Saturday, October 22, 2011

Alison Gopnik: What do babies think? | Video on TED.com

Alison Gopnik: What do babies think? | Video on TED.com

Another wonderfully inspiring TED talk that I'd love to share.

Superficially babies look like they're pretty useless - even worse than useless because they require so much time and effort in care.

But it turns out children both know more and learn much more than we ever thought before.
There is a connection between long childhood and broadbased learning.

Babies could be described as statistic focused scientists. They constantly learn how the world works exactly the same way that rigorous scientists learn - by creating a hypothesis, test and retesting and learning how things do and don't work.

In the span of a humans development it seems like it may consist of a 'division of labour' - as children we are completely protected and all we have to do is learn. It's kind of like babies are 'the research and development' department of the human species.

Adults on the other hand are mature and more rigid like the marketing and production of the species - taking all the good ideas we learned as children and going about out day to day adult lives narrowly inching along like caterpillars.

Childhood is designed almost exclusively for learning. The babies brain it turns out is the most powerful learning computer on the planet. And surprise! In some research tests children aged four could prove an unlikely hypothesis much better than adults. So children are way more creative learners as well.

With these new insights what can we do to help our super creative scientific genius children - and moreso - what can we learn from children that could make our adult lives more wonderful?

For more articles, info and awesome early childhood music visit www.ukulelebabymusic.com

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Doodling can help save the world!

 A great TED talk to get you rethinking about the value of doodling.

http://www.ted.com/talks/sunni_brown.html

It's true that doodling engages all the 4 learning modes - auditory, visual, kinesthetic and emotional. And it's for this reason that doodling ROCKS as a form of thinking, contemplating, chewing over ideas and life.

The author Sunni Brown who makes a fine living convincing adults and corporations to doodle suggests we do more doodling as it helps us with problem solving and deep thinking.

She also offers advice for parents keen inspire their kids - encourage their children to doodle as a means of enhancing creativity. Wonderful!  Simple!  And in a kids world - completely do-able!  Takes very little effort.

So next time you look at a doodle as a complete waste of space - reconsider the humble doodle - it's the one activity that could possibly inspire a way to save our planet.

And I'd guess it could just be a child's doodle that will inspire the idea behind the genius. 

Check out the beautiful doodles here in this Doodle Art Gallery

http://www.doodle-art-alley.com/doodling1.html

Friday, September 2, 2011

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

All kids are born creative.

It's how their creativity is nurtured day by day that determines how their creativity develops further.

Nurturing creativity and multi intelligences - beyond the industrial age maths and literacy model is the golden egg for the much needed and long overdue education revolution.

Public education - where children were made to sit still hour after hour, day after day in neat rows, to learn maths and literacy was the invention of the industrial age.

At that time it served a particular purpose - to make people learn how to fit into the system, to follow orders, to fulfill a job description, not make mistakes and not ask questions - and not to think too much.

And we all know that now in our post industrial age new challenges are at the forefront that cannot be solved in the same way as we did previously. We -and our kids will need bold creative ideas and new ways of looking at complex problems. 

Ken Robinson - ex professor and devoted education revolutionist reminds us that the children born today will be retiring in 2076. He asks us adults to consider what we are preparing the children to do that could have any value in their lives well after we've left the planet. Because one thing is for certain -  the one thing that will be needed in 2050 to address the big issues we can't even begin to imagine is bucket loads of creativity beyond our industrialised vision.

And that he says is what transformational creative education is all about - finding out how to allow the child's creativity to flow and florish fearlessly.

Navel Gazing Questions:
1) To what degree am I shutting down or nurturing creativity in the children in my life?

2) And a follow up question - what can I do today to nurture creativity in a child?

3) What do I wish my teachers could have known about me while I was in my school years?


By Zelda Sheldon
Director Ukulele Baby Music
Music and Movement programs for creative kids newborn to kindy
www.ukulelebabymusic.com





Sunday, August 21, 2011

Healthy Kids : About Munch & Move

I Like to Move it, Move It!

Healthy Kids : About Munch & Move

Health service support staff have been very impressed by the fantastic physical activity and healthy eating initiatives that are taking place in Munch & Move services across NSW. Some of these have been capturing in the case studies below.

If you have a good story to share following attendance at a Munch & Move workshop, contact Rhonda Matthews at rhonda.matthews@doh.health.nsw.gov.au to record your story.


http://www.healthykids.nsw.gov.au/campaigns-programs/munch-move-case-studies/gibbergunyah-case-study.aspx

Gibbergunyah Case Study

 fruit and healthy snack platters

Focus on Drinks

Main idea

To increase water consumption, reduce the intake of sugary drinks and promote reduced fat milk for children over 2 years of age at the Gibbergunyah Long Day Care Centre.

Background

After attending a Munch & Move workshop two staff members (Jodi and Diana) from Gibbergunyah felt inspired to improve the quality of drinks being consumed within the centre. At that time the centre was routinely offering diluted juice and full-cream milk to all children. Lunch is bought by children from home to this long day care centre and it was noticed that parents often sent bottles filled with sugary drinks such as juice or cordial for the children’s afternoon tea. Jodi and Diana recognised there was room for improvement in the types of drinks children were having while they were at the centre.

In the longer term, the staff at Gibbergunyah aimed to improve the nutritional quality of lunches parents sent from home. They considered that improving drinks was a good, achievable starting point.

What did the idea involve?

Following their attendance at the Munch & Move workshop, Jodi and Diana held a staff meeting to discuss their proposal on healthier drinks. Information was provided to all staff about why water was considered the ‘best’ drink, and why reduced fat milk is the best choice of milk for over 2 year olds. This information was provided to parents and families via their newsletter. A survey was attached which asked parents if they agreed to the centre only offering water and the appropriate type of milk to their children at meal and break times, and if they would agree to only providing water in drink bottles. Most families were supportive of the proposal and the centre decided to implement the changes.

The nutrition policy was modified to reflect the changes and a start date publicised in the Centre’s newsletter. The centre used a resources grant to purchase an outdoor bubbler. If children did bring sugary drinks or juices to the centre, the child was offered reduced fat milk or water. The sugary drink was returned to parents in the child’s lunchbox with a reminder note. Most parents responded positively by apologising for the oversight the next day with a promise not to make the same mistake again.

What happened?

The majority of parents are very supportive of the new drinks policy. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of children bringing water from home. The children love the outdoor bubbler and are always excited to fill up their cups during the day!

Other comments

The Director commented that it is essential to involve staff and parents in the decision-making and to provide information about the need for the changes.


Thursday, August 18, 2011

World Voice Day: Voice Warmup

Every year on April 16th is World Voice Day and Otolaryngologists want to remind us on the importance of a healthy voice.

Here are seven great warm up tecniques they suggest.

World Voice Day: Voice Warmup

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Parents' 'um's' and 'uh's' help toddlers learn new words, cognitive scientists find


Say you're shopping with your two year old and your child points to an object and you um and ah and stumble for the right word. Believe it or not this actually helps your child learn more quickly.

Parents' 'um's' and 'uh's' help toddlers learn new words, cognitive scientists find

Saturday, March 12, 2011

The birth of a word | Researcher Deb Roy Video on TED.com

Deb Roy: The birth of a word | Video on TED.com



Whoah!!

What an amazing TED talk.

I loved the part in this talk - the 40 second audio snippet of Deb Roy's son practicing how to say 'WATER'. Listeners could hear the infant perservering over a period of time - by memory it was a month or so with a singular syllable 'Gah' then turning Gah it into a 'Wha' - and then a 'Tehr'- then Da DA!! a multi-syllable word he could communicate to the world - WATER.

Then he flipped on the video content to show a map of the terrain of his home where the hotspots of practicing took place. You guessed it - mostly the kitchen!

Breathtaking data collecting. Standing O to the team that developed this awesome technology to make this communication breakthrough.

It's stories like this that inspire me in making great early childhood music edu-tainment programs like Ukulele Baby Music.

www.ukulelebabymusic.com
I love what Walt Disney said - It's fun trying to do the impossible.

From this talk it's obvious that Deb Roy is having fun too doing the impossible. Thank you Deb Roy! And thank you TED for bringing us this inspiring talk.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Who Wants to Play? Crisis in Kindergarten

Making Room for all types of play

By Zelda Sheldon


Climbing a tree
building a house of boxes
dressing up for make believe play
Singing songs and making music

These are all different types of play but they often overlap in rich play scenarios. The well-developed player has a repertoire with many forms of play. "The playful kindergarten or early childhood program supports them all" according to the report 'Crisis in the Kindergarten - Why children need play in School' (Chapter 7: 'Creating the Playful Kindergarten' p 54).

"A major task of educating teachers for playful early childhood programs is to help parents and educators recapture the spirit of play" according to Bonnie Neugebauer of the Child Care Information Exchange.

Neugebauer has written about adults who live with the spirit of play and the vital role they play for children. She describes them this way:

"They play with words and ideas. They use toys, invent props, appropriate resources for new purposes. They play with children and other adults. They play because it is natural and because it makes them feel good. Children need these [playful] adults in their lives, people who will model the importance of play to living. But in so many early childhood programs, people have forgotten how to be playful. They are focused on order and routines, appearances and paperwork, agendas and lesson plans. There is no serendipity, no wonder, no surprise".

The report argued that children need active imaginations to play well . Imaginations can be fueled with stories and storytelling suited to the child's age. Imagination and creativity are also inspired by puppetry and plays, nursery rhymes, poems, songs, instrumental music, painting, modeling and other art activities.

The great thing about play is that it also contributes to higher scores in problem solving, numeracy and literacy - according to this report.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
This report has inspired Ukulele Baby Music. We're carefully considering the latest early childhood research and building age appropriate music-play activities into our early childhood music programs. By designing plenty of child-initiated play opportunities into each Ukulele Baby Music-play session we can better support childrens holistic development, which is our intention.

For more articles, info and awesome music for children 0-5yrs www.ukulelebabymusic.com

REFERENCES

Crisis In The Kindergarten http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/publications

The Spirit of Adult Play http://www.ccie.com/resources/free_articles.php