Childhood: A Journey

We are all on our own journey- children and adults alike. We learn things and reach certain milestones in different ways and at different times in life. We all have different weaknesses and strengths. We all have different needs and goals and dreams. In this competitive and fast-paced world, we must be careful not to turn childhood into a race. Children deserve to enjoy and be supported within their own, unique journey.

Spectacularly Unlimited

"Teaching as the direct delivery of some preplanned curriculum, teaching as the orderly and scripted conveyance of information, teaching as clerking, is simply a myth.

Teaching is much larger and much more alive than that; it contains more pain and conflict, more joy and intelligence, more uncertainty and ambiguity. It requires more judgment and energy and intensity than, on some days, seems humanly possible. 

Teaching is spectacularly unlimited."

(Ayers, W. (2001). To teach: The journey of a teacher. New York: Teachers College Press.)

Just a Thought...

"Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. 

And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. 

When will we also teach them what they are?

We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? 
You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. 

You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? 

You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children."

                                - Pablo Picasso

We Make the Weather

"I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am

 the decisive element in the classroom. 

It's my daily mood that makes the weather. 

As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power 

to make a child's life miserable or joyous. 

I can be a tool of torture or 

an instrument of inspiration. 

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. 

In all situations, it is my response that decides 

whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated 

and a child humanized or de-humanized."

Dr. Haim Ginott

Children Learn What They Live

A poem, by Dorothy Law Nolte

If a child lives with criticism,
      he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
      he learns to fight.
If a child lives with fear,
      he learns to be apprehensive.
If a child lives with pity,
     he learns to feel sorry for himself.
If a child lives with ridicule,
     he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with jealousy,
      he learns what envy is.
If a child lives with shame,
      he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with encouragement,
     he learns to be confident.
If a child lives with tolerance,
     he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with praise,
     he learns to be appreciative.
If a child lives with acceptance,
     he learns to love.
If a child lives with approval,
     he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with recognition,
     he learns that it is good to have a goal.
If a child lives with sharing,
     he learns about generosity.
If a child lives with honesty and fairness,
     he learns what truth and justice are.
If a child lives with security,
     he learns to have faith in himself and in those around him.
If a child lives with friendliness,
     he learns that the world is a nice place in which to live.
If you live in serenity,
    your child will live with peace of mind.
                         With what is your child living?