Get Outside and Play!

Today is Easter so I'm home in big Ardmore, Oklahoma. I love the days when I get to spend time with my family because we not only eat great food, but we also have great converstations. Today was no exception. My brother-in-law, Samuel, and my sister Jenny just found out that they are going to have a baby boy and we're all very excited about this. A fun result of their expectant parenthood is that they are thinking a lot about how they are going to raise this child and his education. So today, Sam, brought up a great book that he's been reading. Richard Louv has written a book titled, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder.

I haven't read it yet, but Sam was telling me that the author, a child advocate, talks about the issue of children not getting outside enough these days. The reasons range from parental fear to children being "wired" with technology. He says that there are many resulting emotional and mental results, such as attention deficit dissorder. I belive in this!

I had already planned on trying to get the kids at our school outside and involved with nature as much as possible...from taking field trips, nature walks around the area our building is located in, to even studying plants and animals within our own walls. I believe that our spirit is tied to nature and when we deprive ourselves of time outside, we deprive our souls. And if we are really going to nurture all areas of life in our students, young or old, we are going to have to have to get outside and play.

I know that James will agree with me on this one too, because he already practices this much more than I do. He walks from his house to his parents' house on a regular basis; He walks to work; He walks to my house...and sometimes he even does this in the rain! I loved boot camp last summer because we were outside. There is something healing about feeling the wind on your face and smelling the trees and grass...even during alergy season! Even grownups like to play outside and I know we're healthier for it.

The really cool thing is that there is research to back up what I naturally believe is something we should include in our curriculum. I can't wait to get to the point where we can do these things!

To end this blog entry, here is a funny video that I found when looking for the book.

Creativity and Play

James' friend Genevieve Santos sent this to us today and I'm so glad that she did.

After watching it, I know that she understands what it is that we are all envisioning for the school. I've always believed that play is how children best learn. The definition of Kindergarten is "Children's Garden." The ideas it's based on are children learning through creative play and through interaction with each other.

This type of experience is one of the many reasons I loved teaching music at Lakeview Elementary School. We learned a little music history, a little music theory, a little music performance and a had a whole lot of fun. I know that I did! That's how I ran my classroom. Every child was important and every child was to be treated with respect, by me and by the rest of the class. I did not allow anything less. I can remember encouraging laughter at all times except when someone was performing a solo and they were scared. That was about the only time that we weren't giggling and playing together, with me just guiding us through the format of all of the songs and games.

There were times that I worried I wasn't a good enough teacher, but so many of the kids stayed with music after they left me and I know that it was because they loved it. I know that there were better teachers, but I don't know if there were many teachers who were better at communicating encouragement, love, joy and support...and celebration when they learned something new. That was always fun!!! Now we just need to add the third element to the subject we'll learn about and the fun...we need to add in the courage to take chances. It's the trifecta!

I swear that I can't wait for the first day of school. I have some research to do, but as James and I discussed, it's like I'm researching in my head all the time. I'm figuring things out and trying my best to learn something new about the best models of education every day.

Thanks to Genevieve for the link and the encouragement! I really appreciate it.

Another blog full of ideas!

Here's the latest blog I've found on art lessons for young learners. I love it!

http://www.artforsmallhands.com/

An Idea from Erin O.

My friend Erin sent me a link to this blog and I think it will have some great ideas to draw from for the pre-school part of the school!

http://preschool-daze.com/

And this is a school that the Blue Man Group started in NYC that I have to see! I want a school for kids in OKC that looks and acts like this!!!

http://www.theblueschool.org/

A "Big" Idea!

I'm going to have to get James to tell me about this project again, but I know it was some kind of challenge on a website or something. I can't remember right this second and it's too late to call him and ask. So I'm just going to place these pics in here as a reminder to ask him more about it. I took these pics off of Facebook and don't even know who really took them. This was a project that he did while he was still in college at USC. I just thought it sounded like a lot of fun and that this project could be tied to so many great art concepts! The kids at the school would love it!

Camera

The video camera that we ordered came in tonight! We're going to use it to create a documentary about the renovation of the building and how it relates to the Paseo and the city! James finished the plans and the budget and sent them in to the bank so we should know something tomorrow as to whether or not we're finished with our application.

EVERYTHING IS COMING TOGETHER!!!!!

Another Idea for the school!

Because of the site "vimeo" I have been getting some ideas for the film classes I'd like to have at the school. These videos inspired me to think that we could have an awesome lesson involving language arts, art, film and more!

The Story Beyond the Still "The Cabbie" - Behind The Scenes from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

The Story Beyond The Still: The Cabbie from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

More to come!

School Will Be In Session

So the big plan for the apartment building will not only be to provide some awesome living spaces. When I quit teaching elementary school music in 2004, I did so to go back to school for art history with the intention of opening my own school for kids...one where people could learn about art, music, video, cooking, poetry, drama....anything creative, and anything that I could find teachers for.

So I left teaching and went back to school, but before I could finish my degrees (bachelors and masters in Art History) I was offered a job at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art as an education curator. At first I thought that this would be a distraction from the original plan and that I wasn't qualified for it. But I realized the second time they offered it to me that I could do that job. It took me a good year and a half to really understand what I was doing, but I got it eventually. And I'm so glad that I did. Learning how to do my job there has been and will continue to be the preparation that I need for opening the school up here in Oklahoma City!

James really had encouraged me (and I know that he has guided my thinking too...in a good way) to envision working with the museum, but I don't yet know how that's going to work out. I'm trying to devise a plan for presenting my ideas to the board, to where we could work together. I have a feeling that they aren't going to want to do that because this will be my business and not theirs. We'll figure it out somehow. I just want to do something that allows me to do what I love (work with kids of all ages...including senior adults) and to provide a community based learning experience.

I'm going to be posting ideas for things along the way. In fact, that's the reason for this blog. I want to document the progress of the building project, but I also want a place where I can keep my ideas for future learning opportunities when I discover them!

So today I was looking at Vimeo (a site that James and Kyle turned me on to) and I see this:

Jam Session 2.0 from Cain Mosni on Vimeo.

Wouldn't it be cool if the school could have connections with people from all over the globe and have a jam session like that through skype or some other format of communication?