Book Rec - The Philosophical Baby

I know I've written about Alison Gopnik and The Philosophical Baby before, but now I actually have a copy to read! I've enjoyed the first few chapters very much, and think that any parent or educator would benefit from Gopnik's insight.

Image of the Week - Mini-Provocations

We have a small plastic set of storage drawers downstairs, where I left a stretched out slinky, several recycled pieces of elastic, and some in-process cutting work. When Sam walked by and saw the items together, it sparked some new ideas and combinations.

I love inadvertent, simple provocations. And those that are recycled in some way...

Summer School

Who wants to go to Italy for two weeks this summer, for the first ever International Summer School experience in Reggio-Emilia?

Can you imagine? Two weeks of... dialogue, immersion, observation, play... Would they let me bring a four-month-old baby?

Schools

Saturday is the day that I always want to write about schools. But somehow I never get ahead of the curve, so I write about 'schools' in a more metaphorical sense, or I wax on and on about the imaginary school that I want to start!

Today is no different :) I have a list of schools in my head that I want to feature/profile, so in the name of getting that list out of my head and into a more concrete space in the universe, here are a few of them:

1. Boulder Journey School - Boulder, CO

2. The Active Learning Center - Denver, CO

3. Explore and Discover - Denver, CO

4. Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy - Denver , CO

Are you sensing the same Colorado theme that I am? That's really because I would like to visit these schools, interview kids, teachers, and school leaders in person, and take some cool photographs! Perhaps someday I'll add schools in Oregon, Hawaii, New Zealand, Portugal, and of course, Italy - and jet set around, documenting all that inspires me!

The desire to visit and document these schools is also about figuring out if I have the where-with-all to take the leap and start up something similar...

Yesterday, I went with Sam, Celine, and Kathy to look at a school sight that we've been drooling over. As of this summer, the building will be empty and unused! We walked around the whole building, peered in windows, and imagined where specific parts of our program might fit. It was wonderful. We also spent time at my house, looking through the district paperwork that we'll need to complete to share our initial vision.

For me, 2010 is the year of shepherding new 'babies' into this world - I hope that this school will be one of them...

In the mean time - baby steps on to profiling local Reggio-inspired schools in Colorado!

Thoughts about Spaces

What do you do when there's disagreement in the home or classroom about use of space? I don't have an answer. Sam would like to keep his built structures up indefinitely. I would like to let him leave them up as long as possible, but sometimes it conflicts with the needs of the rest of the family.

We 'need' to clear a safe path to the laundry...

We 'need' to put the chairs back around the table, when it's time for dinner...

Where do you draw the line? How do you examine what is a real 'need' in the household or classroom and what is just a perceived need, i.e. because that's the way that most people run a household or classroom?

I had the unique experience of growing up in a space where it was somehow easier to bend the rules. Maybe it was partly because we had plenty of space to spread out our creative projects (a 60 acre farm provides lots of elbow room!), and maybe it was partly because I had parents who were willing to let us maintain long term projects.

Again, no answers here, just a provocation for parents and teachers! I would love to hear the thoughts of others...

And Happy New Year from Colorado! I look forward to expanding within this space in 2010, with more provocations, connections, queries, and play. Thank you to every person who has read and commented here during this wonderful year of growth and exploration!

The Spider Web Project/Work

All right, I'll be the first to admit, if you walked into our basement space, with no background knowledge about Sam or the work he's been doing, you might just think, 'Wow, what a mess...'. Hopefully, he or I would be there to explain. This is not just random yarn, thrown around the room.

This yarn Spider Web has actually taken hours of work and thought. Each thread has been intricately placed, wrapped and pulled. He is learning that now that his web has reached a certain degree of complexity, if one thread is pulled, the rest of the web is affected.

Not only is this an exercise in building and engineering, it leads to interesting role play and conversation. He's been a spider, then a frog, then an alligator. So, the web remains, and will remain as long as it needs to. Or until I can no longer reach the washing machine - then we might have to negotiate a pathway!

Book Rec - Steven Caney's Ultimate Building Book

Wow! We found this at the library this weekend, and I'm in love. Oh yeah, Sam is too! If there was ever a book to have in your personal collection, if you or your child is interested in building, this is the one. At first I judged by the cover, and thought it was going to be a 'standard' book about machines and construction. I'm so glad I opened it up.

Caney has put together an amazing collection of projects and explanations of building on many levels. His projects are largely open-ended, and utilize lots of found or easy-to-find objects. For kids (and adults) who want to learn more about architectural and construction methods and terms, it's in there - everything from the history of Lincoln Logs to the construction of arches. And there are plenty of black and white photographs to make both the projects and the concepts understandable.

Did I mention that I highly recommend this book?!?

On a side note, I'm pretty sure that we had a book by Steven Caney in our home when I was growing up. It was a small paperback, with lots of beautiful black and white photos of kids building different types of toys and structures. I remember looking at that book again and again - I loved it and wanted to make everything in it. I wish I could find the title and track down this book too! Anyone have an idea? I'm pretty sure it must be out of print - I'm getting nothing on amazon...

Image of the Week - We love thread...

and wire, and yarn, and rope, and anything that can be wrapped up!

Clearing = Creating

I want you to know, right up front, that this isn't a tutorial! There are so many great, crafty blogs out there, that are all about gorgeous, step-by-step tutorials for making stuff. My post today is more about recognizing what you've got around the house that might be cluttering your creative spaces, and then transforming that stuff into something more useful and open ended.

For us, that stuff included old cereal boxes and plastic grocery store bags. We stuffed the boxes full of the bags, and then taped them shut.

Sam and I chose scraps of fabric that would make interesting blocks. I wrapped the boxes, and used a hot glue gun to hold the fabric tautly in place.

Now we have a set of five soft block boxes to kick around, stack, and use in a thousand different ways.

All in all, a very quick, satisfying 'craft' project for us. I didn't need to seek out lots of extra materials and we were able to clear clutter at the same time.

What types of open ended toys or provocative materials have you made in your home or classroom?

Creating Spaces

Here's a little peek at the painting work going on here... As always, he's most comfortable working at the 'big' work table in our basement.

I decided to move my fabric bins to another spot, so that he could have free reign of the space under the work table. It's a space where he likes to cozy up, to work on a project or play.

We decided to keep the new skeins of yarn that I just got from freecycle underneath - they're fun to stack and they make a nice, soft wall.

Now we're thinking about making another big work table, perpendicular to this one, so that we can both spread out even more. We both got wonderful new art supplies for Christmas, and we both want space to use them well!

Photo Essay - Possible Emerging Project Work

It started with a surprising provocation... A 'pet shop' card that someone gave him at school. Hmmm...

But that led to a plan - let's go to a pet shop! We didn't find a local mom & pop - this time the 'big box' pet shop had to do.

Even though they didn't have any dogs, it was still an exciting trip.


The birds were pretty interesting...

And so were the fish!

But when we left, he was still bound and determined that a dog is the only pet for him. More to come...

Recommendations and Inspiration - Magazine and Blog

As I get back into the rhythm of writing here, I've got to share the most beautiful magazine and blog.

Rhythm of the Home is a wonderful, on-line magazine, featuring the work and words of some very inspiring people. There is also a companion blog, where a compelling giveaway is currently under way...

Here's a short description from the Rhythm of the Home home page:

This free quarterly magazine is based on the seasonal rhythms of the Waldorf and Montessori philosophies, and it is our goal to bring this wonderful community of artists, educators, writers, photographers and parents together to share ideas, projects, recipes and traditions that help to enhance each of the seasons.

In this first issue, readers can browse through articles and tutorials within the categories of Warmth, Celebration, Play, and Connections.

Speaking of connections, I do think that Reggio-inspired philosophies would fit in to the venue quite nicely! I've got it in my mind to submit some type of article/photo journal for the spring issue. I'm also inspired by the format, and thinking about how an on-line Reggio-inspired magazine (as opposed to blog) might look...

So here's my query -

if you happen to be a Reggio-inspired parent and/or teacher, would you consider submitting some type of work to an on-line magazine devoted to all things Reggio-inspired?

What type of work would you submit?

Would an on-line magazine format be able to accurately illustrate the work that you do? That your kids do?

I'm going to be playing with this idea over the next few weeks, and I welcome any feedback.

Image of the Week - El Tigre

I love the Children's Museum, because kids get the chance to play with materials that they might not have at home. You can't see it in this shot, but he's also wearing a pair of tap dancin' shoes. Viva el baile!

Book Rec - The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness

I just started this book, so I can't give you a full recommendation, but so far I love what Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. has to say about the roots of fulfilling adult lives. The full title is The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness: Five Steps to Help Kids Create and Sustain Lifelong Joy.

The five 'steps' or elements resonated with me, and seem to mesh well with Reggio-inspired philosophy. They are:

• Connecting
• Play
• Practice
• Mastery
• Recognition

He includes a nice visual of the five elements working in a cyclical fashion - connectedness leads to the freedom to play, play naturally results in practice, continued practice leads to mastery, and mastery may result in some form of recognition - which of course takes you back to connecting with the larger world.

Images of the Week -A volcano in Denver...

He worked so hard to build this volcano. At first he wanted me to use the shovel, but after a while he decided that he could handle it.

I was reminded of the importance of allowing children to struggle with and manipulate unwieldy or heavy items. The satisfaction was so much sweeter, when he climbed to the top of the 'very, very tall volcano'. And then jumped and rolled out like hot lava!

My Gingerbread Meltdown, or, Why Perfectionism is a Waste of Time

Sam was so excited to get started with our gingerbread house project this weekend, and I was too. We picked out some candy,dried apricots, and shredded coconut at the store together. I chose a gingerbread recipe from The Joy of Cooking, that looked basic and promising. This is where the story starts to break down...

We made the dough on Saturday afternoon, with a plan to let it sit over night and make the house on Sunday. The dough seemed dry as we mixed it, but I double checked my ingredients, and figured that maybe it was supposed to be a dry-ish dough. But when we turned out the dough this morning, it was a complete disaster. This is where the story really breaks down, at least my side of it does. Sam didn't mind the dry dough in the least, but I basically threw a mama temper tantrum. I wanted to make a beautiful, memorable gingerbread house with Sam. And instead we had a big bowl full of crumbs. And I had used real butter for this recipe! The last two sticks in the house...

I had to excuse myself from the action, take a shower, drink a cup of tea, and re-start. Of course I know that in the big scheme of life, two lost sticks of butter don't really matter at all. We live in a beautiful, warm home, with a fridge and cupboards full of good, healthy food. It's okay to lose a batch of gingerbread. This is where the story takes a turn for the better! Sam gave me lots of hugs and kisses, and we pieced together some pieces of gingerbread.

In the end, we built a lovely little house. The end product may not be even remotely Martha-esque, but the process, after I was able to get over my self, was fun.

I hope that Sam will remember the many joyful parts of our morning project, rather than his mama's dip into temporary gingerbread insanity. I think we're good here...

If you're doing any holiday baking this month, I hope that you can also find joy in the process. Sampling the building materials as you go certainly helps!

Vision-ing

I want to make a big 'vision board' of what the potential Reggio-inspired school that we've been brainstorming could look like. I've got my Community Playthings catalogs, ready to become part of the structural vision. But for today, I'm pairing photos from my archives with some of the big ideas, that have to be part of the school.

1. Space and time for movement.

2. Space and time for creating.

3. Blank slates - ready for new creations.

4. Space and time for exploring new materials.

5. Beautiful outdoor spaces - and time to be out there!

Of course there are a thousand other elements that we're dreaming of. Eventually there will be many details to consider and sort out, but for now I'm focusing on these big ideas, these big visual images.

What other big ideas would you include in your ideal school?

Just give me some space!

I forgot to mention, that nice work table I cobbled together in the studio? I thought that it was growing on him, and then he abandoned it. As I look through photographs and think about our time together painting and drawing, I think the real solution is just providing more space. The small work table was great in terms of height, but it didn't have that wide expanse, so that he could spread out and really get down to making stuff.

You can see in this photo that the dining room table is a very happy creative space!

The chef strikes again!

His most recent invention - on weekend mornings he's decided that he wants to make 'coffee without coffee beans' (he laughs hysterically every time he states this wild and crazy contradiction). He'll take a glass and mix his yogurt, juice, milk, cereal or oatmeal, and raisins. Sometimes he'll add apple or banana slices. He claims that it's the most 'delicious and tasty' breakfast ever. Why just on weekend mornings? Making coffee takes a lot of time and effort, and he doesn't want the process to be rushed. On weekday mornings he's decided that he should eat quickly and not make coffee. This is a huge milestone for us, since the leisurely breakfast is sometimes a source of...disagreement in our home.

Setting the table for Thanksgiving dinner. He's really picked up on the grace and courtesy lessons at school - today he asked why we don't use our place mats every time we eat. Good question! I might have to start making more effort myself in the areas of grace and courtesy at our family meals.

This boy loves to cook!

Book Recs - All the World and...

Recently, we checked out All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and iillustrated by Marla Frazee. I love this book, and would like to buy it for everyone I know, kids or no kids. Beautiful illustrations and simple, but poetic text... But it's not Sam's first choice. His current pick is for me to read part of a chapter from Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis. You just never know what's going to catch his fancy!