brains trust
I recently attended the annual Queensland Childcare Association conference and I was so excited to be going—but my excitement went through the roof when I heard that the keynote speaker was Jackie French, the author of my favourite novel, I think in the world, To Love a Sunburnt Country!
I have always loved Jackie French! Ever since I was little I enjoyed reading—or mainly having read to me—her books. Probably the first one I heard was Stories to Eat with a Blood Plum. I must have been all of three-years-old
"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."
Love that quote from The New York Times Opinion by author and journalist Anna Quindlen—maybe you’ve seen it? Two things though:
1. Is there really such a thing as ‘enough’ bookshelves?
2. The line that follows the quote is even better, I think. Here it is:
Fabulous, entertaining and thought provoking watch+listen, everything you could want in a lecture.
Muhammad Yunus is one of the great human enablers of our time. He took micro-loans to the women of Bangladesh at a time when their voices were not heard and their faces not seen. The concept of loans going to them rather than to their husbands was terribly difficult for them to grasp and only Muhammad's break-out understanding and actions were able to make it happen.
His understanding was clearly expressed last night on ABC Television's Q&A as he said: "When a woman says no [to accepting a loan], it is not her voice. It is the voice of history that created her."
Some really useful how-to's from specialists in their brainy fields + three 'brain' books we've liked a lot—you might find them interesting too....
According to the UN Refugee Agency there were about 21.3 million refugees worldwide in 2015. Now consider that there are round about 7.5 billion people in the world. That means refugees represent somewhere in the vicinity of 0.3% of the world’s population.
Taking into account all displaced persons ..... that percentage rises to ..... represent 1 in 113 people!
Stephen Burt is a poetry critic (surely that’s a rarity in the world of work!) He oozes enthusiasm for poetry as you’d expect—here’s a TED talk he gave a few years ago. It’s full of great reasons to love and share poetry.
Sam's little boy Angus is crawling now and his first order of business every day is to crawl on over and wrestle Ivy! Kid wrestling can get a bit wild to nervous adult eyes and the temptation is to call a halt to the whole of it. But there’s a growing consensus that wrestling or roughhousing is not just good for kid’s overall physical and mental health—it’s vital.
Reading nonfiction with a child can be one of life’s great moments and there are all sorts of broader benefits too: acquiring knowledge; assimilating the language of scholarship; finding purpose in reading, and more.
Peter Gray is a champion of natural and play-based learning for children. His book Free to Learn advocates for play as the most effective way to learn, remembering that play has, perhaps, a broader scope here than in common usage.
The New York Times have re-tweeted this article by Donna De La Cruz as one of their most engaging stories of 2016. It sure is. Here are a few of the achingly wonderful replies from kids who were asked to finish the question "I wish my teacher knew"....
In this great video, Sir Ken Robinson asks:
"How do we educate our children to take their place in the 21st century?"
When Angus was close to due and I was looking at a few nights in hospital with my hands full of baby, I decided to dive in and give audio books a try. It was a great decision! While I still love traditional reading (really, nothing compares), I've discovered that there's room for more than one kind of book in my life - I've listed three reasons, maybe you'll relate?
There are so many fast and witty grabs in this 3 minute video that we can safely quote from it without being the least bit of a spoiler, like ...
An all-round wonderful life-affirming story about how Josh Spencer worked through his own suddenly and dramatically altered life circumstances and grew an amazing bookshop.
Books can be the ideal place to search for ideas, or new dreams, or role models. Here, Lisa Bu shares some favourites and talks about he joys of comparing and contrasting - a great way to approach reading and life!
Read-it-before-you-need-it means owning and reading well-chosen books that relate to important issues and significant life events. Before a child is touched by them ... building a small library of books that deal with experiences such as new babies, relationships, adventure, moving house and the weighty issues of anxieties, misunderstandings, disappointments, poverty, grief, ageing, illness and death.
And it’s about letting those stories find their way into the child’s play or quiet time so that they can wade around in the ideas and experiences that they've read about.
Sometimes I'm asked what the children call me at school. The most common answer is, of course, Jesse. However I've been awarded other names too, the most recent of which was Master Splinter by three of my new little boys......
Does it bother you that Goldilocks just breaks into the Three Bear’s house, eats their food, breaks their stuff, then runs away without so much as an apology? Or that Snow White is happy to work as housekeeper for the dwarves until she elopes with a handsome prince she hardly knows? Then… FRACTURE THOSE FAIRY TALES!
This is such a fun TED talk by Mac Barnett! It's energetic and witty, with lots of parenting/teaching tip offs. Plus more from the very impressive Dave Eggers' 'once upon a school'.
After the scatalogical (poo) books post was published, several people asked fun (and serious) questions through our 'ask us' page. So I thought I'd expand on what was written earlier. Why poo books? Because poo is funny! Especially if you’re developing a sense of humour and trying to understand how bodies work and how society works. It’s taboo but harmless, gross but universal and embarrassing but safe....
A compilation from ‘Hope and Happy Endings’ in A Sense of Wonder.
In order to have peace we must be able to see connections.
In order to have peace we must use our imaginations….
We must devote ourselves to finding connections rather than causing or fearing divisions.
We have to give imagination a chance….
When my children were small, one of the very best educators I know, Marcus Bussey, was asked that quintessential parenting question: “How can I make my kids love reading?” His answer has stuck with me for over twenty years now. This is what he answered - plus an article from Alfie Kohn.
Excerpted from Dreaming Too Loud, the story of the head teacher who would send new teachers this letter: "Dear Teacher, I’m a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness..... So I’m suspicious of education..."
Colum McCann has written a whole slew of novels, including Let The Great World Spin. Here, we feature his very personal thoughts in an article via The New York Times - one to make you smile and nod and think.
As a father, reader, and English teacher, I take great interest in my children’s reading. I want them to both read and learn from great books not simply as escapism, but also as tools for emotional learning.
John Paul Lederach is a practitioner and educator for peace. His book The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace positively glitters.
While math is ultimately grounded in number, modern mathematics is such a complicated creature that understanding its organic workings requires much more than the ability to count . . .
As I busily prepare for school to start in two weeks this is a harrowing reminder of Pakistan's situation. I guess I could talk about how grateful I am for my circumstances but this isn't about me. It's about them...
For people living in very poor circumstances in very poor countries who rely on kerosene lamps for lighting at night, the cost becomes completely untenable. There are also the fumes, the danger, and the environmental costs ...... the Gravity Light is going to be a real game-changer.