Brining my computer into school on Monday… we had fun mixing our colors/colours with paint on paper, imagine how much fun we are going to have trying to re-in-act this! Catchy tune … super for english as a second language learners.

“Using new music written by OK Go, the video was conceived and directed by Al Jarnow, a pioneer stop-motion animator who made numerous classic educational and experimental short films in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s for Sesame Street, Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, and other shows.

via swiss-miss via brain pickings

Working in an environment where 80% of the children speak French, I often rely on images to help me teach and communicate – real life images, not the cute animation kind. These clips, from everynone.com, enforce the power of real life images and have me thinking about ways to add a third layer to what I do.

WORDS from Everynone on Vimeo.

Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.

Every now and then I have some time to browse through the numerous links that I have saved in my “play+design” folder. I don’t know how long this resource has been sitting there but I am happy to have become reacquainted with it, today.

“The information on this website is provided free to anyone interested in teaching children and young adults the creative and critical thinking skills they need to cope with any subject or situation.

Written by Dr. Charles Burnette, translated into Korean and edited by Yi Ji Hyun, the information on this website may not be revised or reproduced for sale without the written approval of the author, but may be freely copied and distributed if there is no cost to the recipient.”

In other words, SHARE!

“Design thinking is multidisciplinary and applicable to any subject.
Design thinking may be applied by anyone to problems of any scope or scale, in any context, using any mode of thought, expression or action and any medium or discipline appropriate to the task at hand. Many different points of view are active during design thinking and any subject may be taught through a design project.

Design thinking integrates imagination and analytical thinking.
Design thinking fosters the exploration, and analysis of relevant information and its effective organization to establish ideas of value regarding a particular context. In contrast, rote learning is hard to remember and use because it has no motivating context of application. Design thinking also teaches how to cope with inadequate information, and uncertainty in order to achieve a goal.

Design thinking emphasizes constructive thinking over factual retention.
Because a design problem may have many different solutions, Design thinking requires ongoing definition, representation, and assessment. It is a continuous learning experience arising out of a need to obtain and correctly apply knowledge to achieve goals that may change as knowledge of the problem and its context is acquired.

Design thinking links information to experience and responsible action.
Design thinking organizes thought to empower effective action, and builds self-esteem and competence by requiring responsible performance in actual circumstances. Knowledge arises naturally from experience making it easier to understand, remember and apply.

Design thinking encourages objective assessment and values.
Design achievements are demonstrable and provide an objective basis for acquiring values. Success is understood through continuous evaluation of progress toward recognized goals and self-assessment is structured by the designer’s own efforts to achieve their goals.

Design thinking promotes cooperation, socialization and humanistic understanding.
Design thinking in groups encourages the development of different perspectives and social skills, including the ability to negotiate, communicate, follow, and lead. Children learn ethical and moral values by directly addressing human needs and desires and sharing their thoughts about what is appropriate and effective.

Design thinking promotes the development of knowledge through creative learning experiences that integrate all modes of intelligence and link learning to effective thought and action in the context experienced by the thinker. It involves consideration of people, resources, relationships, contexts, methods, values and knowledge. It calls on the humanities and the arts to express, communicate and situate ideas and to interpret potentials, on technology to implement them and on science to assess their outcomes. Education emphasizing Design thinking can produce an understanding of art, science, technology and the humanities that is integrated, interdisciplinary and humanistically focused. It can bring art education into contact with mainstream subjects, free technology from its obsolete framework in vocational and industrial arts, and put science to work in concert with the humanities.”

Thank You e-glue for introducing me to Little Sapling Toys. Their products are aesthetically beautiful, handmade, eco- conscious, provoke imagination and promote various aspects of development in young children — Bonus for parents and educators: Fairly priced!

“Here at Little Sapling Toys, we are committed to quality toys and a healthy earth. We plant a tree for every toy sold, use FSC Certified hardwoods, recycled content packaging and participate in our local green power program.

Each toy is handmade by our family in Boise, Idaho. Our way to reconcile modern and natural beauty is by using Maple, Cherry and Walnut woods together with our own beeswax and organic jojoba oil finish. We design our toys to help young children develop creativity, pattern recognition and fine motor skills. Our goals are to make toys that will be beautiful to look at, fun to play with and cherished for generations. We hope these toys will be passed from our children to theirs.”

“The Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development is produced by the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development. It is intended for policy-makers, service planners and service providers and for parents.

It brings together articles written by internationally renowned experts on topics having to do with the psychosocial development of young children, from conception to the age of five. Each of the 42 topics addressed is explored from three perspectives: development, services and policies. In addition, for each topic there is a synthesis that provides, in a simplified format, the key points that will be most useful to practitioners and planners. This synthesis addresses three questions: What is the importance of this topic? What are the most up-to-date and conclusive data available on this subject? And what can be done to improve services, policies and research?”

“This programme explores the Swedish approach to nursery education. What is the secret to their success? What factors combine to help Swedish children perform so well in European literacy tables?”

via Teacher TV – such a great resource – so many informative videos available here, take some time to explore their site and pass it along…

I just can’t get enough of Growing Schools. I am so thankful that this organizations has the will and the ability to share their projects with us online. Inspiring, educational and fun.

Watch more videos from Growing Schools on their YouTube Channel

(this photographic belongs to my personal archive)

Satomi Izumi-Taylor, University of Memphis
Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson, Göteborg University
Cosby Steele Rogers, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Introduction

“Research regarding play is complex, and culture is a key factor in determining how people in different nations view play. People with different cultural backgrounds tend to pay attention to different characteristics of the same phenomena (Azuma, 1986); because teachers’ perspectives on play are influenced by their own cultures, these perspectives vary widely. Teachers’ perceptions of play affect children’s experiences in their classrooms. Thus, we felt, as scholars doing research in Japan, Sweden, and the United States, that comparing teachers’ perceptions of play in those countries could provide insights that might expand the discourse about play in those countries and internationally. We also felt that our findings could prove useful to those who wish to design effective early childhood education programs.

We anticipate that our research on perspectives on play expressed by American, Japanese, and Swedish early childhood educators can provide a basis for reflection and understanding among the educators in these nations who, in spite of cultural differences, all recognize play as essential in children’s development and learning (Izumi-Taylor, Rogers, & Pramling Samuelsson, 2007).”

…continue reading this article titled Perspectives of Play in Three Nations: A Comparative Study in Japan, the United States, and Sweden via the Early Childhood Research and Practice website

…original stories for kids, read by kids. 50 added every month. Submit yours!

Do you ever video tape your children during a storytelling session? After watching a handful of Smories, I am inspired to make the recording of storytelling (and dramatic play) common practice for Urban Preschool – to enhance story development, prop making, play writing, puppet shows and full on books!

via e-glue

“The Food for Life Partnership is a network of schools and communities across England committed to transforming food culture.

By developing a whole school food policy and action plan for your school, you can influence and improve the health of your students and the whole school community.

Schools can play a key role in equipping young people and their families with the skills and knowledge they need to maintain lifelong healthy and climate-friendly eating habits.

The school environment provides an excellent opportunity to help establish these good habits from a young age.”