the adults at Wonder Studio is also fascinating to me. Some of the adults are just as excited to see the choices as the children are. 

Sometimes, all the choices at Wonder Studio can seem like a "To-Do" list. 

Let's start here and make our way around to all the experiences. 

This is NOT my intention in arranging this environment. 

In Reggio Emilia, Italy, where I participated in an International Study program in 2019...

the teachers carefully prepare the learning spaces for children in order to "provoke" learning experiences. 

For example, sometimes the provocation is social based, meaning, the teachers are researching how this experience may allow for deeper social interaction between children. 

Other times, the teachers arrange an experience to provoke storytelling or an exploration of color.

In Reggio and also at Wonder Studio and places where we are researching the best ways that young children learn...teachers and caregivers understand that children are most engaged and learn the most when the environment allows for:
1. Independence
2. Connection
3. Purpose
4. Open-Ended ideas
5. JOY


So, while I offer many choices for children at Wonder Studio, it's not so each child can do each experience. 

Instead, my intention is for each child to have enough options to "choose" from. 

I believe it's so important for children to find their "SPARK".

More and more researchers are understanding that we find our passion and sparks in our childhood and that knowing these can lead to a happier life.

Sometimes, we feel very literal about things.

For example, imagine a child playing at the Wind Tunnel for the entire Wonder Studio time. 

Does that mean, they will be a Nasa Rocket Scientist?
Well, MAYBE!! 

But, if we spend those 30 minutes observing the child, we can begin to see what it is that truly sparks them.

Could be...the mechanics of the wind itself....
but perhaps it's the joy of social interaction with other children or adults.

And, on a deeper level, it's very possible that the aesthetic, internal, felt sense of watching the leaves lifting up through the wind tunnel and falling on the ground...offers your child nourishment, pleasure, Peace, even a calming of their nervous system.

So, allowing the child to decide what they need, what they desire, what is interesting to them, could be the most important thing we can do as caregivers, while at Wonder Studio.

And, yes, there are also times when it's ok to help a child choose or move on...you can read more about that in the blog below (link is below) or we can talk about it in class.
Have a great week!

What is Child-Led Learning?
https://thewonderstudio.blogspot.com/2012/11/what-is-child-led-learning-wonder.html


Shannon Booth Lipan
B.A.E, M.Ed
Expressive Arts Facilitator:
Level 1 and 2 Training in progress with Expressive Arts Florida
Owner, Director, Curriculum Designer, Lead Teacher of
The Wonder Studio

email: tot.wonder.arts@gmail.com
text/phone: 727-667-4090
see our blog: https://thewonderstudio.blogspot.com

"Forcing Sharing is NOT sharing."

 Heading into Week 5...

It's time to talk about the dreaded.....SHARING.

I will be referencing the Wonder Studio Sharing Agreement which is posted here:

https://thewonderstudio.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_12.html

This is a big topic and I wanted to bring in Kindergarten Teacher Expert, Wonder Studio Teacher, and a Wonder Studio MAMA - Megan. Thankfully she really brought her whole experience to this challenging topic. 

I hope you will find her post open, honest, and professional viewpoint helpful!

Hello! It’s Megan here, adding a little personal parenting experience to this blog post on Our Agreement on Sharing. So, to be completely honest, this topic hits home because my son, my sweet, caring, always sharing at home with me son, is not quite the sharer at The Wonder Studio. This is really really hard for me...not him, ME! Many feelings overwhelm me in the moment even though I know I am in a judgement free zone. I feel nervous and anxious thinking others are judging or questioning my parenting while making assumptions about his character. I feel embarrassed and often shocked that he is taking something from another child. I feel desperate for him to do anything else, wander to any other area, sneeze, need to go potty….anything other than take the toy. Ahhhhhh! I could go on and on. It’s just uncomfortable. Again, it’s worth noting, it’s uncomfortable for me.


So, as a first time mom, I have read about this topic. Then read some more. Then I watched videos. All because I wanted to learn about what is developmentally appropriate for him in regard to sharing. What I have learned is that it’s okay for him not to share. (HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!) 

He isn’t developmentally expected to understand this concept at this time. The real way he will learn to share is for me to step out and let him play. Let him engage with other children without interruption. Let him and the other children negotiate these social situations on their own. Let him solve problems. Let him experience conflict. Let him experiment with social behaviors. Let him play. Let him learn.

You see, for him this sharing or not sharing thing is play. And play is learning. It’s him learning how to interact with others. It’s him learning how to get the really cool digger from the sand table that he wants, even if someone else is actively playing with it. It may be uncomfortable for me, but it’s not necessarily uncomfortable for him.

These quotes helped me build my understanding of sharing when it comes to toddlers:

“Following the RIE approach, we start with the least amount of help and intervention and then slowly increase it. We do expect and trust that even infants eventually learn most by working out conflicts all by themselves. If every time adults jump in and bring in their version of what is right, the children learn either to depend on them or to defy them. The more we trust they can solve, the more they do learn to solve.” –Magda Gerber, Dear Parent: Caring For Infants With Respect

“When we make a child share, it is not sharing.” -Magda Gerber

These articles/videos also aided me on my journey to understand what my child is learning while he may not be sharing:

The S Word - Children Learning to Shar - Janet Lansbury

These Toddlers Are Not Sharing - Janet Lansbury

Sharing is Caring? - Canadian ECE

Baby Teamwork (Sharing Because They Want To) - Janet Lansbury

I hope this helps you as much as it did me. Oh and if you see me taking deep breaths while watching my son take a toy he really wants from another child...it’s my way of coping with the situation while trusting my son will learn to share when he is developmentally ready to do so!

Creating Spaces that Protect Creativity

 Creativity and Non-Judgement: Week 2 of Wonder Studio

I have a fierce protective instinct for a child's right to creativity. Actually, I have this instinct for adults too.

For so many years, I have heard adults come into Wonder Studio and say to me, "I don't have a creative bone in my body." "I am not creative." "I am not an artist." 

Sometimes, I am confused by this "story" that the "non-creatives" are telling me. Perhaps, our view of creativity is quite different. I believe that creativity has become an "achievement" that some people feel they either have or don't have. That unless they have an art piece in an art museum, they cannot say they have captured the prize of creativity.

For me, creativity is a value I hold. It's an essential part of my life along with part of who I am and like kindness or gratitude...it requires my commitment to it each day. 

What stops us from the practice of creativity?

I think Judgement is a big factor. I so often hear people's stories of creative trauma. Often, people joke about it..."I was kicked out of choir." "My sister is the artist in the family." 

"I'm just not good at art." 

I know many of these folks bring their children to Wonder Studio because they want something different for their little ones. They want their child to feel the freedom of creativity.

They desire children to have opportunities to "think outside the box."

Somehow, it's too late for me, but my child can have the access that I never did.

This is a big part of why I am teaching Adult Expressive Arts classes...I see the empowerment and confidence that comes with writing a poem, arranging nature, painting a mandala, shaping clay. Acts of creation change us, release us, allow us to reach into an inner well of strength and courage.

But, creativity can be extremely vulnerable and we forget that with our children (and with each other). For example, me writing these words and sending them out to you, is an act of creating that can have overwhelming effects of  2nd guessing myself and worry. But, I promise you, all it takes is one little Positive acknowledgement or knowing that I have impacted 1 person (positively) that keeps me motivated to keep going.

We can do that for our children (and our friends). All they need is a judgement free attitude from the ones around them...a nod, a smile, Eyes that say "Wow" I am here with you and I SEE you.

Acknowledgement...witnessing...this is how we protect creativity.

We don't always get it right, believe me! But we commit to trying each day.

Heading into week 3 of Wonder!

Check out this past blog on Judgement. 

An oldie but a goodie: Judgement Free Zone

https://thewonderstudio.blogspot.com/search?q=Judgement+Free

Check our our FB page for Pics, and Articles, notifications of classes, etc..:

@TheWonderStudio

Arrival: Wonder Studio Fall 2021

 Arrival by Shannon Lipan

"When we approach (things) with reverence, great things decide to approach us." - John O'Donohue

This past summer, my family had a week in St. Augustine beach. I can't tell you (but I'm sure you've felt the same), how much I looked forward to this trip. Even, checking the pictures of our temporary home on VRBO over and over again, I felt desperate to arrive in this place.

I know over the years, there have been many times, I have rushed through arrivals. Getting the bags unpacked, making sure everyone had what they needed, and then finally taking a moment to sit and just be.

Well, this year, I approached my arrival differently.

I have been in love with the "Morning Altars" book by Day Schildkret and he has written a bit on the concept of arrival.

In his beautiful book, he states: "Come with the gift of your presence and attention.

To arrive is your sacred duty as a guest. Let yourself sit for awhile.  Arriving asks you to cease your journeying, put down your bags, be welcomed in.

Let yourself be here...

by giving up the notion of trying to be anywhere else.

The place you are is longing for you to hear her voice, to bring her close, to let her touch you, change you.

And, for her, you have the gift of your attention and senses. "

I can't explain the phenomena behind this idea of arrival.

But, I know when I arrived at this "Land" , I desired to be a good guest, I wanted to let myself be changed.

I took slow steps, I approached this nature beauty in a more consensual attitude. 

I was struck at the ability of this change in my intention to affect my entire vacation.

I thought about how many times, I enter someone's home, business, or even the grocery, and I never truly "arrived". My body showed up but I left my mind and heart somewhere else.

I believe that when we allow ourselves to be fully present with our children and families, we are changed.

When, I read the words: "The place you are is longing for you to hear her voice, to bring her close, to let her touch you, change you.

And, for her, you have the gift of your attention and senses."

In place of "her" I feel the longing of our children.

It's so very simple what they desire.

They desire our witnessing.

When we can remember this, it's incredibly moving and simplifies everything in our lives.

How do children arrive in new places? 

I wonder what we can learn if we allow ourselves to see through their eyes?

Day states, "Through our willingness to just slow down and sit with the land, listen and learn the ways to read her signs, it is possible to step out of our busy, distracted, incredibly self-centered lives and to step into something profound and mysterious."

Even though, I started Wonder Studio over 12 years ago now, I still feel the gift of being in this place with these young children and their loving caregivers.

Teaching here, being here... has the ability to renew and restore me...as long as I take a moment and Arrive.

But, I wonder...is the practice of "arrival" applicable to the grocery store? To the Dr. 's waiting room, to pain and suffering of those on FB? 

Can I arrive to each moment, meet it for what it is, letting go of my judgements of "this is a moment I don't like" ? 

I guess that is truly the journey of a lifetime.

"Break the spell of the known and to practice opening yourself to the changing, mysterious, and nuanced ways of a place. It is to practice being enamored by the ordinary. " 

Day Schildkret

Even though, Wonder Studio was a concept created through me...

I feel as though it is something quite separate.

The spirit of the Wonder Studio asks to be witnessed and I have to remind myself each time, I cross her threshold. 

Age Limit for Wonder Studio?

 

When is my child too old for Wonder Studio?

This question has come up from many different folks these past couple weeks. I have contemplated this "age" question myself a lot. With a 10 year old and a 13 year old...I find my children asking at times, are they too old to try "this" or "that"? I see that they are sometimes embarrassed of their impulses for imaginative play or trying a sport or skill that they know others began when they were 4 years old. 
I don't like the idea of limiting ourselves by age. 
I am a believer in play. Whole-heartedly. 

What does it mean to play?
For me, play means developing your ability to go into the unknown.

Play is an attitude towards life.
Play is interchangeable with Wonder.
So, when someone asks me if their child is too old for Wonder Studio...I feel a deep sadness. 
This question sounds like, "Is my child too old to wonder?" "Is my child too old for play?"
And, I want to shout from the roof tops..."Let the children play!" (And Adults!)

So...the contemplation for this month is...
"How do you limit yourself or your children with age expectations?"
I see myself doing this most often with expectations for behavior in my children. 
I see this in myself when I feel guilty on choosing to paint or draw instead of laundry or paperwork.

But, if I wasn't being philosophical or metaphorical and just quite literal...

Wonder Studio is designed by a Early Childhood Educator Pro Expert. I have a Master's Degree in Early Childhood which certifies my teaching age range from Birth - age 8 (2nd or 3rd grade, depending on the college.) I purposely chose this age group rather than Elementary Education because I really liked the wide age range and the understanding of the first 5 years of life of being the most important developmental years for the human.
Everything that you see or experience at Wonder Studio is designed with this model in mind.
Let's take the blocks as our first example...

Wooden unit block play across Developmental Stages: (A Constructivist Approach To Block Play in Early Childhood by Karyn Wellhousen and Judith Kieff, p. 41)
Stage 1: Carrying
Stage 2: Stacking
Stage 3: Bridging
Stage 4: Enclosures
Stage 5: Patterns and Symmetry
Stage 6: Early representational
Stage 7: Later representational

If we look at Stages of Development instead of putting an age limit on things, I think it opens us up to so many possibilities.

A child of any age can walk into Wonder Studio and experiment with these many stages. With the mixed age grouping, many kids will jump between stages when they see older kids playing in more advanced scenarios. 

Playing a musical instrument also happens in stages rather than ages as well as a person't devotion to practice. If you don't practice your instrument, you will stay at lower stages.

IT IS THE SAME WITH PLAY. IT IS THE SAME WITH ART. It is the same with socialization.
We need to practice these skills.
I don't ever want to lose my sense of Wonder. My sense of play. 
I cultivate it everyday in myself, in my children, and in my studio.
Please join me in the Play revolution.