Category: Respect for the Individual

Reading on their own timetable

Reading on their own timetable

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Both of my children, now young adults, went to Seedlings. I loved the fact that there was no academic curriculum, that they spent all morning in creative play. I knew that between the upcoming twelve years of school and four of college (and, perhaps, grad school), they’d eventually get plenty of instruction in math, history, science, and, of course, reading. Others around me, however, were more alarmed, especially about the lack of formal reading instruction…

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The Waiting Game

The Waiting Game

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The Waiting Game: Add it to the list of things I have learned at Sunflower Creative Arts.

The most important lesson that my son has taught me is the Waiting Game. For him, walking came at 16 months, talking came at 2.5 years, and he toilet “learned” at almost four. I felt all of the pressure when he did not hit the “developmental milestones” at the exact moment the doctor charts told me he should. I had to force myself to ignore the pressure and just… wait.

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Give them time (a story of watercolors and preschooler theoretical physics)

Give them time (a story of watercolors and preschooler theoretical physics)

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I was walking through the room headed off to do something important somewhere else, with no intention of stopping or even lingering to listen, but something about the intensity of their conversation drew my attention. As I stopped to listen to the three young girls chatting as they painted each others’ faces and arms, I thought that they were simply enjoying the beauty and wonder of creating living art. It turned out I was selling the situation and the learning experience very short…

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