This blog is a place to share research, experiences and inspirations around teaching and the world of Early Childhood Education —which I believe includes just about anything and everything creative.

Archive for March, 2008

Responsible Objects

chaise-blanche

STUDIO LO “works on objects through strong constraints: ethical, institutional, technical and symbolic. Having taken act of the environmental question, as well as of the economic realities of design, we created this alternative editor company in 2005. This structure allowed us, to develop objects, without institutional nor editor supports.”

“Our desire to manufacture “responsible objects” brought us to the shaping of natural matter in a close dialogue with a local network of SME. Without relay, nor financial support, we have developed a «poor design», adapted to small structures of production through very limited investments. Our research on the optimization of matter, non-standard series and chain production, led us to work with water-jet cut manufacturing. We transform technical issues into geometrical problems. A board becomes a chair through a simple cut. Our objects seek to make readable the production process, to give it an expressivity.”

chaussons-pod
—–”Pod slippers, felt screen printed, original pieces, water-jet cutting, assembly by keys. Each slipper constitutes a tile of a hypothetically infinite periodic paving. The patterns being contiguous, each cut generates two parts, instead of one. It is the principle of the «share-cut», which we exploit largely in our creations. The rotation of the serigraphic screens, as well as the «bougé» of the cuts, allows the generation of non-standard series.” ——-

Thanks Svea for the link.

Things…

… I HAVE LEARNED IN MY LIFE SO FAR

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UNPREDICTABLE by Eric Widjaja

“What have you learned in your life so far? What is it that you are fairly sure about? What is it that you believe in by now?

Please do write it down beautifully. Design it digitally, photograph it, draw it, scan it and upload it. Use any media that works for you, paint, sculpture, film….If you don’t work on the computer, write your sentiment on a postcard and send it to us at:

Sagmeister Inc. 222 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011. We’ll upload it for you.

many warm greetings from lovely 14th Street,
Stefan Sagmeister”

—————————-Whether or not you plan on sharing your thoughts with Mr. Segmeister, take a moment and reflect on his questions. Ask the children you know similar questions and encourage them to share their answers – visually.

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LAUGH by Becky Gammon

Redleaf Press

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Established in 1973, Redleaf Press is a leading nonprofit publisher of exceptional curriculum, management, and business resources for early childhood professionals. Our educational and instructional publications improve the lives of children by strengthening and supporting the teachers, trainers, and families who care for them. Redleaf Press titles represent a broad range of topics designed to assist teachers in providing a stimulating, child-centered curriculum based on sound and accepted theory.

Redleaf Press is a division of Resources for Child Caring, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization specializing in issues related to child care. Proceeds from Redleaf Press support many of the services that are offered to teachers, directors, providers, and families through Resources for Child Caring.

Be sure to browse the Catalog and read the monthly Articles.

Camilla Engman

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Camilla Engman grew up in a small Swedish town named Trollhättan. This is where she began looking at life from a perspective that most of us see only momentarily, and just a few are able to record. Camilla practised her skills at the Dome Art School and later at the School of Design and Craft, Gothenburg University, where she acquired a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Often through animals or people, Camilla’s pictures inspire their audience with a wide range of feelings. Her work has a knack of allowing you to grasp a notion without robbing you of your personal interpretation, regardless of whether it’s an acrylic painting, paper-on-paper or mixed media.

Once you’ve seen her work you won’t need to know this, but Camilla has been commissioned by the New York Times, British Columbia Airlines and Walt Disney – to name but a few.”

The illustration above, is one of my many favorites!

CREATES

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“Welcome to CREATES, Warwickshire’s first creative recycling centre for schools, pre-schools, further education and community groups. As a new initiative linking arts and education, the CREATES resource has thrown open its doors to a new world of creative possibilities for Warwickshire’s schools and communties. The vision was inspired by visits to the ReMida Recycling Centre in the municipality of Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy, which promotes the idea that waste materials can be resources.”

CREATES aims to encourage children to find new ways of re-using waste materials, promoting a positive attitude towards recycled goods, and encouraging new opportunities for communication and creativity. A wide range of materials from huge cardboard tubes, to small shiny plastic shapes, donated by businesses and industry can now be used to inspire young minds and ignite fascinating creativity in the classroom and beyond.”

COMMENT: “Just to let you know we have changed our name.
We are now called WEAVE warwickshire’s enviro-arts vision for education. Our new website is under construction but you can still contact us on www.thinkcreates.co.uk“.

Flutter at The SNMNH

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The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History invites visitors to feel the flutter™ in one of its most educational, entertaining and experiential exhibits to date. To help visitors get an up-close and unique look at how butterflies and plants have evolved and diversified together over millions of years, Butterflies will feature:

* A historical journey through the Exhibit Hall, taking visitors through the co-evolution of butterflies and plants – from long before dinosaurs walked the Earth to present day. An array of colorful murals, timelines, videos and photographs support the exhibit’s underlying themes of survival and evolution.
* 1,200-square foot Live Butterfly Pavillion where visitors can walk among more than 300 tropical butterflies (new butterflies introduced on a weekly basis!) and watch firsthand how they interact with their plant partners.

Museum curators and scientists have worked together for two years to create this dynamic exhibit.

If you are unable to visit the museum, check out the “Explore A Topic” portion of their website – a great resource!

What is the significance of co-evolution and how is it relevant to me?

Read the rest of this entry »

right on, fight on

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“This design is the winner of The Quiet Life’s online “DESIGN A T-SHIRT FOR A GOOD CAUSE CONTEST” and is the first t-shirt design in their new GOOD CAUSE project. The idea behind GOOD CAUSE is to help raise funds and awareness for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The cost of these shirts, the screen printing cost, and all other costs were donated to them by their vendors so that 100% of the proceeds from the sales of this design could go directly to The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.”

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Father & Son

The Alphabet starts off slow but stay with it and turn up the volume :) Precious!

Thanks to Xavier for the link.

Life Lab

A progressive Science Program for children!

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“The Life Lab idea for a “living laboratory” began in 1978 in a small garden developed by students and teachers at Green Acres Elementary School in Santa Cruz, California. Teachers there soon discovered that their students were learning science from gardening and enjoying it thoroughly. The idea grew and developed rapidly, attracting attention from other school districts, parents, universities, and community leaders. Since its formation as a non-profit organization in 1979, Life Lab has been a national leader in the development of hands-on, garden-centered science curricula and effective professional development programs.

Life Lab is now located on the beautiful campus of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and collaborates closely with many groups in the educational and environmental community. Currently established in over 1,000 schools nationwide, Life Lab programs continue to innovate and provide leadership in science education. Life Lab programs are unique in their emphasis on the integration of educational content and excel at linking science to all areas of learning, particularily language acquisition, nutrition, and stewardship of the natural world.”

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Innovative Early Learning Podcasts

Just One More Book is a thrice-weekly podcast – celebrating their 300th episode – which promotes and celebrates literacy and great children’s books. Each weekday morning, we take a few minutes out of our morning coffee ritual to discuss one of our many favourite children’s books. We also feature weekly interviews with authors, illustrators and experts and enthusiasts in the areas of children’s literature and literacy as well as listener-submitted book reviews.

Through this podcast and website, we are building a lively, interactive community linking children’s book authors, illustrators, readers (parents, children, librarians, teachers and literacy activists) and publishers.”

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Read the rest of this entry »

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