For Your Binder

This is one of the most bittersweet pieces I've ever read.  It will break your heart and yet show you how to repair it all at the same time. Read: the pure power of PLAY.  #play #playwork #teaching #learning

This was the first American Academy of Pediatrics article (well, that caught everyone's attention anyway) that mentioned the importance of play. 11 years later they released another statement but ramped up the language saying that play was crucial to a child's healthy development.  I often wonder if they sat around saying to each other, really? we gotta say this again?   #DAP #play #parenting #teaching #learning

There is no evidence that teaching children to read in PreK will help them be better readers in the long-run.  So how and when did we start thinking that it would? #play #pushdown #DAP #teaching #learning #reading

Read the article, then print out the table!  Keep it handy and share it too! It's a fantastic visual resource and reminder of the power of exploration and play! #play #DAP #teaching #learning #relationships #care

An unfortunate side effect of the growing recognition of the early years as learning years is that some people get hyperactive about it.  #parenting #learning #teaching #DAP #care #relationships

We are moving towards understanding - not moving through curriculum!  #math #DAP #teaching #learning

I still believe it all comes back to either Love or Fear (meaning anything other than "love" has it's origin in "fear") but this might assist as we identify how fear might be manifesting. #DAP #teaching #learning 

Another opportunity to (re)consider what we mean by readiness.  #DAP #pushdown #play #teaching #learning

First off, regardless of your position on screen based tech please shelve it for this read as, seriously, the article is from 1996 and I am quite sure anyone currently involved in designing interactive media would laugh at how dated and old the language is ("the popular analogy of an office desktop to help a user understand the operation of a microcomputer")  

Also, I reread it a couple times before posting and I really think we can take the message, which might initially seem specific to gaming/interactive media, lift it up and take from it a reminder of the value and importance of play, discovery, intrinsic motivation & self-regulation.  #play #teaching #learning #technology #screens

While Lisa is not implying that you would interrupt a child at play in order to "get" a story, she does think this is a useful tool to have in our tool belts for when the situation is right. Calling on the work of Bev Bos, Vivian Paley & Barry Sanders, not only does this workshop walk you through a story writing process, it also reminds participants of the importance of orality and that we were a talking species before we were a literate one!! #handouts #DAP #stories #teaching #theorists

While this workshop is now a stand-alone session, it used to be a part of the Books and Stories session that was captured on DVD while back.  Did you miss it? Want to watch it again? Got a DVD player? Lisa has DVDs of all her workshops! #oldschool  

While the stats are specific to Australia, we can be informed by the data and make sure that regardless of where we live and work we are investigating the diversity (including ethnicity, gender and sexuality) of our book corner. #equity #books #stories #gender #reading #teaching #learning

Grouping children in narrow age cohorts is a fairly new practice! #mixedages #teaching #learning #DAP