Teaching With The Body In Mind

Parking cars for the MN State Fair has Tom thinking about spatial literacy. Skills built in childhood are very useful in adult life!

Watching children playing with driftwood at the beach has Joey thinking about classroom materials. Sometimes it all just feels like so much stuff! How do we balance simplicity and complexity? Tom reflects on...

Mike continues the conversation about physical literacy. How can we be encouraging and support learning, even if we don't have all the skills ourselves? Mike talks us through the early stages of stilt-walking as an...

Tom's grasping at an idea and needs help making sense of it. His idea is "physical literacy" and how children become literate in how they use their body and interact with the world. We probably don't think about it much...

Mike kicks off a discussion about how much space children need for their bodies and how close (or not) they can be from one another with a look at how third spaces are used at his program. Joey wonders what it would...

Ross is thinking about motivation and the impact on children's feelings of worth. How does it feel to be asked to do something versus forced to do it? This leads the group into a conversation about intrinsic and...

Joey is all in on cozy spaces, but "calm corners" have never really worked for her. It turns out Mike, Tom and Ross share her concerns. They discuss the challenges of asking children to regulate all alone and how a...

Tom's thinking about who uses what space in the classroom whether it is gendered. Mike explains gender schema theory. Ross is reminded of the gender-coded ailes at stores like Target. Is this code replicated in...

Tom's been watching the World Cup and thinking about the many different ways people hug. Naturally this leads to a conversation about what children learn about hugging. Is hugging professional? How is it diffrerent for...

Ross has been taking notes and wants a follow up conversation on the ways that physical play creates an entry point for social relationships. Tom points out how joint ventures in the physical world create openings for...

Mike emphasizes the importance of allowing for mistakes while children are learning social skills. There will be bumping and complaining, but also essential development. Tom recalls two children who happily squished...

Joey is thinking about the role of the body in social learning and building social skills. Ross reminds us of the importance of making mistakes while we learn. Sometimes you have to spill the water on Mike to learn how...

Ross circles back to a conversation about what sharing really means. Tom reminds us that when teachers strictly impose time limits or make decisions about when children must "share," they take away the chance for the...

Tom reflects on a friendly game of cards with his grandson that became locked into a fight. When and why is it important to follow the rules when playing games with children? When do you play the "friends way" and when...

Mike leads a discussion about the nonlinear nature of learning. As Ross explains, children's learning looks like a "Family Circle" cartoon, not a straight line.