[MOSAIC] Passion . . . long and OT

[Debbie Goodis]

This was my life too. I'm sending it on to my son, who
has two small daughters, lest he forget.
Debbie

Mother of 2, sibling of 7, daughter of a dad who
raised me like this.
Thanks.

--- Joy <jwidmann at rocketmail.com> wrote:

> After reading the posts written about lack of
> passion in children's lives, lack of being able to
> find connections that will bring learning alive for
> them, I feel a need to respond. I do not blame
> testing or NCLB. I don't blame teachers or parents,
> or the educational system in our country. I blame
> society and fear. 
>   Fear is a mighty force to overcome. Look at the
> things children are taught to fear: the environment,
> terrorists, their neighbors, their families, their
> classmates. Everywhere they look there is something
> to be afraid of. Even at school we have over
> regulated things so much that my school has only 1
> small piece of playground equipment. I've been told
> we will never have swings because of the high
> insurance rates, and the fear of being sued. The
> state has forbidden for us to play certain games
> that I remember from childhood - we can actually
> lose our teaching license if we are caught playing
> or allowing these games to be played at school! 
>   Parents are afraid for the safety of their
> children; sometimes the fears are justified,
> sometimes they are not. When I was a child I was
> allowed to roam the neighborhood. I could wander
> through the woods, hike along a stream, or fish in a
> lake, river, or pond. We thought nothing of walking
> through other people's lawns to get to our friends
> house, or of hopping on our bikes and riding for
> hours on end. My friends and I used to ride all over
> town, and when I visited my cousin's house in
> Raleigh or Richmond, we walked by ourselves to the
> movie theater or shopping center. I was lucky to
> live in a variety of cities, and no matter where we
> lived, this was true for myself and my friends. 
>   We didn't have adult supervised activities, or
> sports (well, there was Little League for boys). And
> yes there were arguments, fights, bumps and bruises,
> and even a few broken bones. But we worked it out
> amongst ourselves as best we could. Usually the hurt
> party would run home, get patched up, and return to
> the "scene of the crime" as quickly as possible.
> Much to the dismay of our moms, many of us would
> ignore scrapes, scratches, and busted up knees until
> we heard our moms calling us to come home for lunch
> or dinner. (OK, the broken bones did require adult
> intervention.) 
>   We didn't have video games, videos, boom boxes,
> CDs, Walkman, etc. You were the envy of the
> neighborhood if you had an AM transistor radio or a
> color TV. There was no cable, and only about 3 or 4
> stations. (OK, now you know I grew up with the
> pioneers!) Most of the time we either played cards,
> board games, or we made up our own games and role
> played from our own imaginations. A favorite
> activity of mine was making a variety show for the
> neighborhood. We'd create little skits, then scour
> our homes for cast off clothing and props. Sometimes
> the play would change based on what we found. We'd
> sing, dance, and play tennis racket guitars. We'd do
> magic tricks, and tell lame jokes. We'd use
> someone's garage or clothes line for a stage. We'd
> promote our show by painting posters that we'd
> plaster up and down the street, and sell tickets
> door to door to our neighbors. On show day we'd
> prepare treats to sell. We made enough money from
> ticket sales in the neighborhood to keep us in
>  penny candy for the entire summer. 
>   When we were in the woods we'd always stumble on
> something fascinating that would occupy us for
> hours. We'd bring home pieces of moss, rocks,
> sticks, tadpoles, caterpillars, you name it, we
> studied it. Drawing and painting were also fun pass
> times, as was reading. We had a favorite tree or
> corner in someone's house where we'd stop playing
> and just read for awhile. None of us ever went
> anywhere without a book. 
>   We also had chores, and family duties to perform.
> If we didn't do it, it didn't get done, and the
> family would do without. I learned to clean
> everything from the kitchen and bathroom to the
> garage and garden before I was in 1st grade. I had
> to help my mom prepare dinner every night. We rarely
> went out to eat, and everything was made from
> scratch, or very close. We didn't have microwaves,
> and frozen dinners were something we ate if we had a
> babysitter. When I wasn't helping my mom, I was
> working alongside my dad as he built or repaired
> things. I was the oldest, and was his "right hand
> (wo)man." I learned the names of tools, and how to
> use them by his side. (My dad was in sales and
> marketing, but loved tinkering around the house.) 
>   I don't see kids doing these things anymore.
> Before I returned to college to become a teacher I
> was a Girl Scout troop leader and adult trainer. One
> day when we were practicing skills for camping I
> discovered that the only kid in our troop who could
> cut and peel vegetables, measure ingredients, or
> understand how to follow a simple recipe was my
> daughter. None of the other girls could do any of
> this, they were especially clueless about measuring
> ingredients. They had quite a time learning how to
> do this!
>   When I ran our county's day camp I discovered that
> girls wouldn't try to do anything because they'd
> never been allowed to try anythings they couldn't be
> 100% successful with. They weren't allowed to touch
> tools. They didn't know how to hold a hammer, or
> even how to sweep! I actually had a mom get upset
> with me because each girl had a job helping to clean
> up after meals. She didn't want her daughter
> cleaning up after other people. She told me she does
> everything for her daughter and didn't think it was
> appropriate for me to ask her or any of the girls to
> do these tasks. 
>   Now that I'm a teacher, I see this too. Parents
> doing way too much for their kids, not allowing them
> to struggle with anything. To me they are sending a
> silent message to their kids that they think they
> are incompetent. The kids hear the message loud and
> clear and truly believe they can't do anything. This
> is why I stopped sending projects home, and started
> having the kids complete all their project work at
> school. They get less done, and the projects look
> like kids did them. (I think that is good, my
> parents aren't so crazy about it because the other
> teachers still have major parts of their projects
> done at home and they come back slick and
> "professional" looking, while ours have that "kid
> made" look with all their developmental flaws
> hanging out.) Parents need training on how to give
> appropriate levels of help, and what to expect from
> their children. We are teaching children to rely too
> much on others for their entertainment and sense of
> worth. My grandmother used to
>  encourage me to find my own entertainment by
> telling me: "Only boring people are bored, and you
> are not a boring person, go outside and figure out
> something for yourself." I'd grumble, but usually
> found something to do that would have me engrossed
> for the rest of the day. 
>   Kids develop passion when they are allowed to try
> things and take risks. So what if your rocket is
> crooked and the paint doesn't look airbrushed. Can
> you get it off the ground? If it fails, do you have
> the guts to try it again and again and again? Can
> you figure out how to repair it without a jaunt to
> the quickie mart, or are you afraid to tell anyone
> about what you've done because you'll face ridicule
> for failure? 
>   Winston Churchill said "We have nothing to fear,
> but fear itself." How can we as a society make the
> world a less fearsome place for our children? How
> can we encourage them to take risks, to fail, and to
> try again? How can we encourage more imaginative
> play? More active play? More investigative play? Can
> we let go of the apron strings long enough for our
> children to learn about themselves? I inscribed the
> inside of my college ring with Socrates' philosophy
> "Know Thyself." Can we allow children the time to do
> this for themselves? 
>   Until our society changes, we educators will have
> to change our expectations, approaches, and
> pedagogical style to meet the children where they
> are when they come to us. Society is changing, but
> it's not going back to the "good ole days." (Thank
> goodness, there was lots in those days that wasn't
> so good, like blatant racism and oppression.) What
> can we do as teachers to influence our society to
> help children, to understand children, to "pay it
> forward" so our society is a better place for
> children? I don't have answers, only a seeimingly
> continuous string of questions. 
>   If you are still awake, sorry, I'll climb off the
> soapbox now! Thank you for listening to my stream of
> conciousness. Your forgiveness for my going off
> topic in a rant is greatly appreciated! 
>   I hope you all have a glorious holiday, and are
> lucky to be surrounded by family and friends. 
>   Happy Holidays,
>    
> 
> 
>                 Joy/NC/4
>   jwidmann at rocketmail.com
>   How children learn is as important as what they
> learn: process and content go hand in hand.
> http://www.responsiveclassroom.org
>    
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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