This post will look at the right brain learning style as opposed to the left brain learning style. I will also discuss how to help right-brain leaning people learn objective subjects. Right brain people are big picture people. They tend to be creative and deal well with subjective material over objective material. In college, these will be the people that thrive in discussion type classes over technical classes. In young children, right-brain leaning will present itself in the dramatic play area. These will be the children that create whole universes. They will thrive at discovery type activities.
Right-Brain Learners
Today's teaching trends are nearly custom made for the right brain learner. Discovery type activities and hands-on learning usually set very well with right-brain leaning people. They also tend to do well in group activities and active learning settings. They absorb information more as a whole than a sum of its parts. Whereas left-brain leaning people need information presented line upon line, right-brain leaning people like to have the whole concept presented. Right-brain leaning people are not necessarily good with details but they understand the main concept. As I said in my post on left brain learning, I can usually spot an adult that is right-brain leaning when they read out loud. They do not change the meaning of the story, but they may not read exactly what is on the page.
The Split
Most people have close to a half/half split between right brain and left brain. They may have one slightly more dominant than the other, but they still have the other side dominant enough that they can hang with activities designed for the less dominant area. Having one side increasingly more dominant becomes less prominent in the population. Therefore, 50% of the population will have a very close split between right and left brain. Another 25% will have a more prominent split but will still be able to deal with activities that are designed for their less dominant side. They will just not like them. The remaining 25% will be so dominantly one-sided that they will struggle with activities designed for their less dominant side. The more prominent the dominance, the more they will struggle.
Is Dominance Unchangeable?
This brings me to the question. Is your dominance built-in for a lifetime or can you develop your less dominant side? Thankfully, you can develop your less dominant side with time and practice. When I was young, I was very left-brain dominant. Then I married a man that was very evenly split. He was left-brained enough to understand what I was saying, but right-brained enough to show me the other side. Over time, he has truly helped me to even out some. When I was younger, I was probably 80% left-brain and 20% right brain. Now I am 60% left brain and 40% right brain. However, let me tell you the tale of the couple (my parents) that had one as dominantly right-brained as the other was left-brained. Even though they were married for over 50 years, they did not ever even each other out. It takes the one in the middle to help the very dominant to develop the less dominant side. Therefore, if you, the teacher, are fairly evenly split, you will have greater success in helping a student develop the less dominant side of their brain than a teacher that is highly dominant on one side.
I bring up the subject of developing the less dominant side of the brain because many skills necessary for life are objective. People that have a large right-brained dominance will struggle with these objective subjects. Unfortunately, reading and math, two of the most-basic subjects everyone is expected to learn, are very objective. How can you, the teacher, help children that have a heavy right-brain dominance to conquer these objective subject matters. Many people do not understand that the reason they struggled in school with reading and math had to do with their brain dominance. They simply needed someone with an even split to help them understand the other side. However, in order for a teacher to accomplish this, they must understand how the two sides function and what skills the right-brained person needs to practice.
My Right-Brain Child
I learned this lesson as a homeschooling mom. God saw fit to give this very left-brain leaning mother a very right-brain leaning oldest child. Basically, God gave me a miniature version of my mother. My mother never had to even worry about helping me with school because school at that time was custom made for the left-brain child. She did try to explain one concept to me in the fourth grade and had me so confused I was doing it backward. Then I found examples in my textbook and figured it out on my own. I do not think I ever asked Mom for help again. Teaching my oldest child to read and do math had to be the most challenging thing I have ever attempted. Thankfully, by the time I homeschooled, my husband had already tempered my severe dominance to some degree. However, I had to really ponder different ways to present material in order to help my daughter make sense of especially math. God in His mercy lead me to a curriculum that presented material in many different ways, and I learned how to teach the right-brain child. In the process, I was also able to temper her severe dominance because I made her do activities that developed the left-brain after she had acquired basic comprehension in a subject. There is the key. A child has to have basic comprehension of an area before you can begin to expand his/her thinking into the less dominant side. Therefore, a right-brain child will more than likely have to have objective subjects presented in concrete ways in order for those subjects to make sense. They will also require drill and practice even though they will hate it with a passion. Items such as math facts that have to be learned outright must be drilled until they become second nature to the right brain child. I have found the same to be true with very right-brain dominant preschool children and learning the names of colors and shapes. It takes almost three times as long for these children to learn such items, but when it passes into their second nature, they know it well. The key is finding ways to drill and practice in sneaky ways. In my preschool, I drill and practice in sneaky ways all day long. Sometimes, my left-brain dominant children will help me out and drill their peers during free-play time because they pick up on my methods. However, I also outright drill and practice during the one-on-one instruction for each child. How I approach that drill and practice is tempered for each child. For the very right-brain leaning, I will keep the drill and practice very straightforward and simple because I know they struggle. When they conquer a subject, I will begin to work them on variations in order to build their less dominant side. I do the same for left-brain leaning children in developing their right brain. As preschool teachers we have the unique opportunity to help very one-side dominant children to develop their less dominant side at a time when their brain is most pliable. Believe me, we do them huge favors when we do this.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Dealing with Lying
This post will look at teaching children the importance of telling the truth. Contrary to the belief of many in the early childhood world, children as young as two can lie to your face and not bat an eye. Very smart, manipulative three and four year olds can really pull some stunts involving lying. Maybe because I raised some very smart, manipulative children, I have a different take on this than some. However, I believe many early childhood professionals fall prey to some whoppers because they underestimate the manipulative power of toddlers and preschoolers.
Nurture over Nature
In my very first childcare class I took when getting my CDA, I had my instructor make a comment that I found to be one of the most ludicrous statements I have ever heard. She said that two year olds do not lie unless they are taught to lie. I started to laugh out loud until I saw she was dead serious. Then I panicked. If that was the true belief of this woman, I would have to be very careful about every single little thing that came out of my mouth. Then I got angry. How in the world could anyone that has dealt with children on any kind of regular basis hold this belief? This woman had 4 children. Surely she did not believe every single thing that came out of her toddler's mouth. She was also a minister's wife. She should know that children are born with a fallen nature and do not have to be taught to do wrong. That class and that instructor were my first initiation into just how liberally biased the early childhood world can be. The majority of the underlying philosophies among early childhood experts favor nurture over nature and deny outright the fallen nature of man. However, anyone that actually works in the trenches of the early childhood world will tell you that children have to be taught to do right not wrong. Wrong comes as naturally as breathing. Also, genetics play a much bigger part in a person's character than many in the social sciences will admit. Guess what people, all mankind comes predisposed to lying not telling the truth.
Do Young Children Lie?
Because of the underlying philosophies in the early childhood world, lying tends to be one of those areas that is conveniently swept under the rug. Many of the negative traits are treated this way, but for some reason lying is treated like it is a rare occurrence. Yet those of us that are very observant have caught the children in our care telling us outright lies with the sweetest smiles on their faces. Why is it that we as a society believe everything a young child says? We did not used to be so gullible. When I was a child, my parents took what I said with a grain of salt very often. I will admit that I lied through my teeth on many occasions even as a young child. They had good reason to be wary of some of my tales.
What Brought Us Here
I believe the swing came in the last 30 or so years as the spotlight on abusive situations has come to the forefront. It is true that many children suffered because they were not believed when they spoke of the abuse they endured. People began to take what the children said as the gospel truth especially when dealing with certain subjects. Many people were exposed as abusers and situations stopped that were horrible to even consider. However, like everything else in this society, we went too far. We stopped taking into consideration how untruthful children can be, and we made the children believe we would accept everything that came out of their mouth. We empowered a generation to believe that they could cry wolf and everyone would hunt down their "wolf" whether real or imagined.
Innocent until Proven Guilty
I am going to dive off into some territory that might be highly controversial but I can actually speak on this subject from a very different perspective. I have been the victim of slander and faced the wrath of children's services because someone took advantage of the pro-victim society we now have. Today when someone says they have been the victim of abuse we take their word without question. The accused is guilty until proven innocent and proving innocence is by far much more complicated that proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I used to be just as guilty of this as most everyone else until I encountered the very ugly side of people that believe truth is relative. I am now not so gullible and do not jump to conclusions when people are accused of even the most horrible things. I let their guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Our founding fathers had very good reason to set up our justice system in this way.
Earning Trust
How does all of this relate to teaching children not to lie? Children need to understand that we are going to check out their stories. They need to understand that trust is earned by repeatedly showing oneself truthful. We have created a society that does not really flesh out truth before we persecute people. Our children pay attention to this. They learn that lying can be a good tool to use to manipulate people. We are inadvertently teaching some pretty awful lessons through being so quick to judge people. If we want our children to value truth, then we need to make sure that we seek out truth before we jump to conclusions.
Proving Truthfulness
Now let us take this into the early childhood world. Do you have a culture in your center that believes everything a child says or do you have a culture in which a child has to prove his/her truthfulness? I will tell you that I go behind my children and verify their stories quite often just to let them know that being truthful is very important. This can be accomplished through something as simple as verifying that the child flushed the commode. Boys are notorious for lying about that one simple everyday occurrence and holding them to being truthful about it can go a long way in other areas. Telling the truth takes practice. Give your children many opportunities to prove their truthfulness, and lying will cease to be an issue.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Nurture over Nature
In my very first childcare class I took when getting my CDA, I had my instructor make a comment that I found to be one of the most ludicrous statements I have ever heard. She said that two year olds do not lie unless they are taught to lie. I started to laugh out loud until I saw she was dead serious. Then I panicked. If that was the true belief of this woman, I would have to be very careful about every single little thing that came out of my mouth. Then I got angry. How in the world could anyone that has dealt with children on any kind of regular basis hold this belief? This woman had 4 children. Surely she did not believe every single thing that came out of her toddler's mouth. She was also a minister's wife. She should know that children are born with a fallen nature and do not have to be taught to do wrong. That class and that instructor were my first initiation into just how liberally biased the early childhood world can be. The majority of the underlying philosophies among early childhood experts favor nurture over nature and deny outright the fallen nature of man. However, anyone that actually works in the trenches of the early childhood world will tell you that children have to be taught to do right not wrong. Wrong comes as naturally as breathing. Also, genetics play a much bigger part in a person's character than many in the social sciences will admit. Guess what people, all mankind comes predisposed to lying not telling the truth.
Do Young Children Lie?
Because of the underlying philosophies in the early childhood world, lying tends to be one of those areas that is conveniently swept under the rug. Many of the negative traits are treated this way, but for some reason lying is treated like it is a rare occurrence. Yet those of us that are very observant have caught the children in our care telling us outright lies with the sweetest smiles on their faces. Why is it that we as a society believe everything a young child says? We did not used to be so gullible. When I was a child, my parents took what I said with a grain of salt very often. I will admit that I lied through my teeth on many occasions even as a young child. They had good reason to be wary of some of my tales.
What Brought Us Here
I believe the swing came in the last 30 or so years as the spotlight on abusive situations has come to the forefront. It is true that many children suffered because they were not believed when they spoke of the abuse they endured. People began to take what the children said as the gospel truth especially when dealing with certain subjects. Many people were exposed as abusers and situations stopped that were horrible to even consider. However, like everything else in this society, we went too far. We stopped taking into consideration how untruthful children can be, and we made the children believe we would accept everything that came out of their mouth. We empowered a generation to believe that they could cry wolf and everyone would hunt down their "wolf" whether real or imagined.
Innocent until Proven Guilty
I am going to dive off into some territory that might be highly controversial but I can actually speak on this subject from a very different perspective. I have been the victim of slander and faced the wrath of children's services because someone took advantage of the pro-victim society we now have. Today when someone says they have been the victim of abuse we take their word without question. The accused is guilty until proven innocent and proving innocence is by far much more complicated that proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I used to be just as guilty of this as most everyone else until I encountered the very ugly side of people that believe truth is relative. I am now not so gullible and do not jump to conclusions when people are accused of even the most horrible things. I let their guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Our founding fathers had very good reason to set up our justice system in this way.
Earning Trust
How does all of this relate to teaching children not to lie? Children need to understand that we are going to check out their stories. They need to understand that trust is earned by repeatedly showing oneself truthful. We have created a society that does not really flesh out truth before we persecute people. Our children pay attention to this. They learn that lying can be a good tool to use to manipulate people. We are inadvertently teaching some pretty awful lessons through being so quick to judge people. If we want our children to value truth, then we need to make sure that we seek out truth before we jump to conclusions.
Proving Truthfulness
Now let us take this into the early childhood world. Do you have a culture in your center that believes everything a child says or do you have a culture in which a child has to prove his/her truthfulness? I will tell you that I go behind my children and verify their stories quite often just to let them know that being truthful is very important. This can be accomplished through something as simple as verifying that the child flushed the commode. Boys are notorious for lying about that one simple everyday occurrence and holding them to being truthful about it can go a long way in other areas. Telling the truth takes practice. Give your children many opportunities to prove their truthfulness, and lying will cease to be an issue.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Saturday, March 22, 2014
The Left Brain Learning Style
This post will look into the left brain learning style as opposed to the right brain learning style. In the last 20 years this learning style has been villianized as the wrong way to teach children. As a person that leans heavily toward this style of learning, I have been trying to educate people about the difference between right-brained and left-brained learners. The rage now is teaching more of the right-brained way even though that does not work for at least half the population. Teaching style fads have been the demise of the American public school system for the last half century. One of these days, someone in a high-ranking position will begin to bring order to the chaos.
What Is Left-Brain Learning?
What exactly constitutes the left-brain style of learning? Left-brain learners are logical, analytical, and objective. Logical means that these children need learning to proceed in steps that build one upon another. They need line upon line and precept upon precept to borrow from an old saying. Analytical means that these children break concepts down into their basic parts. They can manipulate ideas and do not necessarily need concepts to be presented in concrete terms. Objective means that these children thrive with concepts that have one right answer. Therefore, they do well in math and the technical aspects of language because there is only one right answer. They also do well with technical details and complicated rules.
The Bell Curve
Before I move on to more specific information, I want to refresh an idea I presented in my last learning style post. When dealing with the opposing learning styles such as left-brained and right-brained, people will fall along what is called the bell curve. Most of the population will fall in the middle to slightly leaning one way or another. That means that they have an equal or almost equal amount of both types of learning. The ones that lean heavily to very heavily in one style will be on the tail ends of the bell curve. Imagine a giant wave where the tallest aspects of the wave represent most of the population while the shorter and flat ends of the waves represent the extremes. To put this in layman's terms, most of the population can function with either right-brained based or left-brained based learning. Neither style is more important than the other unless you take into consideration whether the material is objective or subjective. That does make a difference.
Objective vs Subjective
As a person that leans heavily left-brained, nothing drives me more insane that when subject matter that is subjective is treated as objective or vice versa. My last class in graduate school did this. It was very subjective material meaning that the right answer very much depended on your point of view. However, it was treated as if it was objective material meaning only one point of view was correct, and it was not my point of view. I finally learned to put the most ridiculous answer of the choices, and it would be right. It can be just as frustrating when objective subject matter is treated like it is subjective. I am sorry but 2+2=4 every time, all the time. I believe some teachers are running into this problem with Common Core.
How Can You Tell if a Child Is Left-Brained Leaning?
The easiest way to tell involves details. Does the child have a knack for details? The answer to that question can be the best clue to whether a child leans left-brain. A right-brained person tends to look at the big picture more than the details. A left-brained person usually looks at the details more than the big picture. When a child can tell you every detail of your normal schedule, that child probably leans left-brain. Another way I tell whether older children or adults are right-brained or left-brained is by listening to them read. Left-brain people read exactly what is on the page. Right-brain people tend to improvise but stay true to the meaning. My mother is right-brain leaning almost as much as I am left-brain leaning. (I take after my father.) Trying to get my mother to attend to all the details necessary in running a childcare nearly drives me to distraction. She does the most necessary things, but I have always prided myself on how I do the details. Try as she might, she just cannot deal with details or detailed systems.
Keep Objective, Objective and Subjective, Subjective
Remember almost half of the population has a leaning whether slight or extreme toward left-brained learning. What does this mean in the early childhood realm? Mostly, this means keep objective material such as math concepts, letter names, etc. away from subjective learning styles such as discovery or random methods. The left-brained leaning children in your midst will be aggravated to no end if you present these objective subject matters in a way other than direct instruction. They want you to tell them what that is called or how that functions. They will need step by step instructions for many skills. If you constantly expect them to learn through discovery, they will be unhappy children. It is also very frustrating for children that have developed analytical skills to have to do hands-on style learning. They already have the concept figured out plus a wide range of variables. They do not want to have to go back to the bare basics. Let me give you a good example. In kindergarten, I became so bored with the instruction that I learned to say the alphabet backwards. I could say the alphabet backwards faster than anyone else in my class could say the alphabet forwards. I needed more advanced instruction.
We Need Both Types
Before I leave this subject I want to touch on educational fads. The methods of instruction that were used 100 years ago actually lent themselves to left-brained leaning learners. The methods of instruction popular today lend themselves more to right-brained leaning learners. Guess what? We need both types of instruction not either/or. Rote memorization actually has a place in education along with discovery type activities. Drill and practice for some subject matters can be highly effective. An effective teacher must present material in as wide a variety of styles as possible in order to hit the individual learning repertoire of a large class of students. Do you know what I wish would happen in education? I wish we would begin to divide students by skill and learning style rather than age. I know in my educational journey that I have always learned more when the teaching style of the instructor and my own personal learning repertoire match. When I have had to be under an instructor that had the opposite of my own personal learning repertoire, those classes were torture. I have also learned more when my peers were closer to my own skill level. When I have had to be in classes where most of my peers were far below my skill level, I learned basically nothing. Instead, I spent my time trying to pull my peers up rather than gaining new skills myself. I am sure that children on the opposite end of the spectrum have the same results I did when a mismatch of learning style and skill level happen. It is hard to learn when the presentation of the material does not make sense. One of these days someone will have the guts to do education this way besides the homeschooling community.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
What Is Left-Brain Learning?
What exactly constitutes the left-brain style of learning? Left-brain learners are logical, analytical, and objective. Logical means that these children need learning to proceed in steps that build one upon another. They need line upon line and precept upon precept to borrow from an old saying. Analytical means that these children break concepts down into their basic parts. They can manipulate ideas and do not necessarily need concepts to be presented in concrete terms. Objective means that these children thrive with concepts that have one right answer. Therefore, they do well in math and the technical aspects of language because there is only one right answer. They also do well with technical details and complicated rules.
The Bell Curve
Before I move on to more specific information, I want to refresh an idea I presented in my last learning style post. When dealing with the opposing learning styles such as left-brained and right-brained, people will fall along what is called the bell curve. Most of the population will fall in the middle to slightly leaning one way or another. That means that they have an equal or almost equal amount of both types of learning. The ones that lean heavily to very heavily in one style will be on the tail ends of the bell curve. Imagine a giant wave where the tallest aspects of the wave represent most of the population while the shorter and flat ends of the waves represent the extremes. To put this in layman's terms, most of the population can function with either right-brained based or left-brained based learning. Neither style is more important than the other unless you take into consideration whether the material is objective or subjective. That does make a difference.
Objective vs Subjective
As a person that leans heavily left-brained, nothing drives me more insane that when subject matter that is subjective is treated as objective or vice versa. My last class in graduate school did this. It was very subjective material meaning that the right answer very much depended on your point of view. However, it was treated as if it was objective material meaning only one point of view was correct, and it was not my point of view. I finally learned to put the most ridiculous answer of the choices, and it would be right. It can be just as frustrating when objective subject matter is treated like it is subjective. I am sorry but 2+2=4 every time, all the time. I believe some teachers are running into this problem with Common Core.
How Can You Tell if a Child Is Left-Brained Leaning?
The easiest way to tell involves details. Does the child have a knack for details? The answer to that question can be the best clue to whether a child leans left-brain. A right-brained person tends to look at the big picture more than the details. A left-brained person usually looks at the details more than the big picture. When a child can tell you every detail of your normal schedule, that child probably leans left-brain. Another way I tell whether older children or adults are right-brained or left-brained is by listening to them read. Left-brain people read exactly what is on the page. Right-brain people tend to improvise but stay true to the meaning. My mother is right-brain leaning almost as much as I am left-brain leaning. (I take after my father.) Trying to get my mother to attend to all the details necessary in running a childcare nearly drives me to distraction. She does the most necessary things, but I have always prided myself on how I do the details. Try as she might, she just cannot deal with details or detailed systems.
Keep Objective, Objective and Subjective, Subjective
Remember almost half of the population has a leaning whether slight or extreme toward left-brained learning. What does this mean in the early childhood realm? Mostly, this means keep objective material such as math concepts, letter names, etc. away from subjective learning styles such as discovery or random methods. The left-brained leaning children in your midst will be aggravated to no end if you present these objective subject matters in a way other than direct instruction. They want you to tell them what that is called or how that functions. They will need step by step instructions for many skills. If you constantly expect them to learn through discovery, they will be unhappy children. It is also very frustrating for children that have developed analytical skills to have to do hands-on style learning. They already have the concept figured out plus a wide range of variables. They do not want to have to go back to the bare basics. Let me give you a good example. In kindergarten, I became so bored with the instruction that I learned to say the alphabet backwards. I could say the alphabet backwards faster than anyone else in my class could say the alphabet forwards. I needed more advanced instruction.
We Need Both Types
Before I leave this subject I want to touch on educational fads. The methods of instruction that were used 100 years ago actually lent themselves to left-brained leaning learners. The methods of instruction popular today lend themselves more to right-brained leaning learners. Guess what? We need both types of instruction not either/or. Rote memorization actually has a place in education along with discovery type activities. Drill and practice for some subject matters can be highly effective. An effective teacher must present material in as wide a variety of styles as possible in order to hit the individual learning repertoire of a large class of students. Do you know what I wish would happen in education? I wish we would begin to divide students by skill and learning style rather than age. I know in my educational journey that I have always learned more when the teaching style of the instructor and my own personal learning repertoire match. When I have had to be under an instructor that had the opposite of my own personal learning repertoire, those classes were torture. I have also learned more when my peers were closer to my own skill level. When I have had to be in classes where most of my peers were far below my skill level, I learned basically nothing. Instead, I spent my time trying to pull my peers up rather than gaining new skills myself. I am sure that children on the opposite end of the spectrum have the same results I did when a mismatch of learning style and skill level happen. It is hard to learn when the presentation of the material does not make sense. One of these days someone will have the guts to do education this way besides the homeschooling community.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Dealing with Wastefulness in Children
This post will look at the problem of wastefulness in children. What do I mean by wastefulness? These are the children that have no respect for the property of others or their own property. They use things as if money grows on trees.
The Costliest Aspect of Our Industry
As small business owners, this has to be one of the costliest aspects of our industry. Children are notorious for being wasteful. We all have our horror stories of going into the bathroom and finding an entire roll of toilet paper or paper towels gracing the entirety of the bathroom. Children do not naturally appreciate how much money they just happily ripped up during their forbidden fun time, but we, the ones that have to replace it, sure do.
Heavy Regulation - A Complication
This problem is exponentially complicated for those providers that have the misfortune to live in heavily regulated states. Sometimes I do believe that regulators think paper products and playdough grow on trees because they seem to think that we are to always have an endless supply of both. Regulations as far as I am concerned force a culture of wastefulness. Providers are forced to use more paper towels in a week than any environmentalist would dream of using in a year. To be a high quality childcare, we have to constantly replace things the children use up or destroy. To make them go without borders on child abuse in the regulators eyes. "Best practices" put us in a position to model some of the most wasteful behavior we have seen in generations. No wonder, children believe that everything in their world just magically appears for the asking.
The Rest of the World
While I was in graduate school, I did one of my research papers on developmentally appropriate practices as viewed by those outside the United States. That was an eye-opener to be sure. Most of the world considers the Western philosophy of developmentally appropriate practice to be indulgent and wasteful. Think about it. In the US we are required to have so many different types of books and puzzles that fit certain requirements for each age group that we serve. Outside the US and other rich Western countries they are grateful to have any books and puzzles. When they do have books and puzzles, they do not dream of letting the children have complete access to them. Yet, we have to let them have access to them all day long regardless of the shape the items are in after just a few days. We are expected to just simply replace what is destroyed. Outside the Western world children are taught to treat the things they have with great care because once it is gone it will not be replaced. I ask you. Which philosophy actually promotes the better attitude? There is a reason most of the world finds American children to be spoiled beyond reason.
Eliminate the "Poof" Mentality
How can we begin to undo the culture of wastefulness that has become so engrained in the early childhood world? We must eliminate the "poof" mentality. One of the greatest life lessons we can teach children is that everything has a price. When they waste paper towels and toilet paper, it makes it hard on the provider to run the business. When they decide to waste all of the drawing paper in one session, they really need to do without for a while. When they decide to completely destroy one of the toys, it needs to just be gone and not be replaced. How can we accomplish this if we live in a heavily regulated state? The "poof' mentality is so intertwined with the scales used for most Quality Rating Systems that you will basically have to make a choice. What is more important to you? Do you want to have a high score or raise children that have respect for property? In some areas you can skirt around the regulations to some degree, but in other areas you will have to choose to take a hit in that area.
A Culture of Respect for Property
One of the most liberating aspects of being independent has been that I can switch to a culture of respect for property rather than having a wasteful culture. To be honest, I did not even realize how bad it was until I downsized. As a larger facility I bled cash every month but did not really feel it because I used credit to buy supplies. When I downsized, I had to start looking at everything from a business owner's point of view rather than an early childhood point of view. It became completely necessary to cut expenses. I told the children if they broke a toy it would not be replaced, and I have stayed true to my word. I have rationed nearly everything, and I do not provide anywhere near what I used to provide. Has this really affected the quality of my childcare? That really depends on your worldview. The children here now have a much greater respect for everything. They understand that if they waste then they will do without. They get upset with their friends for being destructive because they know that I will not buy another one. When we do special projects with them, they appreciate it much more because it is a rarer occurrence. I cut out a lot of indulgence and accessibility, and the kids here are better for it. You decide which is the better option. By the way, it will take me years to pay off the credit card debt I ran up in my quest to be a quality facility, and it shames me to say that I have a business degree. I should have known better, but I let my early childhood training override my business training.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
The Costliest Aspect of Our Industry
As small business owners, this has to be one of the costliest aspects of our industry. Children are notorious for being wasteful. We all have our horror stories of going into the bathroom and finding an entire roll of toilet paper or paper towels gracing the entirety of the bathroom. Children do not naturally appreciate how much money they just happily ripped up during their forbidden fun time, but we, the ones that have to replace it, sure do.
Heavy Regulation - A Complication
This problem is exponentially complicated for those providers that have the misfortune to live in heavily regulated states. Sometimes I do believe that regulators think paper products and playdough grow on trees because they seem to think that we are to always have an endless supply of both. Regulations as far as I am concerned force a culture of wastefulness. Providers are forced to use more paper towels in a week than any environmentalist would dream of using in a year. To be a high quality childcare, we have to constantly replace things the children use up or destroy. To make them go without borders on child abuse in the regulators eyes. "Best practices" put us in a position to model some of the most wasteful behavior we have seen in generations. No wonder, children believe that everything in their world just magically appears for the asking.
The Rest of the World
While I was in graduate school, I did one of my research papers on developmentally appropriate practices as viewed by those outside the United States. That was an eye-opener to be sure. Most of the world considers the Western philosophy of developmentally appropriate practice to be indulgent and wasteful. Think about it. In the US we are required to have so many different types of books and puzzles that fit certain requirements for each age group that we serve. Outside the US and other rich Western countries they are grateful to have any books and puzzles. When they do have books and puzzles, they do not dream of letting the children have complete access to them. Yet, we have to let them have access to them all day long regardless of the shape the items are in after just a few days. We are expected to just simply replace what is destroyed. Outside the Western world children are taught to treat the things they have with great care because once it is gone it will not be replaced. I ask you. Which philosophy actually promotes the better attitude? There is a reason most of the world finds American children to be spoiled beyond reason.
Eliminate the "Poof" Mentality
How can we begin to undo the culture of wastefulness that has become so engrained in the early childhood world? We must eliminate the "poof" mentality. One of the greatest life lessons we can teach children is that everything has a price. When they waste paper towels and toilet paper, it makes it hard on the provider to run the business. When they decide to waste all of the drawing paper in one session, they really need to do without for a while. When they decide to completely destroy one of the toys, it needs to just be gone and not be replaced. How can we accomplish this if we live in a heavily regulated state? The "poof' mentality is so intertwined with the scales used for most Quality Rating Systems that you will basically have to make a choice. What is more important to you? Do you want to have a high score or raise children that have respect for property? In some areas you can skirt around the regulations to some degree, but in other areas you will have to choose to take a hit in that area.
A Culture of Respect for Property
One of the most liberating aspects of being independent has been that I can switch to a culture of respect for property rather than having a wasteful culture. To be honest, I did not even realize how bad it was until I downsized. As a larger facility I bled cash every month but did not really feel it because I used credit to buy supplies. When I downsized, I had to start looking at everything from a business owner's point of view rather than an early childhood point of view. It became completely necessary to cut expenses. I told the children if they broke a toy it would not be replaced, and I have stayed true to my word. I have rationed nearly everything, and I do not provide anywhere near what I used to provide. Has this really affected the quality of my childcare? That really depends on your worldview. The children here now have a much greater respect for everything. They understand that if they waste then they will do without. They get upset with their friends for being destructive because they know that I will not buy another one. When we do special projects with them, they appreciate it much more because it is a rarer occurrence. I cut out a lot of indulgence and accessibility, and the kids here are better for it. You decide which is the better option. By the way, it will take me years to pay off the credit card debt I ran up in my quest to be a quality facility, and it shames me to say that I have a business degree. I should have known better, but I let my early childhood training override my business training.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Saturday, March 15, 2014
The Outdoor Learning Style
This post will deal with those children that need the great outdoors to stretch their wings and fly. Many, many articles in the early childhood world these days deal with the need to get children back to nature. The information contained in those articles applies to these children.
Helicopter Parenting and Outdoor Play
It is a sad sign of our times that children do not play outside anywhere near as much as they did when I was a child. Many factors actually contribute to this trend. What I see as the largest trend is not discussed as much as some of the others. Many people will say that it just is not safe to play outside anymore. Unless you live in the really bad neighborhoods of some cities, that is not necessarily true. The crime rate from when I was a child was not much different from today. In some ways it might have been worse because the national spotlight had not been cast on some issues such as sexual abuse and pedophiles. What changed then? Parenting styles constitute the largest difference between when I was a child and now. Helicopter parenting did not exist in such force back in the 60s and 70s (I know I just revealed my age). Children were expected to grow up a little faster in many ways. Parents taught children about dangers and expected the children to learn better. Parents today try to shield children from all danger. Therefore children today do not have the same survival skills that children back then had. Outside constitutes too many dangers for helicopter parents. Therefore, outside time is limited to when the parents can be there to supervise. Structured outside activities have replaced free play outside for these very reasons.
What Has this Shift Done to our Children?
All you have to do is read the enormous amount of research that has come to the surface recently to know that lack of outside free play activity is an underlying cause for much of what ails our children today from the obesity epidemic to the massive uptick in attention deficit disorders. The research screams about the importance of free unstructured play in outdoor settings. This type of activity seems to reset children's biological rhythms. It also teaches children how to have realistic expectations. We do not let children learn from natural consequences anymore, and it is effecting their balance, large motor skills, and fine motor skills. Children today injure themselves more often than children from my day even though we played on the horrible unsafe equipment. We learned our limitations at an earlier age and respected natural forces. These lessons can only be learned through trial and error. Helicopter parenting does not allow children to learn these types of lessons. We as a society have created the problem. Now how do we fix it?
Back Off, Parents
The fix for helicopter parenting is simple. Back off. Stop scheduling your child's day down to the last minute. Let your child go outside and play without constantly hovering. Teach your child the dangers and actually expect your child to listen to you. Do not freak out every single time your child gets a bruise, scrape, or cut. In my day, we wore those as battle scars to be bragged about. Give your child space and time to just be. The long term benefits of this is beyond measure.
The Bell Curve
Now that I have dealt with why children today do not go outside enough, I want to turn my attention to those children that really blossom in the great outdoors. However, before I go there I need to discuss the bell curve. In case you have never had statistics, let me explain what the bell curve means. The bell curve in the natural phenomenon that happens when you take a survey of a population. Most of the people will fall in or around the center and a few will fall into the far extremes. In a diagram this looks like a huge wave. I brought this up because when dealing with the different learning styles especially the ones that are true opposites like indoor and outdoor learning, most people will fall in the middle of the bell curve and have leanings toward both styles. Only a few will fall into the far extremes that have no tendency for the opposite style. Therefore, 3/4 of the population will have varying degrees of a style ranging from some to completely dominant. Only 1/4 will have very little or none. I said all that to make the point that 3/4 of the population has some to a great deal of need for outdoor learning.
Detox Time
Many children only need outdoor activity to reset their natural rhythms. These children can still function well in indoor settings for most learning activities. They simply need detox time. However, this detox time makes the indoor learning far more productive. One of the most ridiculous ideas to come down the pike in public education has been the removal of recess. Free play recess has been replaced by structured activity overseen by adults (helicopter parenting). This structured activity does take place outdoors, but where is the detox time that so many children need? They do not get it.
Outdoor Learners
For some children indoor learning can be very hard. These are the children that need the outdoor learning more than others. Something about the spaciousness of the outdoors calms these children. Indoors they feel confined and caged. They blossom in the outdoors. These children are the next generation of farmers, forest rangers, environmental scientists, etc. Many professions call on people that thrive in an outdoor setting. When it becomes apparent to you that one of your children thrives in the outdoors, do everything in your power to provide as much outdoor unstructured free play activity for that child as possible. Sometimes this cannot be accomplished in a childcare setting because we must balance the needs of everyone. However, communicate to that child's parents about the importance of providing these types of activities for that child.
Lay the Ground Rules
Before I leave this subject I want to talk about how little children know about playing outdoors these days. Often, when we take children outside, they sit down and begin to immediately complain. Sometimes we have entire groups of children that have no idea how to play outside. If this is the case for you, start prodding those children into activities but please resist the urge to take over completely with structured activities. They need to learn to play by themselves outside. They will never learn if you always do it for them. Provide different materials, show them how to use the materials, and back off. Usually one or two of the children will start to play, and the others will follow. However, some children will persist in sitting down and complaining. You will have to make that be an inappropriate choice. Even indoor learners need some time outdoors. They can do quiet activities, but they do not need to complain. Complaining should never be considered an appropriate use of anyone's time.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Helicopter Parenting and Outdoor Play
It is a sad sign of our times that children do not play outside anywhere near as much as they did when I was a child. Many factors actually contribute to this trend. What I see as the largest trend is not discussed as much as some of the others. Many people will say that it just is not safe to play outside anymore. Unless you live in the really bad neighborhoods of some cities, that is not necessarily true. The crime rate from when I was a child was not much different from today. In some ways it might have been worse because the national spotlight had not been cast on some issues such as sexual abuse and pedophiles. What changed then? Parenting styles constitute the largest difference between when I was a child and now. Helicopter parenting did not exist in such force back in the 60s and 70s (I know I just revealed my age). Children were expected to grow up a little faster in many ways. Parents taught children about dangers and expected the children to learn better. Parents today try to shield children from all danger. Therefore children today do not have the same survival skills that children back then had. Outside constitutes too many dangers for helicopter parents. Therefore, outside time is limited to when the parents can be there to supervise. Structured outside activities have replaced free play outside for these very reasons.
What Has this Shift Done to our Children?
All you have to do is read the enormous amount of research that has come to the surface recently to know that lack of outside free play activity is an underlying cause for much of what ails our children today from the obesity epidemic to the massive uptick in attention deficit disorders. The research screams about the importance of free unstructured play in outdoor settings. This type of activity seems to reset children's biological rhythms. It also teaches children how to have realistic expectations. We do not let children learn from natural consequences anymore, and it is effecting their balance, large motor skills, and fine motor skills. Children today injure themselves more often than children from my day even though we played on the horrible unsafe equipment. We learned our limitations at an earlier age and respected natural forces. These lessons can only be learned through trial and error. Helicopter parenting does not allow children to learn these types of lessons. We as a society have created the problem. Now how do we fix it?
Back Off, Parents
The fix for helicopter parenting is simple. Back off. Stop scheduling your child's day down to the last minute. Let your child go outside and play without constantly hovering. Teach your child the dangers and actually expect your child to listen to you. Do not freak out every single time your child gets a bruise, scrape, or cut. In my day, we wore those as battle scars to be bragged about. Give your child space and time to just be. The long term benefits of this is beyond measure.
The Bell Curve
Now that I have dealt with why children today do not go outside enough, I want to turn my attention to those children that really blossom in the great outdoors. However, before I go there I need to discuss the bell curve. In case you have never had statistics, let me explain what the bell curve means. The bell curve in the natural phenomenon that happens when you take a survey of a population. Most of the people will fall in or around the center and a few will fall into the far extremes. In a diagram this looks like a huge wave. I brought this up because when dealing with the different learning styles especially the ones that are true opposites like indoor and outdoor learning, most people will fall in the middle of the bell curve and have leanings toward both styles. Only a few will fall into the far extremes that have no tendency for the opposite style. Therefore, 3/4 of the population will have varying degrees of a style ranging from some to completely dominant. Only 1/4 will have very little or none. I said all that to make the point that 3/4 of the population has some to a great deal of need for outdoor learning.
Detox Time
Many children only need outdoor activity to reset their natural rhythms. These children can still function well in indoor settings for most learning activities. They simply need detox time. However, this detox time makes the indoor learning far more productive. One of the most ridiculous ideas to come down the pike in public education has been the removal of recess. Free play recess has been replaced by structured activity overseen by adults (helicopter parenting). This structured activity does take place outdoors, but where is the detox time that so many children need? They do not get it.
Outdoor Learners
For some children indoor learning can be very hard. These are the children that need the outdoor learning more than others. Something about the spaciousness of the outdoors calms these children. Indoors they feel confined and caged. They blossom in the outdoors. These children are the next generation of farmers, forest rangers, environmental scientists, etc. Many professions call on people that thrive in an outdoor setting. When it becomes apparent to you that one of your children thrives in the outdoors, do everything in your power to provide as much outdoor unstructured free play activity for that child as possible. Sometimes this cannot be accomplished in a childcare setting because we must balance the needs of everyone. However, communicate to that child's parents about the importance of providing these types of activities for that child.
Lay the Ground Rules
Before I leave this subject I want to talk about how little children know about playing outdoors these days. Often, when we take children outside, they sit down and begin to immediately complain. Sometimes we have entire groups of children that have no idea how to play outside. If this is the case for you, start prodding those children into activities but please resist the urge to take over completely with structured activities. They need to learn to play by themselves outside. They will never learn if you always do it for them. Provide different materials, show them how to use the materials, and back off. Usually one or two of the children will start to play, and the others will follow. However, some children will persist in sitting down and complaining. You will have to make that be an inappropriate choice. Even indoor learners need some time outdoors. They can do quiet activities, but they do not need to complain. Complaining should never be considered an appropriate use of anyone's time.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Dealing with Children that Piddle
This post will deal with those children that have mastered the art of looking busy but are not at all and/or drag their feet when asked to do something to the point that most adults give up and do it for them. In case, you are not from the South that is the definition of piddling. This particular little character quirk nearly drives me to distraction at times. That might be because I was a piddler when I was little, and I know how much I have paid for that particular character quirk as an adult.
The Scenario
We have all seen those children during pick up times that manage to only pick up one or two things while everyone else is busy, and yet they appear to be as busy as the rest. These tend to be very smart, very sneaky children of which I was one. The root of this character trait is laziness pure and simple, but it is a sneaky laziness. When these same children are given a chore all by themselves, they either pick up so slowly that rather than wait on them most adults give up and do it for them, or they find everything else in the world to do except what they are supposed to do. The goal for these children remains to get out of work in any way imaginable.
Confessions of a Piddler
Unfortunately for the children in my care, I know exactly how this game is played. I was exceptionally good at it. That also means I completely understand how detrimental it can be for a child when this behavior goes unchecked. Believe me, having to learn to undo piddling as an adult is 1000% harder than fixing it as a child. However, the piddlers in your midst will wail and scream and act like their world is coming to an end if you call them on this behavior. Laziness can be a very ugly character trait to fix.
What Is the Big Deal?
Many adults would rather do for these children rather than deal with the drama that ensues when work has to be done. However, let me explain what it is like to be an adult piddler. We all know those people that talk big about doing things but never seem to accomplish anything. Piddler. We also know those people that will start a job only to be distracted 5 minutes into it and never finish what they start. Piddler. Then there are those coworkers or family members that moan and groan every time they are asked to do anything and rather than listen to them, you just do it yourself. Piddler. Do you personally like dealing with piddlers? They never accomplish anything. They cannot finish a job and are some of the most worthless employees and fellow workers on the planet. Is that the type of adult you want to be responsible for raising? If the answer to that question is no, then let me tell you how to deal with the piddlers in your life.
Give Them a Specific Job
What I am about to tell you will work on piddlers from age 2 to 100. It encompasses basically what I had to do to myself as an adult to undo years of piddling. Task number one, structure work in such a way that the piddlers have a specific job in which they are responsible. In my childcare, I take care of this through my center times. I do not allow roaming during center times. They choose a center and stay in that center during that particular stretch of time, which is usually 20 to 30 minutes. What does this accomplish? The mess they make is their mess and cannot be blamed on anyone else. When pick-up time is called, they have to pick up their mess. I cannot begin to tell you how marvelous this particular scheme works on the children who will pick up one of two things during a group pick up time and let everyone else do all the work. That first time they realize they have to pick up their own mess can get ugly. I have had some of the worst hissy fits during those times, but as a former piddler, I just smile inside and tell them to get busy. I know firsthand that I am doing them one of the greatest favors I could possibly do for them.
Finish the Job - Everytime
Task number two, work on finishing the job every single time. Many times adults will get exasperated with piddlers and help them finish the work just to get it done faster. My mother is one of those people. She raised me, and I did not become a piddler by accident. Now that she works in my childcare, I have to constantly remind her to stop doing for the children. We have four children and four piddlers. They will take advantage of my mother's weakness to the absolute extreme if I do not intervene. I cannot stress enough how important it is to NOT do for piddlers. One of the life lessons they need to learn worse than anything is to finish the job themselves. I know it takes more patience than most of us possess to work a piddler through this lesson, but just consider it a good life lesson for yourself. All of us can learn to have more patience. Also, when you do for a piddler, you become an enabler. I hope you understand how dangerous enabling can be even in this realm. Many times people that are enabled in one area fall prey to more dangerous enabling. Do not even go down this path at all.
The Meaning of Work
Task number three, teach the children and the adults that work has to be done whether you like or not. This has to be one of the greatest lessons that has fallen by the wayside in our society. Work does not have to be fun. Work has to be done. Make that your motto and all the people in your sphere of influence will be prosperous and industrious. Piddling should not be tolerated in any form or fashion.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
The Scenario
We have all seen those children during pick up times that manage to only pick up one or two things while everyone else is busy, and yet they appear to be as busy as the rest. These tend to be very smart, very sneaky children of which I was one. The root of this character trait is laziness pure and simple, but it is a sneaky laziness. When these same children are given a chore all by themselves, they either pick up so slowly that rather than wait on them most adults give up and do it for them, or they find everything else in the world to do except what they are supposed to do. The goal for these children remains to get out of work in any way imaginable.
Confessions of a Piddler
Unfortunately for the children in my care, I know exactly how this game is played. I was exceptionally good at it. That also means I completely understand how detrimental it can be for a child when this behavior goes unchecked. Believe me, having to learn to undo piddling as an adult is 1000% harder than fixing it as a child. However, the piddlers in your midst will wail and scream and act like their world is coming to an end if you call them on this behavior. Laziness can be a very ugly character trait to fix.
What Is the Big Deal?
Many adults would rather do for these children rather than deal with the drama that ensues when work has to be done. However, let me explain what it is like to be an adult piddler. We all know those people that talk big about doing things but never seem to accomplish anything. Piddler. We also know those people that will start a job only to be distracted 5 minutes into it and never finish what they start. Piddler. Then there are those coworkers or family members that moan and groan every time they are asked to do anything and rather than listen to them, you just do it yourself. Piddler. Do you personally like dealing with piddlers? They never accomplish anything. They cannot finish a job and are some of the most worthless employees and fellow workers on the planet. Is that the type of adult you want to be responsible for raising? If the answer to that question is no, then let me tell you how to deal with the piddlers in your life.
Give Them a Specific Job
What I am about to tell you will work on piddlers from age 2 to 100. It encompasses basically what I had to do to myself as an adult to undo years of piddling. Task number one, structure work in such a way that the piddlers have a specific job in which they are responsible. In my childcare, I take care of this through my center times. I do not allow roaming during center times. They choose a center and stay in that center during that particular stretch of time, which is usually 20 to 30 minutes. What does this accomplish? The mess they make is their mess and cannot be blamed on anyone else. When pick-up time is called, they have to pick up their mess. I cannot begin to tell you how marvelous this particular scheme works on the children who will pick up one of two things during a group pick up time and let everyone else do all the work. That first time they realize they have to pick up their own mess can get ugly. I have had some of the worst hissy fits during those times, but as a former piddler, I just smile inside and tell them to get busy. I know firsthand that I am doing them one of the greatest favors I could possibly do for them.
Finish the Job - Everytime
Task number two, work on finishing the job every single time. Many times adults will get exasperated with piddlers and help them finish the work just to get it done faster. My mother is one of those people. She raised me, and I did not become a piddler by accident. Now that she works in my childcare, I have to constantly remind her to stop doing for the children. We have four children and four piddlers. They will take advantage of my mother's weakness to the absolute extreme if I do not intervene. I cannot stress enough how important it is to NOT do for piddlers. One of the life lessons they need to learn worse than anything is to finish the job themselves. I know it takes more patience than most of us possess to work a piddler through this lesson, but just consider it a good life lesson for yourself. All of us can learn to have more patience. Also, when you do for a piddler, you become an enabler. I hope you understand how dangerous enabling can be even in this realm. Many times people that are enabled in one area fall prey to more dangerous enabling. Do not even go down this path at all.
The Meaning of Work
Task number three, teach the children and the adults that work has to be done whether you like or not. This has to be one of the greatest lessons that has fallen by the wayside in our society. Work does not have to be fun. Work has to be done. Make that your motto and all the people in your sphere of influence will be prosperous and industrious. Piddling should not be tolerated in any form or fashion.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Saturday, March 8, 2014
The Indoor Learning Style
The next two posts of this series will look at those children that prefer either indoor or outdoor settings for learning. With the big push to get children outside more, I hate to bring up that some children prefer indoor settings for learning. However, in order to be true to these children, I will tackle indoor learning preferences in this post.
Children with Respiratory Issues and the Great Outdoors
Lately, all I have seen on early childhood websites, conferences, and blogs has been the great push to get children out into the great outdoors. This has been accompanied with a host of research suggesting that children that spend time outdoors do better in everything. However, as with all things in this world, this does not hold true for every single child. Some poor children actually struggle when they have to spend too much time outdoors. I have severe allergies that force me to limit my time outside. Therefore, I can empathize with these children. I love the outdoors and spent a great deal of my childhood outside, but now, if I go outside, I pay for it dearly. I do agree that all children need some fresh air and sunshine during the day if at all possible. However, during high pollen times or bad air quality days, children with asthma and respiratory allergies just cannot stand to be outside for extended periods of time.
The Shy Introvert
Beyond the physical reasons some children simply cannot spend a great deal of time outdoors, some children actually prefer indoor settings for learning. These children tend to be the shy introverts that become overwhelmed by an outdoor setting for learning. They prefer quiet cozy settings for study and would rather be curled up in a chair with a book than nearly anything on the planet. I have to admit that I have this tendency. I learn better in quiet calm settings. Outdoors has way too many distractions and I hate bugs. I remember a few times when my teachers took us outdoors for our lessons during elementary school. All I did the entire time was fight off and avoid all the creepy crawly creatures. I did not learn much of anything. When I played outside as a child, I learned how to avoid places that had too many bugs or did activities that kept me active to where I did not think about all the bugs in the area. However, even then, there was many a time a bumblebee or wasp has chased me into the house, and that is where I stayed.
How to Tell Indoor Learners
How can you tell if a child will blossom or wilt when taken outdoors? The answer to this may lie in how the child responds to the indoors. A loud rambunctious child indoors will most likely take to the outdoors even if the child is not used to the outdoors. Many children these days simply do not play outside much at all. Many times when you take the children outside all they do is complain. However, some children simply do not know how to play outside and would take to it if they learned. Other children prefer quiet play indoors. These are usually the children that learn better indoors. Let these children have free play outdoors and do not try to cram a bunch of instruction into outdoor time. Many children use outdoor time for stress release rather than learning. In fact, much of the research about outdoor play actually suggests that outdoor play is most beneficial when used in this way. Even outdoor learners need free play time outdoors for stress release. For the indoor learners they may not need as much outdoor time as the outdoor learners. This is the point where you must balance the needs of the individuals with the needs of the group.
What to Do with an Even Split
What do you do if you have half indoor learners and half outdoor learners? Sometimes we get lucky and our groups will be mostly one or the other. However, many times we get groups that are split down the middle. We have children that flourish outside along with children that suffer outside. This is a very tricky situation. For smaller facilities that can be a very big problem. Bigger facilities have the staff to offer various choices for the children. On bad air quality days, the children with respiratory issues can be left indoors while the rest of the children go outdoors. However, when a facility has only one caregiver, everybody has to do the same thing. Many times in this situation the health issues will dictate what is to be done unless the regulations force the poor children with respiratory issues to just suffer. My best suggestion to deal with your indoor learners outside is to have a shady spot and quiet activities for those children. They may still run and play, but they may also require more downtime if you have an extended outdoor session. For the children with respiratory issues, it may be necessary to use face masks for those children if regulations force you to be outside a set amount of time.
The Needs of the Introvert
Before I leave this subject, I want to speak to the needs of the introvert. Many times in our society being an introvert is seen as a problem to be solved. We push all our children to be assertive and to strive for leadership when some people simply do not have the biological wiring for these behaviors. It takes all kinds of people to make a functioning society. The quiet little introverts have their place. Let them be who they are as people. Do not try to change them. They tend to be the ones to discover the next big thing that changes the world.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Children with Respiratory Issues and the Great Outdoors
Lately, all I have seen on early childhood websites, conferences, and blogs has been the great push to get children out into the great outdoors. This has been accompanied with a host of research suggesting that children that spend time outdoors do better in everything. However, as with all things in this world, this does not hold true for every single child. Some poor children actually struggle when they have to spend too much time outdoors. I have severe allergies that force me to limit my time outside. Therefore, I can empathize with these children. I love the outdoors and spent a great deal of my childhood outside, but now, if I go outside, I pay for it dearly. I do agree that all children need some fresh air and sunshine during the day if at all possible. However, during high pollen times or bad air quality days, children with asthma and respiratory allergies just cannot stand to be outside for extended periods of time.
The Shy Introvert
Beyond the physical reasons some children simply cannot spend a great deal of time outdoors, some children actually prefer indoor settings for learning. These children tend to be the shy introverts that become overwhelmed by an outdoor setting for learning. They prefer quiet cozy settings for study and would rather be curled up in a chair with a book than nearly anything on the planet. I have to admit that I have this tendency. I learn better in quiet calm settings. Outdoors has way too many distractions and I hate bugs. I remember a few times when my teachers took us outdoors for our lessons during elementary school. All I did the entire time was fight off and avoid all the creepy crawly creatures. I did not learn much of anything. When I played outside as a child, I learned how to avoid places that had too many bugs or did activities that kept me active to where I did not think about all the bugs in the area. However, even then, there was many a time a bumblebee or wasp has chased me into the house, and that is where I stayed.
How to Tell Indoor Learners
How can you tell if a child will blossom or wilt when taken outdoors? The answer to this may lie in how the child responds to the indoors. A loud rambunctious child indoors will most likely take to the outdoors even if the child is not used to the outdoors. Many children these days simply do not play outside much at all. Many times when you take the children outside all they do is complain. However, some children simply do not know how to play outside and would take to it if they learned. Other children prefer quiet play indoors. These are usually the children that learn better indoors. Let these children have free play outdoors and do not try to cram a bunch of instruction into outdoor time. Many children use outdoor time for stress release rather than learning. In fact, much of the research about outdoor play actually suggests that outdoor play is most beneficial when used in this way. Even outdoor learners need free play time outdoors for stress release. For the indoor learners they may not need as much outdoor time as the outdoor learners. This is the point where you must balance the needs of the individuals with the needs of the group.
What to Do with an Even Split
What do you do if you have half indoor learners and half outdoor learners? Sometimes we get lucky and our groups will be mostly one or the other. However, many times we get groups that are split down the middle. We have children that flourish outside along with children that suffer outside. This is a very tricky situation. For smaller facilities that can be a very big problem. Bigger facilities have the staff to offer various choices for the children. On bad air quality days, the children with respiratory issues can be left indoors while the rest of the children go outdoors. However, when a facility has only one caregiver, everybody has to do the same thing. Many times in this situation the health issues will dictate what is to be done unless the regulations force the poor children with respiratory issues to just suffer. My best suggestion to deal with your indoor learners outside is to have a shady spot and quiet activities for those children. They may still run and play, but they may also require more downtime if you have an extended outdoor session. For the children with respiratory issues, it may be necessary to use face masks for those children if regulations force you to be outside a set amount of time.
The Needs of the Introvert
Before I leave this subject, I want to speak to the needs of the introvert. Many times in our society being an introvert is seen as a problem to be solved. We push all our children to be assertive and to strive for leadership when some people simply do not have the biological wiring for these behaviors. It takes all kinds of people to make a functioning society. The quiet little introverts have their place. Let them be who they are as people. Do not try to change them. They tend to be the ones to discover the next big thing that changes the world.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Dealing with Whining in Children
This post will deal with probably the most annoying childish habit of them all - whining. We have all seen the scenario. A child is doing everything in his/her power to plead for something he/she wants to the point that the adult in the situation is about to lose his/her mind. Whining has to be one of the most powerful manipulative tools in most children's arsenals.
The Different Forms of Whining
Whining can take different forms with different children. Some children are naggers. These children ask the same question over and over and over until they wear the adult in the situation down and get what they want. Other children use the puppy dog eyes along with the "please" method to pull on the heart strings until they get what they want. Still other children go straight for the hissy fit in public to embarrass the adult in the situation until they get what they want. I hope you are seeing the theme behind all whining behavior. It is a manipulative ploy used by children to get what they want. I have seen desperate children utilize all three types of whining in the same situation when their first attempt did not work.
The Savvy of Children
In case you do not know this, the children in your life have your number and know exactly what will work on you in most every situation. They learn this information as young as two and three years old. This explains why the same child will be whiny with one parent and not the other, or whiny with the parents but not with the childcare provider. Children learn very quickly which adults are susceptible to whining and which are not. They also know when adults will be more susceptible to whining. It is no coincidence that children become whiny when the adults have reached the point of exhaustion. They know when your resistance is lower and when it is higher. Children have more savvy than most adults when it comes to power struggles.
Power Struggles Are Inevitable
At this point I want to address the very prevalent teaching that adults should avoid power struggles with children at all costs. These early childhood experts will tell you to give children choices in order to avoid these episodes of manipulation. As a early childhood professional that actually works in the trenches, I laugh at the notion that adults can avoid power struggles with children. Even when you follow their admonition to give choices, you will still deal with a power struggle unless what the child wants is one of the choices. If the choices do not involve what the child wants, the child will begin to employ every manipulative tool in his/her arsenal. Power struggles with children actually should be a natural part of the growing up process. They must learn that manipulating people only brings heartache and trouble, or they will grow up to be manipulative adults that have issues with many areas of adult life especially relationships. Like all the other negative behaviors I have covered in this series, manipulative behavior should be handled in a straightforward manner during the childhood years in order for children to grow up to be functioning adults. It should not be redirected or ignored. We have too many nonfunctioning young adults in our society now. We do not need to add to that number.
NEVER Let It Work
How do you shut down the whining? Remember, when dealing with manipulative ploys, the most important aspect remains that the ploy does not EVER work. If a manipulative ploy ever works for a child, then it takes a long time to convince that child that the ploy will never work again. As the adult, you must harden yourself to enduring multiple attempts at a variety of manipulative ploys in order to shut the process down. You must become the adult in that child's life that is immune to all forms of manipulation. I know this is easier said than done. We never know the lengths to which a child will go to manipulate until we start trying to shut the process down. I know a mother that finally wised up to her son's tactics and started to thwart his efforts for control. She was amazed at how much his behavior escalated at first, and had a hard time believing he was capable of that much manipulation. We just kept reminding her that he was yanking her chain, and he finally chilled out. It took a long time for him to chill out. Winning this war requires consistency, consistency, and more consistency. If consistency is not one of your strong points, start working on it now. If you cannot be consistent, the whiners will win every time.
Public Hissy Fits
Before I leave this subject, I want to discuss the public hissy fits. This one is by far the most well-used ploy by children in today's society. Nothing makes a parent or caregiver cringe like a public power struggle. I have been there. Your child wants something that you do not intend to get, and the child proceeds to come unglued in public. As the adult, you feel like the world is staring at you wanting you to shut your child up. When the child continues despite your best efforts to calm him/her, either you feel like a failure or you want to truly deal with the situation and are afraid someone will call the department of children services on you. Either way you feel like your hands are tied and start rationalizing why it would not be so bad to just let the child have it. STOP!!!!! Unless you want this behavior to be repeated again and again and again, you must never let the behavior work. I have had to leave stores and go home to deal with my child, but I never rewarded that behavior. I have also been the caregiver with the state people breathing down my neck just waiting to write me up for inappropriate discipline procedures. However, I knew that rewarding that behavior would be something that would cost me for months. I have put them in time-out right in front of state people and just let them start writing. I had to live with the child after that day, and they did not. It was the price I paid for doing the actual right thing. I know that our present society makes dealing with manipulative behavior much harder than it has ever been. My parents did not have to worry about being politically correct. I also never threw hissy fits in public, either. I can only pray that someday common sense and conventional wisdom will be allowed back into our society. Until then, you may pay a price for doing what actually needs to be done, but you will have reward in Heaven and the knowledge that you have done everything you could to turn the tide in our society.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
The Different Forms of Whining
Whining can take different forms with different children. Some children are naggers. These children ask the same question over and over and over until they wear the adult in the situation down and get what they want. Other children use the puppy dog eyes along with the "please" method to pull on the heart strings until they get what they want. Still other children go straight for the hissy fit in public to embarrass the adult in the situation until they get what they want. I hope you are seeing the theme behind all whining behavior. It is a manipulative ploy used by children to get what they want. I have seen desperate children utilize all three types of whining in the same situation when their first attempt did not work.
The Savvy of Children
In case you do not know this, the children in your life have your number and know exactly what will work on you in most every situation. They learn this information as young as two and three years old. This explains why the same child will be whiny with one parent and not the other, or whiny with the parents but not with the childcare provider. Children learn very quickly which adults are susceptible to whining and which are not. They also know when adults will be more susceptible to whining. It is no coincidence that children become whiny when the adults have reached the point of exhaustion. They know when your resistance is lower and when it is higher. Children have more savvy than most adults when it comes to power struggles.
Power Struggles Are Inevitable
At this point I want to address the very prevalent teaching that adults should avoid power struggles with children at all costs. These early childhood experts will tell you to give children choices in order to avoid these episodes of manipulation. As a early childhood professional that actually works in the trenches, I laugh at the notion that adults can avoid power struggles with children. Even when you follow their admonition to give choices, you will still deal with a power struggle unless what the child wants is one of the choices. If the choices do not involve what the child wants, the child will begin to employ every manipulative tool in his/her arsenal. Power struggles with children actually should be a natural part of the growing up process. They must learn that manipulating people only brings heartache and trouble, or they will grow up to be manipulative adults that have issues with many areas of adult life especially relationships. Like all the other negative behaviors I have covered in this series, manipulative behavior should be handled in a straightforward manner during the childhood years in order for children to grow up to be functioning adults. It should not be redirected or ignored. We have too many nonfunctioning young adults in our society now. We do not need to add to that number.
NEVER Let It Work
How do you shut down the whining? Remember, when dealing with manipulative ploys, the most important aspect remains that the ploy does not EVER work. If a manipulative ploy ever works for a child, then it takes a long time to convince that child that the ploy will never work again. As the adult, you must harden yourself to enduring multiple attempts at a variety of manipulative ploys in order to shut the process down. You must become the adult in that child's life that is immune to all forms of manipulation. I know this is easier said than done. We never know the lengths to which a child will go to manipulate until we start trying to shut the process down. I know a mother that finally wised up to her son's tactics and started to thwart his efforts for control. She was amazed at how much his behavior escalated at first, and had a hard time believing he was capable of that much manipulation. We just kept reminding her that he was yanking her chain, and he finally chilled out. It took a long time for him to chill out. Winning this war requires consistency, consistency, and more consistency. If consistency is not one of your strong points, start working on it now. If you cannot be consistent, the whiners will win every time.
Public Hissy Fits
Before I leave this subject, I want to discuss the public hissy fits. This one is by far the most well-used ploy by children in today's society. Nothing makes a parent or caregiver cringe like a public power struggle. I have been there. Your child wants something that you do not intend to get, and the child proceeds to come unglued in public. As the adult, you feel like the world is staring at you wanting you to shut your child up. When the child continues despite your best efforts to calm him/her, either you feel like a failure or you want to truly deal with the situation and are afraid someone will call the department of children services on you. Either way you feel like your hands are tied and start rationalizing why it would not be so bad to just let the child have it. STOP!!!!! Unless you want this behavior to be repeated again and again and again, you must never let the behavior work. I have had to leave stores and go home to deal with my child, but I never rewarded that behavior. I have also been the caregiver with the state people breathing down my neck just waiting to write me up for inappropriate discipline procedures. However, I knew that rewarding that behavior would be something that would cost me for months. I have put them in time-out right in front of state people and just let them start writing. I had to live with the child after that day, and they did not. It was the price I paid for doing the actual right thing. I know that our present society makes dealing with manipulative behavior much harder than it has ever been. My parents did not have to worry about being politically correct. I also never threw hissy fits in public, either. I can only pray that someday common sense and conventional wisdom will be allowed back into our society. Until then, you may pay a price for doing what actually needs to be done, but you will have reward in Heaven and the knowledge that you have done everything you could to turn the tide in our society.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
Saturday, March 1, 2014
The Abstract Learning Style
This post will tackle my strongest learning style - the abstract learning style. This style is for all the theorists and imaginative thinkers. However, it is also for those individuals that can function logically in a purely theoretical world. This style is truly the opposite of the concrete learning style.
What Is Abstract Learning?
Whereas concrete learners have to have concepts that can be represented in the real world, abstract learners do not have to have the real world. Abstract learners can handle concepts that are pure theory or too abstract to be physically represented (higher math concepts). Many people have this particular learning style in their repertoire in varying degrees because most college level work requires abstract thinking to some degree. Those that have this learning style in abundance fall into the category of the great thinkers of our age.
The abstract learning style is one of the few learning styles that cuts through all disciplines. It manifests itself in different ways in each discipline of learning. Abstract thinkers can be artists, writers, and other professionals we would consider to be creative thinkers. However, abstract thinkers can also be lawyers, doctors, architects, and other professionals we would consider to be technical thinkers. What constitutes abstract thinking? Abstract concepts fall outside what our senses can tell us. Concrete concepts fall into what we can see, hear, feel, taste, and touch. Much of our world falls into the abstract. Language is abstract. Much of our thought processes would be considered abstract. Planning is an abstract concept. Truthfully, functioning in our world would be extremely difficult without some ability to process abstract concepts. Even those people that rely more on concrete learning still have some ability to process abstract concepts unless they have severe learning disabilities.
The Two Camps
In this article I am going to break abstract thinkers into two camps. This is a very simplified way of looking at this concept because people vary widely in how they think and process information. Some people may fall into both camps to some degree or very strongly. However, to fully cover this particular learning style would take much more space than this short article. Therefore, I am basically looking at this as right-brain abstract thinkers (creative thinkers) and left-brain abstract thinkers (technical thinkers).
Creative Thinkers
Creative thinkers include those people that bring something new to the world. This might be a work of art or a new way of thinking about economics. Many times when we think of creative people we only include artistic or musical people. However, those people that create new ways of looking at old concepts can also be included in this category. Writers create with words, and computer programmers create with code. The means of creating is as varied as the people that live on this planet. Creative thinkers look beyond what is to what can be. In some circles creative thinkers are referred to as visionaries.
Technical Thinkers
Technical thinkers, on the other hand, bring logical sense to the ideas of creative thinkers. Sometimes this involves the same person. Sometimes another person will put feet to the ideas of another person. Technical thinkers can decipher all the details that must be included to make something a reality. This might include an editor that knows all the ends and outs of grammatical rules. This might also include a statistician that can manipulate numbers in order for comparisons to be stated in a concrete way. Doctors must understand complicated biological systems in order to diagnose and treat disease. Lawyers must be able to interpret complex laws in order to argue cases in court. Technical thinkers deal in the details and do not shy away from the complicated and complex. They thrive on it.
The Tweekers
Many times the most successful people in nearly every discipline have both types of abstract thinking at work. Mozart is considered one of the most creative composers in history, and he was also one of the greatest musical technicians to ever live. Many of the people that create ideas that change the world also have extremely technical minds. These two types of thinking very often go hand in hand but not always. Some people are what I call "tweekers." They take other people's ideas and add their technical expertise to those ideas in order to improve on them. Tweekers usually have a hard time creating something from scratch, but they can take research to a whole new level. Many prominent researchers fall into this category. They build on the foundation of other people's discoveries and bring those ideas to fruition.
How to Tell If a Child is an Abstract Thinker
Now let us bring this to the early childhood world. How can you tell if a child is an abstract thinker? The children that fall into the creative thinking category have great imaginations. The dramatic play of these children could be made into movies. They construct other worlds and realities. These children thrive on fantasy the way concrete learners thrive on reality. The technical thinkers often reveal their strengths in academic matters. These children show an uncanny ability to understand academic concepts beyond that of their peers. The children that learn to read early or have an understanding of math concepts that is way beyond preschool fall into this category. They might show an understanding of grammar or the ability to decipher complicated patterns. These children thrive on academic content in the preschool years. Not all children learn through play. Many technical thinkers practice what they learn through play. It is a subtle but very important difference. These children are mentally equipped for the more abstract academic content that the learning through play camp fights so hard to remove from preschools. Remember all children are different. Some learn through play and some do not. We need both types of preschools to adequately educate all children in their personal learning style. Maybe someday we will quit fighting each other and learn to put our children in a preschool that suits their personal learning style.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
What Is Abstract Learning?
Whereas concrete learners have to have concepts that can be represented in the real world, abstract learners do not have to have the real world. Abstract learners can handle concepts that are pure theory or too abstract to be physically represented (higher math concepts). Many people have this particular learning style in their repertoire in varying degrees because most college level work requires abstract thinking to some degree. Those that have this learning style in abundance fall into the category of the great thinkers of our age.
The abstract learning style is one of the few learning styles that cuts through all disciplines. It manifests itself in different ways in each discipline of learning. Abstract thinkers can be artists, writers, and other professionals we would consider to be creative thinkers. However, abstract thinkers can also be lawyers, doctors, architects, and other professionals we would consider to be technical thinkers. What constitutes abstract thinking? Abstract concepts fall outside what our senses can tell us. Concrete concepts fall into what we can see, hear, feel, taste, and touch. Much of our world falls into the abstract. Language is abstract. Much of our thought processes would be considered abstract. Planning is an abstract concept. Truthfully, functioning in our world would be extremely difficult without some ability to process abstract concepts. Even those people that rely more on concrete learning still have some ability to process abstract concepts unless they have severe learning disabilities.
The Two Camps
In this article I am going to break abstract thinkers into two camps. This is a very simplified way of looking at this concept because people vary widely in how they think and process information. Some people may fall into both camps to some degree or very strongly. However, to fully cover this particular learning style would take much more space than this short article. Therefore, I am basically looking at this as right-brain abstract thinkers (creative thinkers) and left-brain abstract thinkers (technical thinkers).
Creative Thinkers
Creative thinkers include those people that bring something new to the world. This might be a work of art or a new way of thinking about economics. Many times when we think of creative people we only include artistic or musical people. However, those people that create new ways of looking at old concepts can also be included in this category. Writers create with words, and computer programmers create with code. The means of creating is as varied as the people that live on this planet. Creative thinkers look beyond what is to what can be. In some circles creative thinkers are referred to as visionaries.
Technical Thinkers
Technical thinkers, on the other hand, bring logical sense to the ideas of creative thinkers. Sometimes this involves the same person. Sometimes another person will put feet to the ideas of another person. Technical thinkers can decipher all the details that must be included to make something a reality. This might include an editor that knows all the ends and outs of grammatical rules. This might also include a statistician that can manipulate numbers in order for comparisons to be stated in a concrete way. Doctors must understand complicated biological systems in order to diagnose and treat disease. Lawyers must be able to interpret complex laws in order to argue cases in court. Technical thinkers deal in the details and do not shy away from the complicated and complex. They thrive on it.
The Tweekers
Many times the most successful people in nearly every discipline have both types of abstract thinking at work. Mozart is considered one of the most creative composers in history, and he was also one of the greatest musical technicians to ever live. Many of the people that create ideas that change the world also have extremely technical minds. These two types of thinking very often go hand in hand but not always. Some people are what I call "tweekers." They take other people's ideas and add their technical expertise to those ideas in order to improve on them. Tweekers usually have a hard time creating something from scratch, but they can take research to a whole new level. Many prominent researchers fall into this category. They build on the foundation of other people's discoveries and bring those ideas to fruition.
How to Tell If a Child is an Abstract Thinker
Now let us bring this to the early childhood world. How can you tell if a child is an abstract thinker? The children that fall into the creative thinking category have great imaginations. The dramatic play of these children could be made into movies. They construct other worlds and realities. These children thrive on fantasy the way concrete learners thrive on reality. The technical thinkers often reveal their strengths in academic matters. These children show an uncanny ability to understand academic concepts beyond that of their peers. The children that learn to read early or have an understanding of math concepts that is way beyond preschool fall into this category. They might show an understanding of grammar or the ability to decipher complicated patterns. These children thrive on academic content in the preschool years. Not all children learn through play. Many technical thinkers practice what they learn through play. It is a subtle but very important difference. These children are mentally equipped for the more abstract academic content that the learning through play camp fights so hard to remove from preschools. Remember all children are different. Some learn through play and some do not. We need both types of preschools to adequately educate all children in their personal learning style. Maybe someday we will quit fighting each other and learn to put our children in a preschool that suits their personal learning style.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
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