Learning Conversations

My youngest one is starting Kindergarten this Fall and on Friday, we attended a PALS (Parents As Learning Supporters) session at his new school. I love that the school is bringing in parents/guardians to see what kids will be doing in their classrooms and talking about the approach to learning – that we shouldn’t expect a highly academic focus, that children this age learn best by learning through play!

There will be four session in the PALS series – this first one was focused around the alphabet. We used stamps to make name tags, then stamp whatever words the children wanted. We made letters out of playdough. We played a matching game of upper case to lower case letters. And then we used “fishing rods” (with magnets at the end) to pick up “fish” (letters/pictures with paper clips on them). My son loved it all!

Then the children were ushered off to the community kitchen while the adults got a short lesson on preparing children for Kindergarten and the importance of reading. The speaker told us about making a point of talking about the parts of a book, of pointing out the title page, and of showing that we read left to right, starting on the left page. We heard about the importance of letting kids see us reading and having books in the house, so that they know that it’s a valued activity in our lives. And that, no matter what the language at home, just keep reading aloud to our children so that they are exposed to the rhythms, vocabulary and ideas that come from a variety of books. All wonderful stuff!

And then the speaker started talking about the importance of limiting “screen time” for our children – that good old fashioned books are critical for children…

I bit my tongue – didn’t want to be “that” parent on the first day, I guess!

But as I reflected on the morning’s experience, I put together some feedback via email to the Principal of the school (who I know quite well). I thought about learning through play and the role of technology in a primary classroom.

I completely agree with the importance of reading and also believe there needs to be a balance of appropriate screen time. But a recent post from Will Richardson got me thinking about what “balance” really means – particularly that balance isn’t about excluding technology…

It made me thing about the fact that, to this generation, “play” includes technology – and it should, because it is an important part of being a literate citizen. My children are not literate if they do not know how to read, write, communicate AND search for/assess the validity of information. That means that comfort with technology is just as important as comfort with writing instruments or any number of other tools that we equip our kids to use.

My point, to make a long story short, is that I believe it’s important to start shifting our attitudes to include technology as a part of play and learning, right from the beginning. Penny Lindballe tells the story of lingering societal prejudices against technology well in this post – it’s worth a read too!

There’s a reason we don’t wait until middle school to introduce a pencil, isn’t there? Time to treat technology the same way…

My last post & reading Kris’ Wandering Ink blog got me thinking about gifted education.

So, here are a few posts that so eloquently express the purpose, reasons for and challenges of gifted education within the public school system. (note – they’re all from Tamara Fisher’s Unwrapping the Gifted blog.  And there’s a bunch more where these came from, so go over there for more reading!)

As you read these postings, think about the kids in your lives that fit these descriptions – don’t we owe them the support they need to become their very best, to continue to grow and learn, a fundamental understanding of their own worth completely separate from their academic performance?  In fact, don’t we owe that to all of our children?

Enjoy!

My Yard is Gifted

It’s a Learning Difference

Hardware on the Shelf

A Gifted Child’s Bill of Rights

GT is NOT…

I was over at Kris’ Wandering Ink blog today, reading about her perspective on our school system and how it impedes the development of genius.

It’s a powerful piece and definitely worth the read (if you haven’t already).

As I read through the comments, I noticed a few people saying (or implying) that genius will develop despite the system – that it’s natural and will come out, no matter what the world is telling them.

While I agree to some extent – I also think that we’re fooling ourselves if we think we’re not damaging these kids.  What’s the matter with saying a child is intellectually gifted?  How can we possibly believe that our parenting and teaching doesn’t influence how these children develop into adults and use their talents?

When we don’t support and foster their talents, we send them the message that it isn’t good to excel in this way – that they need to tone it down and fit in if they want to be liked and accepted.  They end up feeling like there’s something WRONG with them!

Think back to high school and how devastating it was when someone made fun of you for something.  What did you do as a result?  I know I did my darndest to make sure I never did THAT again – because it felt so terrible to have everyone laughing at me.

Now, granted, not all kids react this way – I’m sure there some that can brush it off and go on being themselves.  But there are lots of kids that aren’t that secure with their own worth, that haven’t been raised to feel their own worth and value.

So, it follows quite easily, that those gifted kids who get ridiculed for knowing the answers, for using advanced vocabulary, for being particularly sensitive or for having an artistic flair – well, they stop openly developing those talents to avoid further pain.  And if they’re holding back in class, how are they really developing to their full potential??

Coincidentally, I meandered over to Tamara Fisher’s blog, Unwrapping the Gifted, and read her wonderful article about exactly this topic.  She articulates it much more eloquently than I have – go have a read!

The fact of the matter is that EVERY CHILD deserves to develop their talents – whether that be academic, athletic, artistic, social-emotional, leadership, comedic, etc…

Our children all have their unique gifts – our job as adults is to help them find and value those gifts.

Honestly, I think it’s the most important thing we can do for this next generation!