Get in the Car, We've Got to GO!

 Children need time to “Be”- to be “Idle” - to be “Creative” and “Think” outside of the box.  Gymnastics, karate, music, cooking and so on are wonderful things to expose our children to.  However, when we fill every moment of everyday with scheduled activities we rob our children of the opportunity to explore, discover and grow their minds to achieve endless possibilities.  

“Kids need all kinds of extracurricular activities to “keep up”

with their peers and to look good to prospective schools”

Kids, for the most part, need what kids have always needed: love, support, limits, and responsibilities.  In this respect, the kids that I treat now are no different from the kids I treated thirty years ago.  Child development simply does not change - it’s biologically encoded - and no amount of extracurriculars makes up for a kid who feels unloved, or entitled, both of which are poor predictors for success.

Taken from: Teach Your Children Well

Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More

Than Grades, Trophies or “Fat Envelopes”

By:  Madeline Levine, PhD

Messy Play ~ A Child's Work

     But Mommmm…

                                    I am busy making a lake for all the animals!

The Children have certainly enjoyed water play out on the yard and in the classrooms during these hot, first days of school.  As you can see, children’s work can be very messy.  Yet, she is busy making a habitat for the wild animals.  During this play she is learning the names of the animals, pairing them up and caring for them on a hot day.  I imagine working with real animals, whether in the wild or in a wild life park can be very rewarding yet messy.

My point, you ask?  It was wonderful that our little one came dressed for her messy job and so there were no worries about needing to keep clean.  A suggestion would be to keep a few plastic bags, extra clothes and shoes in your car.  It's perfect for those days when your child may be covered from head to toe in mess and you would prefer not to get it all over your car.  Another good reason to keep an extra change of clothes on hand, is for those days you plan to go somewhere else other than home. A quick change of the clothes and into the bag will do the trick.  Another good reason to keep an extra change of clothes on hand, is for those days you plan to go somewhere else other than home. 

Remember PLAY is children’s WORK and it can be oh so MESSY!

                        

Teachers

Thirty years ago she began teaching

Young children in their threes and fours;

She didn’t know much about children at first,

But over time learned more and more.

She gave them hugs and wiped their tears,

And never left them alone;

She guided them through the small things,

Which often turned out to be milestones.

Her first students are all grown now,

And she waves to them when they pass;

There’s a banker, a writer, a lawyer, an artist,

And parents with children in her class.

To those who ask if she plays all day,

She says with a gleam in her eye

That she teaches bankers to add and subtract,

And artists to color the sky.

She teaches the alphabet to writers,

And lawyers what it means to be fair;

She teaches politicians to take their turn,

And executives how to share.

 

She knows that what’s learned in the sandbox

Will influence them for years to come;

It’s the little things that shape them,

So impressionable are the young.

If you too work with children,

And dance and sing and play,

Don’t forget that you shape the future

By whom you teach today.

 

                                                Unknown